By: Gina Troiano & Elisa Leone
Happy Saturday Everybody,
We hope everyone enjoyed our first blog and are excited for this one! We had a ton of fun searching, brainstorming, and coming together for this one!
Today we’re talking about the Metaverse, technology, the impact it has on businesses, and the direction in which it seems to be moving toward within the next few years. The Metaverse and virtual reality side of technology is all about growth, exploration, and expansion. The Metaverse is a social connection and focus made of different networking 3D virtual worlds that can be accessed through virtual reality headsets.
What is the Metaverse & Where did it come from?
Just to reiterate, the Metaverse is an online virtual environment that incorporates a broad range of Internet functions. It is a shared virtual space with digital worlds with the use of virtual and augmented reality headsets. When you are in the metaverse, it acts as an alternate reality which can be very beneficial for all types of people and businesses. The Metaverse is a space where users can come together to work, play, communicate, and even shop.
The Metaverse was created to have an overlap in our digital life and real life. This concept was created by Mark Zuckerberg, originally because of COVID-19. In the Metaverse, users can communicate and virtually hang out with friends who are also in the Metaverse. All of this happens right from the comfort of your own couch. As mentioned before, people can attend events, go shopping, go to virtual concerts, or even attend a meeting for work. This is a never-been-seen-before, massively impactful, technologically powerful, and smart investment in comparison to a Zoom or Google Meet; This is because you will be in a shared room with a bunch of avatars (you & your coworkers) all virtually present to mimic a real-life meeting.
The Metaverse and E-Commerce:
All businesses should be watching the Metaverse’s every move because this could be a breakthrough that you or someone you know has been looking for. For example – Imagine you’re taking a stroll through the park in the Metaverse and see someone wearing a shirt that piques your interest, suddenly your AI (artificial intelligence) assistant pops up and shows you where you can buy that shirt as well as the price. Virtually yet realistically, you can try it on and purchase the one that you want all in Metaverse. When we tell you that this is a game-changer, we mean it! Then, a few days later you get a package at your front doorstep, and it is the shirt in real life.
This scenario can be switched out with any product from any company. If your brand is in the Metaverse, users can test trial your product before buying it. In the Metaverse, there will be shops and even huge malls that your avatar can go to with friends to shop around. Businesses that want to stay competitive should invest in being in the Metaverse to engage with customers which will provide them with new advertising opportunities. This is way better than online shopping because the avatars can virtually test out the products instead of going off a one-dimensional picture of a product online. It’s honestly more fun as well!
The Metaverse and Your Business:
Within the Metaverse it is essential to market your company’s products and services where your target audience is. It may take a little bit to figure out who and where your target audience is, but it is worth the time to find the correct market research to help your business succeed.
“Companies will need to transition their marketing strategies from online ad buys to existing in a shared, virtual economy. Companies will need to do market research on their new customers in the metaverse. How people act and what their preferences are in the metaverse could be totally different than how they behave and what they shop for in real life…” -Forbes
This might be a hard transition analyzing your target audience within a different reality, but by putting your company out there, it may have greater benefits in the future. Staying up to date with technology and different realities is very important and will be the future of e-commerce.
That said, we hope you learned something new about the Metaverse, what it does, where it came from, how it impacts business, how you can access it, and the implications it has on the future of business.
Thanks for reading and staying up to date with us! Stay tuned for our next blog! Have a great weekend!
Homebase Digital, Gina Troiano & Elisa Leone
