Retail wasn’t ready for 2019, much less 2020, much less 2021. So no, retail is not ready for the metaverse. Having said that, it’s here and offers some pretty amazing evolutionary leaps in life and business. I’m hoping its adoption is slow and thoughtful. Lots of moving parts to figure out here.

There is a genuine opportunity here, not least because an increasing number of people are interacting in the metaverse and spending time there. Those people are buying digital content for their avatars, and for other purposes, and that represents a selling opportunity. On top of this, there is the opportunity for retailers to interact with their customers in the metaverse via everything from advertising to creating virtual spaces and games. Some retailers are already testing, such as Gucci selling virtual handbags. What smart retailers will do is find ways to connect the digital and physical worlds, for example you buy a pair of Converse from a regular store and you also get a digital pair for the metaverse. Obviously, none of this should distract from the mainstream retail model, but experimentation in this emerging world is important.

Content and convenience will determine the near-term future of the metaverse in retail. It’s a bit of a chicken and egg debate, I suppose, but I suspect the content will need to be extremely compelling in order to incentivize most people to purchase and don the bulky (and pricey) VR gear.

I think there is a time and place for it in retail. I just think it’s too early. It has existed in the gaming world for a while now and I think it will make the jump to retail eventually.

As some RetailWire readers may recall I was an early and active proponent of the technologies supporting what is now know as the metaverse. And I’m still (relatively) bullish about it. The issues blocking wider-spread adoption fall into three large buckets: familiarity/comfort with the whole process; cost of the technologies; and ease/comfort of the user interface. Assuming you clear hurdles two and three, one is easy. We know cost of technologies drops rapidly with scale of adoption/production. And that leaves the interface issue. Is an Oculus for everyone? Nope, but an Oculus is lightyears better from the heavy cabled gear early VR pioneers like Jaron Lanier had to drag around for a less realistic effect. Gaming, it turns out, is both intuitive and addictive, so if you solve the cost/interface issues well enough to achieve scale the metaverse’s attractiveness grows exponentially and its potential for enhancing retail becomes well worth investing in for branders and retailers. As to the time line, again, it all depends on scale. Will we see a “Metaverse Revolution” in two… Read more »

“There are butterflies flying around and flowers growing on mannequins’ heads. You can’t do this in the real-life art exhibition.” Right. You can’t do this in a real life art exhibition, but why would Gucci want a real life art exhibition anyway? And if they did wouldn’t it feature real-life apparel? Wouldn’t I rather see real, live people wearing Gucci than a data generated mannequin?

But maybe for those more creative than I am, there is a way to have your gaming avatar wear Gucci loafers.

The future will surely bring more creative ways for self-expression and meaningful social engagement. As an integrative digital destination, the metaverse will facilitate such a future. Despite this certainty, retailers may not be ready as they continue to grapple with current technologies and realize the potential benefits. Yet they would be short-sighted not to begin exploring the possibilities because that future will be here sooner than expected and require new thinking about customer-centricity and engagement.

Avatars and digitized personas are some of the first things we think about, recreating the physical. However the true value and focus should be on the customer experience and making the metaverse extend into the individual’s total experience. Offer a virtual look into apparel of interest, provide virtual experiences of it, add the ability to book an event to wear it for perhaps food and beverage — attempt to garner the entire experience of the product or service by linking it to the person, their interests, and assist them in putting the total experience together.

Considering that the emerging Gen Z consumer lives in a hybrid physical and digital world, the move to the metaverse and the art of the possible is quickly becoming a reality. Who would have anticipated unexpected collaborations between Balenciaga and Fortnite? These sorts of brand tie-ups and partnerships have been in progress for years in Asia. It was inevitable that these emerging paradigm shifts would make their way to the West. The Fortnite collaboration with Balenciaga comes in the wake of a string of high-profile collaborations in music and sport. In 2020, Travis Scott’s virtual concert on Fortnite attracted 45 million concurrent views. Brands want to tap Gen Z through 2.7 billion gamers worldwide, mainly via activations that straddle digital and physical worlds. Louis Vuitton partnered with League of Legends in 2019 on both virtual and physical clothing, while Gucci partnered with Roblox on a virtual world in May this year. This project for Balenciaga represents that its involvement in the metaverse is emerging as a strategic pillar of its business rather than a one-off… Read more »

I think retail is plenty ready to skip the fad (as it should). We are only talking about these mythological things because of tech’s obsession with sci-fi like things — things they come out with which aren’t needed, but which they figure they can sell.

I am, in particular, humored by the Zuckerberg quote. How did he become a human factors expert in what it feels like to use this software? Sure glad it’s Friday. 🙂