Quick Guide
Virtual reality in e-commerce
After more than 8 years dedicating myself to Marketing and Digital Business, I cannot convey to you how I’m happy to see a new board that has yet to be written. Where the rules we know will change. Where we will have to learn what to sell, how to sell it and what users will want. Where the users, this time, will become the co-creators of most of the products.
Today, I’m going to launch into an article about what the future of ecommerce will be in the Metaverse. But, if you come looking for facts backed by an expert, you can close the window. This is a kind of divination: no one knows for sure what is going to happen in the near future. Consider that, right now, Extended Reality technologies are at the same point of adoption as the Internet was in 1995 (at least, VR). Could we have predicted then what a gamer would earn on Twitch?
But, at least, we already know many of the pieces that will be part of the Metaverse, such as Virtual and Extended Reality, cryptos or NFTs. Now all that remains is to dare to unite them and tell a decent story.
What is the Metaverse and how will we access it
The fashionable term, hoarding headlines that define it in equal parts as the bet for the future and as the biggest sale of smoke in recent history: the Metaverse.
Recently, I wrote a post about what the Metaverse means. At least, as it is beginning to be defined by different figures: «embodied Internet» (Internet Material or Incarnate) that Mark Zuckerberg says, which we can access from our mobiles/computers, from our Virtual Reality viewers or from our glasses. Augmented reality.
Although, among all the definitions, I prefer Mathew Ball’s (strategy known for his exhaustive essays on the Metaverse):
“The Metaverse is an expansive network of 3D-worlds and real-time persistent simulations that supports continuity of identity, objects, data, and rights; and that can be experienced synchronously by an unlimited no. of users, each with an individual sense of .”
Expansion, persistence, continuity, synchronicity, sense of presence. We already know the keywords.
But, in other words, the Metaverse is the promise of a new economy; one in which we move away from material limits and even from gravity. Because yes, suddenly it becomes possible for Loewe to bring you a bag of water or fire; or that some glasses change the appearance of your avatar, in the purest style of Superman and his secret identity.
A new economy in which companies like Facebook have seen a way to get rid of their past and look to a future in which they start almost from scratch. So much so, that they are no longer Facebook, but Meta. Have they suddenly appropriated the fashionable term?
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In his last conference, Mark Zuckerberg (CEO) summarized his vision of the Metaverse. A vision that some have accused of being too elitist, too “naive” in the sense of promising a purity and a utopia that does not even exist today on the Internet. Because, the human being is more sordid than what is seen in this video.
But what everyone agrees on is that the technology is much further behind (for the time being) than this Meta dream. Although they also begin to agree that the arrival (5 or 10 years from now) of a hypothetical Metaverse is practically inevitable.
What is the Metaverse and how will we access it
The fashionable term, hoarding headlines that define it in equal parts as the bet for the future and as the biggest sale of smoke in recent history: the Metaverse.
Recently, I wrote a post about what the Metaverse means. At least, as it is beginning to be defined by different figures: «embodied Internet» (Internet Material or Incarnate) that Mark Zuckerberg says, which we can access from our mobiles/computers, from our Virtual Reality viewers or from our glasses. Augmented reality.
Although, among all the definitions, I prefer Mathew Ball’s (strategy known for his exhaustive essays on the Metaverse):
“The Metaverse is an expansive network of 3D-worlds and real-time persistent simulations that supports continuity of identity, objects, data, and rights; and that can be experienced synchronously by an unlimited number of users, each with an individual humor of existence.”
Expansion, persistence, continuity, synchronicity, sense of presence. We already know the keywords.
But, in other words, the Met averse is the promise of a new economy; one in which we move away from material limits and even from gravity. Because yes, suddenly it becomes possible for Loewe to bring you a bag of water or fire; or that some glasses change the appearance of your avatar, in the purest style of Superman and his secret identity.
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A new economy in which companies like Facebook have seen a way to get rid of their past and look to a future in which they start almost from scratch. So much so, that they are no longer Facebook, but Meta. Have they suddenly appropriated the fashionable term?
In his last conference, Mark Zuckerberg (CEO) summarized his vision of the Metaverse. A vision that some have accused of being too elitist, too “naive” in the sense of promising a purity and a utopia that does not even exist today on the Internet. Because, the human being is more sordid than what is seen in this video.
But what everyone agrees on is that the technology is much further behind (for the time being) than this Meta dream. Although they also begin to agree that the arrival (5 or 10 years from now) of a hypothetical Metaverse is practically inevitable.
Typology (and format) of items for sale
And what will we buy in this Metaverse? Well, everything indicates that both offline products and digital/virtual products will be sold. And that, these virtual products, we will have to be able to use them in most of the virtual experiences so that the maxim of “continuity” in the Metaverse is fulfilled: decentralization and interoperability will be two of the keys for this to work.
