The fast-growing world of Metaverse is now expected to offer young consumers life-like and authentic shopping experiences. The biggest incentive for e-commerce players to add Metaverse to their sales strategy is its capability to deliver immersive and multi-dimensional experiences.

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Industry reports point to the potential for growth of shopping on Metaverse. The global Metaverse-driven online retail market is expected to be over $60 billion by 2026. Industry data shows that the market could expand at 36 percent CAGR between 2021 and 2026.

No surprise then that brands are expanding their addressable market by launching stores in the Metaverse.

“Online shopping is today popular with the youth as they are willing to experiment more. That trend is going to continue and will become even stronger as immersive technologies make virtual shopping even more real,” said Piyush Gupta, Chief Executive Officer, VOSMOS, a Metaverse technology start-up.

With the big technology companies championing Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies and devices, online sellers will have a stronger play in the Metaverse. They would enable easier and faster shopper interaction with virtual objects, people, and environments. Another big factor is 5G. Faster speeds and low latency will further boost the growth of e-commerce in the virtual world.

Piyush Gupta affirmed that these trends will drive innovation and efficiencies in the shopping experience of buyers.

“Metaverse will make shopping more immersive and closer to real life. Features like virtual try-on, where you can see how a product looks on you, will make a huge impact on how the space scales up. And with virtual try-ons and virtual shopping assistants, the return-ratio – one of the biggest challenges for online retailers – will be significantly reduced,” he said.

And by leveraging technology and data, the decision-making process for both buyers and sellers will become better and faster.

“Data will play a big role. Each store on the Metaverse will be customised basis who you are and what are you more likely to purchase. With access to quality data, online sellers will be able to accelerate every element of their sale cycle. There will be efficiencies in the shopping experiences. A buyer would be able to interact with sales executives for more informed decisions, unlike the current online shopping, which is mostly a solo experience,” said Gupta.

According to him commerce on Metaverse is not ready for mass acceptance, at least in the near future.

He added that “the existing regulatory framework around Crypto is still unclear, hence, it is difficult to corroborate that crypto will become as popular as conventional modes of commerce on the Metaverse.”

Until then what we can expect to see is young consumers driving commerce on the Metaverse and taking it to the next level. And it won’t be limited to just online retail.

“Art or exhibition galleries will be another niche that can benefit from being on Metaverse. In the services space, education can become so much more scalable because of the tech, and more accessible to a larger audience. The reason education will specifically benefit is because online learning needs to be made impactful and Metaverse has all the tools to make that happen,” Gupta added.

First Published:Dec 20, 2022 9:30 AM IST