Virtual event platforms building retail reality in metaverse

The metaverse is here, and upon us. Already, we have been witnessing companies coming up with various models and scenarios for future use. As we go forward, there are very likely to be better and refined versions. This metaverse is a case in progress.

Talking about the metaverse, Ali Sadhik Shaik, VP of Product Management at Wiztales, said: "Metaverse is a simulated digital environment that combines physical and digital worlds and uses AR (augmented reality), MR (mixed reality), and VR (virtual reality) to build venues for rich user interaction. It creates a parallel virtual reality using AR, VR, Blockchain, social commerce, 5G, and cloud computing.

"Despite the fact that metaverse is still in its infancy, it has enormous potential for retailers to promote and sell their goods. In the metaverse, the future of retail will allow customers to socialize, shop, and engage in this new environment."

Paras Lohani, Founder and CEO, B2B Sales, Arrow LLC, added his bit regarding the metaverse. He noted: "Metaverse is championing the race to catapult the attendee experience at corporate events to levels never scaled before. The nascent technology concept thrives on AI, VR, digital avatars and spatial audio to create shared virtual experiences for long-distance participants in 3D spaces. A Bloomberg research predicts the global metaverse revenue opportunity could approach $800 billion in 2024."

There are certain areas where metaverse has a role to play. Some of these are:

Ease of access and higher attendee engagement: Through an easily accessible platform and 3D gamification techniques, the Metaverse promises to increase event attendance and attendee engagement dramatically.

Innovative environmental design: Metaverse allows attendees to travel across space and time, creating an opportunity for experiential designers to unleash their creativity and vision.

Monetization: VIP experiences may be offered by metaverse events. Attendees could, for example, upgrade to front-row seats or attend an exclusive session. In that sense, premium event features have the potential to grow audience engagement and scale-up lead generation opportunities.

Post-event analytics: Detailed post-event analytics including attendee participation trends, resource downloads, etc. shape lead nurturing programs and calibrate strategies for future events.

With the continued evolution of the Metaverse, the events industry will continue testing and exploring the latest tech revolution as it promises to play a decisive role in shaping the future of the events industry. As we learn more about that role, it becomes apparent how big it can be.

For the retail sector, Ali Sadhik Shaik, Wiztales, added: "Currently, the retail and e-commerce industries are fraught with frictions, inefficiencies, and consumer dissatisfaction and are constantly innovating to mitigate these issues. It will witness a complete digital transformation in every department in the next decade to overcome these issues.

"The metaverse and extended reality spaces are exploding, offering a slew of chances for retailers to connect with customers by promoting digital items and services such as NFTs, digital avataars, digital fashion, virtual events, and games. The pandemic forced retailers to recognise the value of an omni-channel experience in order to stay in business. To keep customers engaged, both physical storefronts and e-commerce are required. The metaverse platform can be used to sell both real and digital goods.

"The most crucial aspect of the metaverse for retail, however, will be the ability to host virtual events such as brand and product launches, customer and distributor engagement events, and conferences. The metaverse gives up a vast possibility for organizing highly immersive and scalable events, for example, because there are no hard limits on how many and where you may have an event."

Recently, the Travis Scott Fortnite concert just drew 27.7 million people, significantly more than a conventional actual concert can draw in any venue. Numerous case studies indicate how fashion merchants are already utilizing the metaverse to build virtual stores, hold fashion shows, and launch interactive product launches, letting customers interact with the products in augmented reality. In fact, Microsoft Co-Founder Bill Gates anticipated that most virtual meetings would transition from 2D to metaverse or 3D virtual worlds in the next 3-4 years.

These are the early signs that the metaverse will be a big game changer for the retail industry, and business executives should keep this in mind and begin strategizing about how to use it as soon as possible. There are numerous use cases in metaverse, which is already being used by fashion retailers to launch virtual stores, conduct fashion shows, experiential product launches, allowing consumers to experience the products in augmented reality.