ARTICLE – FECOMERCIOSP
The metaverse and the future of retail
Gartner, a consulting company, projects that in 2026 a quarter of the population will spend at least one hour a day in the metaverse, while 30% of companies will have products and services ready for this universe.
It is a world of virtual and augmented reality technologies, in which people, through avatars, will be able to connect, interact and carry out different activities of entertainment, education, shopping, games, etc.
The term gained prominence after Facebook announced the plan to build a metaverse in the coming years, an environment in which users will be “present”. Therefore, it changed its name to Meta.
For retail, the expectation is that there will be an evolution from digital commerce to commerce within the metaverse. Among the advantages, the following stand out: a customizable environment, with the creation of the store as desired; remote assistance; 3D resources, which create a sense of reality with the customer; virtual fitting rooms; and facilitated collection of information from the public, optimizing results of promotional and marketing campaigns.
The metaverse allows consumers to access products they would not have in the real world, such as luxury brand items. Therefore, Nike, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Ralph Lauren are already investing in technology, making it possible to dress avatars with items from these companies.
In Brazil, Renner has a virtual store within the Fortnite game. Considering that Brazil occupy one of the first places world rankings for the use of social medias and the internet, the metaverse must follow the same path.
Source: Eletrolar News #152
