Shopify and Sphere inked a multi-year deal that’ll ensure the 580,000-square-foot activation becomes a yearly tradition. The companies declined to disclose financial details of that deal.
“We want brands to come in to be innovative and challenge us, and for us, challenge them back and do amazing work and show the potential and possibility of this canvas,” said Ned McNeilage, chief creative officer at Sphere. Shopify’s Black Friday data visualization effort is a perfect example of that kind of innovation, he said.
The technological lift of the Sphere activation serves a dual role for Shopify—first, it aims to give peace of mind to the merchants and retailers that use the platform or are considering it. If Shopify can pull this off, the thinking goes, then they’re an even more trustworthy partner to handle the modern complexities of running a global ecommerce business.
Loh also hopes that the activation will help small merchants and entrepreneurs on the platform to feel seen during the busiest time of the year.
“Running a business can be pretty lonely,” he said. “When you see all of this activity on Sphere or in the Live Globe, you suddenly go, ‘I’m a part of something much bigger.’”
Some Shopify staff will be on the ground in Vegas on Black Friday to coordinate helicopter and drone footage of the Sphere as shoppers are doing their thing from all over the world. Loh’s hoping that content will gain traction on social amid the flow of ecommerce dollars.
“This is really not about the people in Vegas seeing this,” Loh said. “This is about creating something that, as a piece of content, will stop folks in their scroll.”
