Metaverse: A New Frontier for Business Opportunities
The concept of the metaverse has gained significant recognition as a technology trend with immense potential. While its definition continues to evolve, the metaverse represents a virtual realm that merges the physical and digital worlds. Businesses are increasingly interested in understanding the impact of the metaverse and exploring the opportunities it presents.
Understanding the Metaverse: A Bridge Between Realities
Contrary to popular belief, the metaverse is not merely a 3D version of the internet or a gaming platform. It serves as a bridge between the physical and virtual worlds, enabling access to multiple interconnected virtual spaces. These spaces offer various digital services and user activities, including social interactions. By considering the core building blocks of the metaverse technology stack—platforms, content and experiences, enablers, and connectivity infrastructure—we gain valuable insights into its potential impact on businesses.
Importance of the Metaverse for Businesses
The metaverse, with its immersive technology, holds immense implications for businesses across various industries. It has garnered significant attention from tech giants, investors, and startups, all eager to capitalize on its potential. Investments in the metaverse industry have already exceeded $120 billion, signaling a growing interest in the lucrative opportunities it presents.
A comprehensive report by McKinsey sheds light on the future of the metaverse and its impact on businesses. Surprisingly, not only are around 60% of consumers comfortable with early versions of the metaverse, but an overwhelming 95% of business leaders also believe in its positive influence on their organizations. This widespread recognition of its potential is set to revolutionize industries such as healthcare, consumer and retail, and media. In fact, the report predicts that by 2030, the metaverse could generate a staggering $5 trillion in economic value.
The metaverse's potential for value creation is striking. According to McKinsey's projections, the technology could generate economic value ranging from $2 trillion to $2.6 trillion by 2030. This growth is particularly evident in the virtual learning and gaming markets, showcasing the metaverse's ability to reshape industries in profound ways.
Notably, the metaverse's impact extends to various aspects of business operations. Marketing emerges as a dominant area, with its potential to engage customers and create value within the metaverse. Information systems and finance also play critical roles in exploring the technical, economic, and regulatory aspects of this immersive technology, even the literature surrounding it shows the need for further research. Similarly, human resources is an underrepresented area, warranting more studies on how the metaverse affects the workforce and organizational culture.
The transformative power of the metaverse extends to diverse aspects of business operations. With key areas such as finance, marketing, operation management, and human resources, highlight the impact and possibilities:
Finance: Financial Flow through NFTs
In the metaverse, businesses have the opportunity to revolutionize their financial management by leveraging digital currencies and blockchain technology. By utilizing NFTs (non-fungible tokens), businesses can monetize their digital assets and participate in a global market economy without being restricted by geographical limitations. The metaverse provides a platform for businesses to access a broader base of investors, offering stock markets and trading platforms that transcend physical boundaries.
Blockchain technology serves as a robust foundation for NFTs, ensuring secure ownership management and accurate record-keeping. This technology enables businesses to transact various assets, including real estate, artwork, automobiles, and digital goods, using non-fungible tokens. The introduction of NFTs in the metaverse has not only transformed the market but also attracted younger audiences, presenting an opportunity for brands to engage with emerging target demographics.
For instance, brands like Adidas Originals have capitalized on the metaverse's potential by generating significant revenue through the sale of NFTs. Their "Into the Metaverse" NFT collection garnered $23.5 million from the sale of 30,000 tokens. This demonstrates how businesses can explore new revenue streams beyond traditional product and service sales in the metaverse. In 2021, the total value of all NFTs was estimated to be around USD$23 billion, and as the metaverse continues to expand and more companies enter the market, the value of NFTs is expected to increase substantially in the coming years.
Marketers are also recognizing the importance of reaching this young, internet-savvy demographic, as seen with Coca-Cola's introduction of NFT collectibles in the metaverse platform Decentraland.
Overall, the metaverse presents businesses with a unique opportunity to transform their financial operations, enabling efficient and secure management of assets through digital currencies and NFTs. With the metaverse's global reach and the increasing popularity of NFTs, businesses can unlock new avenues for growth, revenue generation, and engagement with their target audiences.
Human Resources: Virtual Training and Remote Workplaces
The metaverse, with its integration of artificial intelligence and immersive technologies like AR, VR, and XR, is already making a significant impact on e-skills training and development in business. This convergence of technologies bridges the gap between theory and practice, providing employees with practical experiences that enhance their learning and skill acquisition. As the metaverse continues to evolve, it has the potential to reshape the workforce and create new opportunities for professional growth and development.
A study conducted by Calongne et al. highlights how the metaverse can balance the needs of both private and public spaces, benefiting individuals and societies through enhanced social and global communications. This demonstrates the potential of the metaverse to revolutionize the way we learn and interact in professional settings.
