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In late 2021, when Mark Zuckerberg announced the rebranding of his company from Facebook to Meta, the scope of the metaverse broadened, and it was gaining tremendous momentum. Many businesses and brands are keen to establish their presence in the virtual world. Regardless of whether a business is small, medium, or large, the metaverse seems to be highly welcoming, and any business can have its own virtual store in the metaverse space.
What is the Metaverse?
The metaverse is an open virtual reality world in a virtual universe, where users can create their avatars/appearances, communities, alternative realities or lifestyles and communicate, engage, play and work. It is the convergence of enhanced physical and digital reality.
The metaverse provides a highly enhanced immersive experience and almost every activity we do in the real world, like purchasing virtual land, virtual real estate, constructing virtual homes/offices/malls, social gatherings, shopping, entertainment events, or participating in virtual community activities. The metaverse uses multiple technologies that help users to completely transition into a virtual world and live there virtually.
Is the metaverse necessary?
In a report by Gartner, by 2026, 25% of people will spend at least one hour a day in the metaverse for various activities majorly concerning work, shopping, education, social, and entertainment. And soon, the virtual universe will see the growth of multiple virtual worlds.
The metaverse is seen as the latest paradigm shift of the internet, and the way it is rapidly growing will make it a household digital frontier soon. The metaverse will lead to a persistent, decentralized, collaborative space and revolutionary business models, which ultimately help businesses to expand more through virtual spaces.
Further, the metaverse as a platform is believed to provide equal opportunity to businesses of all kinds, irrespective of sector, industry, or size. Every business will have a square chance to establish its presence in a virtual world and leverage it to its benefit and growth.
So, to answer if it is necessary, well, it depends on many factors. Since the metaverse and virtual worlds are still nascent, it will take some time to grow as a technology that everyone can access seamlessly.
If you have a solid digital presence and your target audience is right in virtual spaces, it is the right time to transition into the virtual world. Your business in the metaverse will grow with the technology and platform, and when it reaches its peak, you can be a pioneer.
How to start your own virtual store in the metaverse?
The process of setting up a virtual store is as demanding as setting up a store in the real world. It goes through a long process, from buying the virtual space to setting up the store.
1. Buying the virtual space
There are many metaverse platforms like Meta, Horizon Worlds, or Decentraland where you can buy or rent a virtual space just like brands buy or rent space in physical malls. Or, if you have adequate finances, technology, time and tech experts, you can create your private virtual world.
2. Choosing a right development partner
After the purchase of the space, the complicated process goes through the selection of blockchain, crypto, creating the AR/VR venues and more. And the complexity might grow with more advances in the metaverse. So it might become arduous if you don’t have a proper technical expert team in the domains related to the metaverse. Every business can’t have its own in-house tech expert team, so partnering with the right metaverse development company is necessary.
3. Choosing the blockchain
All the activities in the metaverse are performed through Blockchain technology. The selection of blockchain should be made carefully as it will define the kind of experience your customer can expect from your virtual store. Factors like decentralization, transparency, and high traffic acceptance are much required.
4. Add other elements
Following the selection of space and blockchain, next, you need to concentrate on shaping your virtual space. Other elements include creating the 3D virtual space, your store’s interior, products or digital twins, etc. And you should also concentrate on virtual world apps and other features that will connect your audience with your virtual world.
The setting up of a virtual store in the metaverse comes with many advantages like
- Personalised connection with GenZ
- Increases brand value and personality
- Improved customer engagement and experience
- An omnichannel shopping experience
- A good marketing strategy
- Phygital (physical + digital) medium presence
If you can track the activities and presence of your target audience in the metaverse, you can build your strategy and shift into the metaverse. Many popular brands like Nike, Rebook, H&M, etc., have already established their virtual presence and successfully explored virtual spaces.
Summing up
As the metaverse will soon be as handy as social media platforms today, businesses and brands must focus on creating an immersive yet emotionally appealing shopping experience for their audience. If you can create a near-to-real experience in your virtual store that allows people to touch, feel and sense your product/services, you can rock the virtual world.
Altyug is a metaverse platform where businesses can seamlessly create virtual experiences that resonates.
If you are looking to take your business into the virtual world and want it to be unique and highly engaging, check Altyug - it comes with endless possibilities.
