Neha Singh: Changing the Landscape of Online Retail Through Virtual 3D Stores

Ladderworks is a publishing platform of diverse picture books and an online curriculum with the mission to empower over a million kids to become social entrepreneurs. Our current series features interviews by our interplanetary journalist Spiffy with inspiring Social Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Builders, and Changemakers who are advancing the UN SDGs. 

Spiffy here with the scoop on the entrepreneurial leaders of Planet Earth. As the only interplanetary journalist stationed on this blue planet, I’m thrilled to present this galactic exclusive with Neha Singh, the founder and CEO of Obsess. Let’s learn about what’s happening there and how Neha is making a positive impact in the world.

Spiffy: Hi Neha, thanks a million for talking to me today. Tell me, what challenge are you addressing through Obsess?

Neha: Thanks for having me, Spiffy! My company, Obsess, is helping to make the online shopping experience much more interesting by creating 3D virtual stores. Imagine being able to walk through a store right on your phone, without going there in person. You can learn about the brand and discover products in the same way you do in a store, instead of just the simple list that you see in online shopping. We use Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality technologies to create innovative virtual stores that help reduce carbon emissions.

Spiffy: Wow. What motivates you to do it?

Neha: As a computer science student, I loved how code could be used to build new capabilities that didn’t exist before. Since then, I love solving problems using new technologies. I believe that the future of the internet is 3D because the real world is 3D. I created Obsess to make a more natural way for people to shop online as they do in real life. Using new technologies like Virtual Reality and AI, we can solve problems that make people’s lives easier and help the planet.

Spiffy: What is the impact of your work?

Neha: Virtual stores help reduce carbon emissions because then people don’t have to drive to physical stores as much, but they can still see and shop the store online. For brands and retailers, they don’t have to build as many stores, which reduces emissions as well. People who live in cities where the brand does not have a store can still get the same experience as if they were visiting a store, right from their phone or computer, which saves them time and helps them focus on other things.

Spiffy: Tell me about a recent organization milestone or initiative. What impact does it make on your community?

Neha: We released a carbon emissions calculator for retail stores here, where brands can input some parameters about their store to see an approximate level of carbon impact, and compare with the carbon impact if they were to set up a virtual store instead.

Spiffy: So cool! Thanks for speaking with me today, Neha—it’s been an honor!

Neha Singh is the founder and CEO of Obsess. She was previously the Head of Product at Vogue. Neha began her career at Google, where she was a software engineer for five years. She holds an undergraduate Computer Science degree from UT Austin and a graduate Computer Science degree from MIT. (Nominated by Max Kahn. First published on the Ladderworks website on April 1, 2024.)

The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect those of Ladderworks LLC.