Metaverse Shopping: Retailers’ New Reality
Metaverse Shopping: Retailers’ New Reality
For many consumers, the metaverse is a vaguely futuristic concept, perhaps just now catching their attention. Retailers, however, cannot afford to be that relaxed about the metaverse. It is speeding our way and by the time the holiday shopping season rolls around, this new world will actually be here. Retailers need to know that laggards may not fare well in 2022 — and realize that the time to prepare for a virtual future is now.
Successful brands have a vibrant presence not only in the physical world, but also online, on mobile devices and on social media. The metaverse is simply the next extension of that presence. By embracing virtual reality, retailers can enable customers to interact with their brand in a unique immersive environment that tells a brand’s story and sets it apart. Richly detailed, interactive 3D spaces encourage shoppers to linger longer than conventional websites or mobile apps ever have.
The metaverse is young, but data analysis offers a good indication of where it’s going. Calling it “the next big technology platform,” Bloomberg reports that the metaverse market is on track to approach $800 billion in 2024. That represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 13%, compared to a market of less than $500 billion in 2020.
At the user level, consumers have been found to spend more than 14 minutes, immersed in 3D virtual shopping experiences, in contrast to less than two minutes on static 2D ecommerce sites. That boost in customer engagement translates to a 70% increase in conversion rates — and retailers offering a virtual shopping environment like a metaverse have seen ROIs grow by 450%.
Want to learn more about the advantages of setting up metaverse retail outlets?