The ability to merge AI technology with virtual, augmented, and extended reality for business training enables interactive training sessions that bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application. These immersive experiences have the power to transform employee skill development and reshape the future of work. Experts predict that by 2030, VR and AR, combined with the metaverse, could disrupt approximately 23 million jobs, offering unparalleled training opportunities.
Additionally, the metaverse provides valuable support for remote work. It addresses communication challenges in remote environments by offering a virtual workplace accessible through VR headsets and digital avatars. This allows employees to engage in real-time interactions and collaborative efforts, fostering a sense of connection and enhancing overall productivity. With its immersive and enriched features, the metaverse holds immense potential to transform how we communicate and collaborate in the workplace.
Marketing: Immersive Campaigns and Promotions
Marketing is an important aspect of business that focuses on promoting products or services. By embracing the metaverse, businesses can tap into new and exciting marketing opportunities. In fact, marketing has emerged as the dominant business function in metaverse studies, indicating its significant impact on customer relations. The metaverse enables businesses to engage in various marketing activities, such as retailing, customer engagement, service adoption, digital luxury branding, and user acceptance.
One of the key advantages of the metaverse for marketing is the ability to create immersive experiences using virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). Brands can design interactive ad campaigns within the metaverse, offering users unique and engaging experiences. Imagine personalized product placements and targeted advertisements tailored to individual users based on their virtual activities and preferences.
Companies have already begun leveraging AR and VR to captivate consumers in unprecedented ways. For instance, clothing retailer H&M used Magic Leap's AR glasses in their Tokyo store, allowing shoppers to transform plain black t-shirts into customized apparel. Luxury car brand Ferrari uses AR to let car shoppers virtually explore their models, even delving into the cars' engines and braking systems. These immersive experiences enable businesses to connect with customers through storytelling, creating lasting impressions, and fostering meaningful relationships.
The metaverse also presents a new frontier for public relations, as future social media platforms may resemble popular virtual environments like Roblox and Fortnite. Users will have the ability to design 3D AR avatars to navigate the web and make purchases. This opens up countless possibilities for marketers to enhance the consumer experience. With interactive media gaining prominence, brands can leverage the metaverse to provide entertaining and educational opportunities for customers to learn about their products, services, and goals. By pushing the limits of innovation and creating realistic experiences, businesses can compete effectively in the digital realm.
In this rapidly evolving landscape, marketing professionals must embrace the metaverse's potential and explore innovative strategies to promote their brands. By leveraging VR, AR, and interactive media, businesses can forge stronger connections with their target audience, increase engagement, and create memorable experiences that set them apart from the competition. The metaverse offers a vast and untapped market for marketing, and those who embrace this digital frontier will thrive in the new era of immersive marketing.
Operations Management: Immersive Shopping and Live Event Experiences
The metaverse is constantly evolving due to the technological advancements made by humans in our society. In the field of operations management, a study by Owens et al. was one of the first to examine how metaverse technology can affect group dynamics and project performance. They discovered that it is indeed possible to complete projects, either in part or entirely, within a virtual world like the metaverse. This opens up exciting new opportunities for collaboration and management in the workplace and enables businesses to explore uncharted territories.
By harnessing the power of AI, ML, and virtual environments, companies can streamline processes, improve efficiency, and stay at the forefront of technological advancements. The metaverse is a dynamic space that continues to evolve, offering exciting possibilities for businesses to thrive in the digital era. The metaverse brings unique opportunities for businesses to optimize operations, engage customers, and create innovative experiences.
For instance, businesses can create virtual storefronts that mimic real-world shopping experiences. Customers can explore products as if they were in a physical store, trying them on using their digital avatars before making a purchase. The immersive retail experience enhances convenience through increased customer engagement and personalized shopping interactions and provides valuable feedback for product improvement.
Moreover, the metaverse offers an alternative platform for hosting virtual events and conferences. Companies can bring together participants from anywhere in the world, and provide interactive networking opportunities and engaging presentations. For instance, people will have the opportunity to enjoy live performances from the comfort of their own homes, collaborating with musicians on stage or securing the best seats virtually.
Conclusion
The metaverse presents a transformative landscape for businesses, unlocking new possibilities for customer engagement, remote work, training, advertising, and more. With its ability to bridge the gap between physical and digital realms, the metaverse offers unique experiences and opportunities for value creation. As companies continue to invest and innovate in this space, we can expect the metaverse to shape the future of business operations across industries.
Notes and References
- Metaverse Business Impact. https://101blockchains.com/metaverse-business-impact/
- The Metaverse and Its Impact on Business Future. https://www.bonanza.design/blogs/the-metaverse-and-its-impact-on-business-future/
- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311975.2023.2222499
- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311975.2023.2222499
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2022/10/12/what-is-the-business-impact-of-the-metaverse/?sh=100ceb9526d3