Are you thinking that who is going to buy a digital item by paying real money? Well, it is something that is already happening: companies like Gucci have managed to sell a virtual bag more expensive than a physical one on Roblox and even others are selling digital items that you can only use as a filter for your photos/videos or even that you can simply « collect» in the cloud.
Because the sale of Augmented Reality filters will also be possible. That is to say: the union of our two worlds. Not only can you buy a bag for your avatar; If not, you will also have it available on Tik Tok when you go to record a video.
And let’s not just think about clothes: the future of Real Estate is also being forged in the virtual space, with bets like Upland, based on the purchase of digital land. And what about digital art, which has suffered its own boom thanks to the explosion of NFTs (we’ll talk about them later, but basically they are block chain-based tokens that guarantee the authenticity of a digital item).
Marketing in the Metaverse
What will advertising be like in the Metaverse? Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality bring new possibilities to the table: how to try on clothes before physically buying them (if we actually buy them) or seeing an item in 3D in real size, being able to touch it in a virtual space or interact with it.
And what is evident is that physical products will be advertised in the virtual world and vice versa. For example, I recently spoke on LinkedIn about the existence of large virtual events where companies like PUMA are already starting to have their own stands, in this case connected to their Amazon store to sell an exclusive t-shirt:
Although Augmented Reality is still greener than Virtual Reality, in the near future the advertisements we see on the streets will come to life before our eyes. And even the stores will become smart spaces with different “increased” layers between reality and our eyes: offers, sale of digital versions, selection of sizes and colors…
Although there is now a new element to take into account: users as more sellers than ever of products. Brand ambassadors and co-creators even of some of its products.
Just look at one of the most famous recent creations: the “Baby Birkin,” a digital version of a “pregnant” Hermès bag that once sold for more than $23,000.
Also read: Web Design / Redesign: One of the most Effective Strategy
Price and exclusivity: from crypto currencies to NFTs
And how will we pay for the items we buy? Well, more or less, we can think of three different means of payment:
Legal tender currencies: we would pay in euros, dollars or any other local currency, as we do now with most of the products and services we buy.
Crypto currencies:
As you already know, cryptos are booming. They are a “digital medium of exchange that uses strong cryptography to secure transactions, control the creation of additional units, and verify the transfer of assets using distributed ledger technologies.” Ether (Ethereum) or Bitcoin are some of the best known.
App/Game exclusive currency:
As is the case with Tik Tok credits or Robux (Roblox official currency). We could buy them using legal tender or by selling digital items within the experience in exchange for this currency. In some cases, such as Roblox, they can be exchanged for physical money. In other cases it will not be possible, having only an internal economy.
Although here comes a new question: if the Metaverse has to be unique and decentralized… will it be compatible that there are so many different means of payment? could it be considered a monopoly if one of these options were chosen as the only cross-platform and experience?
Another question that arises is that of exclusivity:
When you buy a physical item, it is tangible and limited. However, in the digital world it is easier to make copies without any effort… Nothing new: we are all experiencing the rise of piracy with the boom of the Internet.
However, NFTs (Non-Fungible Token) have come to revolutionize digital exclusivity. We can say that they consist of a kind of digital contracts that facilitate the purchase/sale and record both the authorship and the chain of ownership.
The Verge defines them thus:
“NFTs allow you to buy & sell ownership of unique digital items and keep track of who owns them using blockchain. NFTs stands for “non-fungible token” and can technically contain anything digital, including drawings, animated GIFs, songs, or video game elements. An NFTs can be unique, like a real-life painting, or a copy of many, like cards, but the blockchain keeps track of who own the files.”
In this way, with the arrival of NFTs, digital artists have begun to sell their works and for a few months we have had news of million-dollar sales of items that do not exist in our physical reality. However, current sensationalism aside, NFTs could become the basis of property exchanges in the future Metaverse.
And it is something that many brands are beginning to understand as a synonym of exclusivity and/or collecting to revalue their digital assets and create, in the future, a mirror of the brand in the Metaverse. As we said at the starting of the article: a symptom that a new economy is about to emerge.
Summary infographic of eCommerce in the Metaverse
A look at the Future of virtual reality in e-commerce from the hand of Meta
We close the article with another video from last month’s Meta presentation, in which they allude to the fusion of physical and virtual spaces and elements in the (future) Metaverse to unleash the creativity of companies and individuals. Influencers:
And, as always when I talk about the Metaverse, I highly recommend Cathy Hackl’s Podcast for Ad Week:
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And, if you think I’ve said something stupid, write me and we’ll talk long and hard to continue learning about the future of the Metaverse
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