The opportunities offered by the metaverse
Udemy instructor George Levy told the story of Katy, a businesswoman who ran a costume shop in Miami. But in the wake of the pandemic, business began to decline. Because of this, Katy came up with the idea of opening a costume shop in Decentraland. She created her clothes as NFT’s and people would buy them and wear them within the metaverse. The business was a complete success.
What happens in the metaverse is that, being a mirror of the physical world, there will be businesses of all kinds; from the traditional ones that we already know to businesses that will have to arise specifically for the needs that arise within this virtual world.
Levy noted, “If you have a business like a restaurant you may not be able to sell food as is in the metaverse, but you can have a digital presence. For example, if you buy NFT’s within the metaverse you can have certain benefits if you go to the physical store. It is a way of showing that there is a digital world with a physical one”.
It is also important to consider that Mexico is one of the main e-commerce markets in Latin America. According to Statista, in 2020 it was estimated that more than 39% of the Mexican population purchased goods or services online. By 2022 it reached 44.2% and it is estimated that by 2025 it will reach 57%.
Regarding these figures, Jesús Cuenca, a technology consulting partner at EY, mentioned: “This high level of growth is expected to continue, so all businesses have a huge potential market that they will want to cover.”
Both Cuenca and Levy agree that although we are still in the early stages of the metaverse, we are making great strides. “Google and Meta are already fully involved. A small and medium-sized company has to be aware of the metaverse because the big ones have already established themselves,” said Levy.
On the other hand, Cuenca said that “many are doing internal exercises and launching their conceptual tests, but there is still a long way to go and it is linked to the evolution of technologies.”
Tips for entering the metaverse with your business
The most important thing of all is educate yourself around the metaverse. Being such a new world that is advancing by leaps and bounds, it is important to be able to understand it in the best possible way and to be aware of all its updates. For this, there are numerous paid and free tools and courses that will allow you to have a better picture.
Once you understand the metaverse, be creative with the possibilities your business can offer will be the key. Although there are products that cannot be enjoyed in the same way in the metaverse, such as food or drinks, experiences can be sold. For example, you can put your restaurant in Decentraland and offer courses on how to prepare the menu of the day.
Another example can be the other way around. If you have a clothing brand in the physical world, when your buyers purchase the garment, it can come with a QR code included that contains the NFT of the clothing and that can be used in the metaverse.
Lastly, consider that if you can’t sell anything in or out of the metaverse, another option may simply be create a digital presence and incentives for people to come to your physical store. For example, activities where if you attend or win you can get promotions or discounts in your physical store.
