Roblox hair items are proving to be a hot commodity.
Hair resale on the platform is growing, with items being resold for 97% more than the original selling price. Five hundred units of virtual hair designed by a creator sold out when originally sold for 79 Robux. They are now reselling for about 3,000 Robux, which is the equivalent of $30.
“To see this [item] re-selling for the price of a real-life haircut shows me consumers and users on Roblox care about what hair they invest in for their avatar as much as they do IRL for themselves,” said Jenni Svoboda, the creator of the style who is known as Lovespun on the platform. She has partnered with brands including Nars and Carolina Herrera on virtual hair products.
For brands, Roblox hair is a valuable addition to their product offerings on the platform, as well as an opportunity to showcase branding and brand values like diversity.
For its part, hair-care brand Amika joined the platform in January 2024, selling 18 different hairstyles in its Amikaverse experience. While the brand declined to share its investment in Roblox, a representative said that it’s doubling its investment in gaming year-over-year in 2024. Amikaverse has seen 872,000 visits since launching, according to data platform Geeiq.
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“This is a long-term investment for us,” said Shannon Otto, senior director of consumer digital engagement at Amika. “Gen Alpha shopping behaviors have been getting a lot of attention lately, [for example] with them ‘taking over‘ Sephora. That attention and that behavior speak to their devotion, their brand loyalty, and their curiosity for beauty products. … Roblox is where the next generation of our consumers are. They want to immerse themselves in a brand new universe.”
She added, “The most important thing for us was to highlight the diversity in the hairstyles we offer in the shop.” The brand introduced braided and curly styles, as well as straight hair for its launch. Otto said that there were some tech challenges when making the virtual hair, which involved modeling, texturing and rigging.
“All of those things are important for [enabling] Roblox UGC,” she said. “But on the brand strategy side, it was also very creative. We could think about hairstyles that are rooted in reality, like long straight hair with flowers in them, plus we could do things that are only available in the metaverse, like holographic hair.”
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Ulta, which has had 8 million visits to its Ultaverse on Roblox experience has also seen the opportunity in hair. It offers nine styles on the platform, including braids, ranging in price from 58-75 Robux.
“We are developing innovative assets within the Ultaverse that span various forms of self-expression, with virtual hair being a key element,” said Agustina Sartori, Ulta Beauty’s senior director of innovation. “Our average session time [on Roblox] is higher than on any other social platform, and we believe gaming is an evolution of social media. Based on our insights, all [consumers], especially Gen Z teens, expect virtual worlds to shake things up and offer an enhanced alternative to real-life beauty discovery.”
Beauty brands are not the only ones investing in Roblox’s hair category. Fashion brand Adidas launched digital products including hair on Roblox in December. Out of its four hair options, with 1,000 of each available, over 1,670 have sold at 85 Robux each. Adidas sells over 600 different items in its Roblox marketplace, with prices ranging from 60-140 Robux.
“Roblox poses a challenge for us to think further, to leave physical boundaries behind, and to rethink what a brand can represent and look like in virtual spaces,” said Thomas Wehner, global head of Adidas gaming. “We took what is available in our stores, like beanies, caps and hair bands, and in a second step iterated on what these items look like in Roblox. We then found that some players like for their head accessories to come with hair and decided to offer this option, too. We brought [creator] Rush_X on board to understand the intricacies of hair design and what consumers are looking for in these styles.”
Rush, who goes by his Roblox alias, created the four styles by combining the Adidas branding with hair to create a unique accessory from the brand. “I’ve seen brands just add a hairstyle and have a price tag attached with their logo, and the branding doesn’t look natural,” he said. “There’s no real reason to wear [a logo item] if it’s just on the price tag. The most important thing is to come on the platform organically, like with the logo on a headband, rather than forcing it.”
Data from Roblox shows the growth of the trend. According to a 2023 Robblox report, 67% of Gen Z consumers say that avatar hair is the second most important element, following clothes, in terms of what they wish to customize. From January 2023 to September 2023, users purchased more than 139 million hairstyles, up 20% over the year before. And more than 7.3 million people bought five or more hairstyles on Roblox. During the same timeframe, nearly 44,000 unique hairstyles were introduced by the community, marking an increase of about 680% year-over-year.
