The Metaverse doesn’t leave the market’s radar, but it still has a long way to go before it becomes a reality. At the main innovation event for retail, the National Retail Federation, which took place this month in New York, appeared as the contrast between the future and the present. The paths to reach this virtual universe took to the stages, but, in the exhibition halls, what was seen were embedded technologies, designed to facilitate the day to day of an operation shaken by the crisis. The event itself, after being suspended in 2021, returned this year to the physical world. Its 25,000 visitors found solutions focused on efficiency and productivity — and no supposed revolutionary value. “Stores will continue to play a strategic role as a logistics hub for solutions and experiences,” Alberto Serrentino, founder of Varese Retail, who addressed the changes in the panel business ecosystem at NRF, told DINHEIRO.
Even so, in front of the crowded auditoriums of the Javits Convention Center, it was difficult to escape the discussion about the Metaverse, considered as the new era of digital consumption. Hybrid layer between the physical and the digital, this universe continues to be built as the entertainment, social networks and content markets converge.
This superreality, in which we can interact through avatars, has already been ostensibly explored as fiction in literature and cinema, but it was in games that it came to life. In 2019, Louis Vuitton worked with the game League of Legends to create the eSports world championship cup chest, which also involved the launch of skins designed by Nicolas Ghesquière, the maison’s stylist. Last year, Havaianas teamed up with Fortnite to announce its new collection of flip-flops within the game. But until we get to the Metaverse stage, “we still need to understand how people want to relate to each other in these environments,” Serrentino said.
The diligence with which the matter is handled in the market has billions of reasons: Metaverse is expected to create a business ecosystem with revenues of US$ 800 billion by 2024, according to Bloomberg. And as the Z and alpha generations (born after 1995) grow as a consumer mass, the numbers go up. Millennials, who now dominate 40% of the market, are already pushing companies for new shopping experiences.
Building bonds with these consumers is crucial for retailers, since 68% of these young people, according to a Capgemini study, prefer to relate directly to brands. Nike, for example, has scaled back distribution to prioritize its own platforms. “But this doesn’t threaten retail, it complements that journey by making it more responsive and open to innovation,” said the industry expert.
BRAZIL For now, social networks help to leverage the retail presence in the online universe with innovative interaction models, such as live commerce. These broadcasts presented by digital influencers are a phenomenon of the Chinese market exported to the rest of the world and that is expected to triple sales revenue through the platforms by 2027, reaching US$ 600 billion globally, according to Research and Markets.
Around here, the format gained strength with the explosion of e-commerce during the pandemic. Americanas promotes the Black Friday Show on YouTube, with a broadcast presented by Brazilian internet celebrities and which, in 2021, reached 263 thousand people simultaneously. Amazon Brasil joined the Google platform for the first time to broadcast live commerce in the reality show model last year, which also allowed consumers to influence the program’s activities through social networks. All paths are still promises about the Metaverse’s potential for more optimistic retail days.
#Retail #targets #Metaverse #dont #MONEY