Shopping Centers Across The US Are Hosting A Holiday-Themed AR Scavenger Hunt

One of the largest shopping center in the US is turning to AR to help keep shoppers safe during the holidays.

With the holiday season finally upon us, Westfield shopping centers are hosting an interactive AR scavenger hunt designed to help spread some holiday joy while at the same time offering shoppers the chance to unlock serious savings with each AR experience they find.

This web-based AR Holiday Hunt will be available at 22 of Westfield’s shopping centers located across the United States. In order to participate, you need simply visit one of these participating shopping centers and scan a unique QR code with your smartphone. From there you’ll find yourself embarking on a merry holiday shopping adventure to find 10 virtual Christmas-themed characters hidden throughout the center.

You’ll encounter dancing gingerbread people, snowmen, reindeer, a goofy Santa face filter, and more as you shop. If you find all 10 characters, you’ll be rewarded with awesome promotions and offers that you can redeem at participating Westfield shopping center stores.

For a little extra jingle in your stocking, you’re also able to create a personal greeting card via a selfie or recorded video and share it with friends and family through a text message or social media.

To help bring their vision of an interactive holiday scavenger hunt to life, Westfield didn’t have to write a note to Santa. Instead, they approached AR experts COFFEE Labs to create their festive AR characters. To make the experience as seamless and easy-to-access as possible, Westfield’s Holiday Hunt was built using 8th Wall’s web-based AR solution. As a result, no additional downloads are required to access the scavenger hunt.

In an official press release, Anthony Sion, Senior Vice President – New Business Development at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, owner of Westfield shopping centers in the U.S., said, “While this season may look a bit different, we still wanted to create experiences that not only make it fun and festive to shop, but keep health and safety top of mind,” Sion adds, “That’s why we joined with COFFEE Labs to develop and execute a virtual AR experience at 22 Westfield shopping centers across the U.S. The Holiday Hunt was developed to entertain as well as deliver offers from our retail partners over the holidays in a safe and socially-distant environment.”

Obviously, safety is a huge concern during this year’s holiday shopping season. How exactly do you provide a fun shopping experience in a closed indoor environment during a global pandemic? For COFFEE Labs, it’s about rethinking consumer engagement through new forms of technology, such as AR.

“We know that brands are looking for ways to connect with consumers and we spend every waking moment in creating unique experiences that do exactly that for our top clients,” said Al Silvestri, Partner and Chief Creative Officer of COFFEE Labs, adding, “We are excited to partner with Westfield to help drive shoppers to their centers for a fun, interactive Augmented Reality experience with special offers during this holiday season.”

Westfield’s Holiday Hunt is currently available at 22 participating locations across the US until December 24th, 2020. Check it out at any of the following locations: