Systems and methods are provided for generating a virtual reality (VR) simulation of a retail store, which simulation is configured and displayed on an immersive VR display device that enables a user to experience the simulated retail store as if it were a physical retail store. The systems enable the user to arrange display cases and other interior store components, and to populate shelves, racks, and the like, with products to be sold in the retail store. A VR platform enables multiple users to synchronously view the VR simulation and make coordinated changes to develop an optimized configuration of the retail store. Marketing, sales, merchant, and other data may be collected, aggregated, and analyzed to identify purchase trends of certain products; the analyzed data may identify user shopping preferences, and the VR platform may generate a customized retail store including only products relevant to a user.