In his 1992 book, he said:snow crashNeil Stevenson, author of The Metaverse, coined the term “metaverse.” This is a space where he captures the Internet’s successor and a virtual reality-based version of how the Internet will evolve. Users could access this metaverse by wearing personal goggles. Anyone watching a gamer with a VR headset today would be amazed at how much of a work of fiction has become reality. Real shopping his metaverse is not yet available to consumers. But industry experts say brands and retailers need to prepare for what is sure to come.
creative content work Technology and Innovation Director Vlad Mulhem referred to “Snow Crash” during a recent webinar and discussed the importance of brands understanding and embracing the Metaverse as part of the future of retail.
“Just as television never replaced radio, just as the Internet never replaced television, Metaverse is not replaced What happened before that,” Mulhem says. “But the metaverse is going to be just another channel, another way to interact with things. Brands need a presence and it makes sense to prepare for that future. ‘s models, product images, and videos all still occupy their rightful place alongside modern AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality).”
More than a quarter (28%) of consumers have used a virtual reality device or application, according to Cotton in 2021. lifestyle monitor™ Survey. Nearly half (46%) of consumers say they are interested in apparel brands and retailers using virtual reality to enhance their online shopping experience.
Accenture’s David TreatThe Senior Managing Director, Global Lead for Blockchain and Multi-Party Systems, agrees that the Metaverse is in its early stages. But he expects adoptions to happen relatively quickly. At a Retail Industry Leaders Association webinar, he gave an example of how candy wrappers can be extended into a fully digital relationship with consumers.
“we going down the road You can stick a QR code on the inside of a candy wrapper,” says Treat. “When a consumer opens the candy wrapper and scans his QR code, they can download tokens to their digital wallet, which can communicate an experience, access something, or create value in itself.” You can,” explains Treat. “When a customer accepts a product token into their wallet, I can create a direct relationship with them, which is potentially very powerful. If we get a hit rate, we’re giving each other a high five, and we’re doing our best to guess what the end consumer wants.
“In this concept, build a direct relationship Giving end consumers access to actual data will be game-changing,” continues Treat. “The next winning digital business will be one that gains direct and trusted access to end-user wallets, and it will play out differently for retailers, wholesalers and product manufacturers. There will be a very interesting competitive front as to who will provide the wallet infrastructure, what kind of experiences, access and loyalty points programs, etc. will be created.”
According to the magazine, 16% of consumers already say they are more likely to shop for clothes in stores that offer a virtual assistant that offers style tips and recommendations based on the shopper’s needs. . monitor™ Research.
But earning consumer trust and building loyalty in the metaverse is no small feat. As it stands, 41% of consumers do not want brands and retailers to use their online browsing and purchase history to provide personalized advertising content and shopping recommendations. monitor™ Research. Interestingly, however, almost half of the shoppers are between the ages of 13 and 34 (45%). teeth I’m going to trade off that information.
According to a 2022 survey, more than three-quarters (78%) buy online clothing, even though a significant number of Gen Z and millennial shoppers are willing to abandon their browsing and shopping history. It states that the privacy of personal information is an important aspect of shopping for goods. monitor™ data. Overall, he 79% of shoppers value the privacy of their personal information. And that number jumps not only to women, but to 82% among shoppers earning $50,000 or more.
Privacy and trust are not the only challenges for metaverse retailers. cam winstanleyThe video game expert was skeptical of the Metaverse’s ability to offer user-friendly shopping when he participated in RetailX’s Global Ecommerce Report. In addition to navigating through these virtual worlds, Winstanley found that when a user puts on his VR headset, “in just 15 minutes he has a 40-70 percent chance of motion sickness.” I quoted a kinesiologist at the University of Minnesota. Symptoms of headache, nausea, dizziness and fatigue can last up to 4 hours after gaming. Among regular gamers, 15% of users experienced this, while 40% had no symptoms. Winstanley says this suggests that regular players have learned to overcome motion sickness. The question here is, if the casual shopper tries to shop with his VR headset for the first time and he gets motion sickness the first time or the second time, should he continue shopping in the Metaverse or leave the Metaverse completely? to give up.
“An experience that makes 10% of first-time users feel dizzy The chances of it gaining mass market appeal are far from high.says Winstanley. “For e-commerce within the metaverse, ubiquitous VR will be a literal headache for businesses. While it is easy for shoppers to browse web stores on screen all night long, all but the most avid VR gamers He gets tired of the headset after an hour.”
Paul Skeldon of RetailXA senior editor of the Global Ecommerce Report offered a different opinion, stating that consumers don’t need VR headsets to enter virtual worlds. He pointed to Roblox, an online gaming platform that can be played on handheld devices such as the iPad.
“The Metaverse is already here, and tomorrow’s consumers will we love our kids‘” Skeldon said in the report. “Second, the VR technology behind it doesn’t have to be different from the gadgets your 11-year-old already has. As the metaverse becomes more sophisticated and better graphics, young, spend-spending consumers will expect their shopping experience and other interactions with online entities to become more Roblox-like. It will change the way we interact with the web, change the way we think about VR, and when we want to go to the virtual mall, we will do it on our phones.”
The Cotton Incorporated Lifestyle Monitor™ survey is an ongoing research program that measures consumer attitudes and behavior regarding apparel, shopping, fashion, sustainability and more.
For more information on the Lifestyle Monitor™ survey, please visit: https://lifestylemonitor.cottoninc.com.
