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Meta is sick of terrible retail demos, so it's building 50 mini-stores inside Best Buy.
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Buying a VR headset or AI-powered glasses is often a leap of faith. Unless you know what you’re getting yourself into and have tried them out, these devices are hard to tell if they’re worth the money. Meta thinks this is a problem that it can solve.
The company is expanding its retail footprint by launching dedicated Meta Lab spaces at over 50 Best Buy locations in the U.S. and Canada, UploadVR reports. The move gives shoppers a chance to experience Meta’s growing hardware portfolio rather than relying on boxed-up displays sitting on store shelves.
Meta has been selling products through Best Buy for years, but the experience has largely been run by regular store employees. Meta says the new setup is meant to provide something more interactive and personalized. Each Meta Lab space is around 900 square feet and serves as a mini store within a Best Buy store.
Customers will be able to walk through the Meta Quest VR headsets and the company's smart glasses lineup with trained Meta sales specialists. Shoppers can actually experience what the hardware does rather than reading spec sheets.
Meta’s plans include guided demos for VR fans to show off unique experiences. You could be playing a game, watching content on a giant virtual screen in theater mode, or trying out a fitness workout in immersive VR. The goal is to help first-time users understand why people buy these headsets.
The smart glasses side also gets similar treatment. Customers can shop for multiple styles and get help finding the right fit. There will also be guided demos of Meta’s latest wearable experiences, including products that pair with the company’s Neural Band accessories.
Meta Labs will be coming to the first Best Buy locations in San Bernardino and San Carlos, California. Additional stores are expected to come later this summer in Minnesota, New Jersey, South Carolina, and Ohio. Meta says it will roll out to 50 stores across North America by the end of 2026.
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VR headsets and AI glasses are often difficult to sell when they are packaged in cardboard boxes and marketed with buzzwords, so providing consumers with the opportunity to physically try the hardware should simplify their purchasing decisions. That said, it also feels like Meta is doing what should have been obvious years ago. It was never a great idea to ask consumers to spend hundreds of dollars on new gadgets they couldn't hold in their hands during a demo, and I suspect many potential buyers simply walked away instead of taking that leap.
Jay Bonggolto always keeps a nose for news. He has been writing about consumer tech and apps for as long as he can remember, and he has used a variety of Android phones since falling in love with Jelly Bean. Send him a direct message via X or LinkedIn.
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