Plan Now For Metaverse CX

Last year, my colleague Colson Hillier published an article in Customer Think that explored the need for customer experience (CX) in the #metaverse. He cautioned brands not to think of the metaverse as a trend or hype. It’s already much more than that and leaders need to be considering how it will affect or change their business.

The metaverse has some well-known detractors. Apple CEO Tim Cook thinks that Augmented Reality (AR) will be a much bigger deal than the metaverse, although I would argue that it’s really a sliding scale - #AR leads into a broader metaverse.

One of the main problems for adoption has been the price of the headsets. To be truly immersed in Virtual Reality (#VR) requires a headset and the recently launched Meta Quest Pro is $1,499. Cheaper models are available, but with less functionality and are still expensive. This has been a barrier.

Companies like #Meta have realised this. Their main metaverse platform Horizon Worlds has started allowing people to enter and engage in a metaverse experience without the need to use VR. It’s not as immersive, but it works.

I think that initiatives like this, plus AR as a steppingstone into VR, will help the broader concept of a metaverse?reach a tipping point with consumers. It’s important for executives to be aware of what is happening and what may be possible.

Look at the digital bag #Gucci recently sold inside Roblox. It was sold for more than the price of a real Gucci bag. Selling digital property requires some thought into what makes it valuable in the first place. Look at how Ralph Lauren has partnered with Fortnite to create in-game clothes that can be linked to real clothes. Nike has similar ideas.

It’s a compelling idea for fashion and accessory manufacturers. Create a limited-edition range in the real world that is twinned with similarly limited virtual versions of the same item. It’s rare inside the metaverse and inside the real world - the online version probably has an NFT to verify it is the real thing.

Executives that still think of gaming as Donkey Kong and Frogger may take some convincing, but it is worth talking to people that have experienced game environments like Fortnite and Roblox because they already resemble a vision of the metaverse. They represent interactive worlds with property and currency and the ability to use an avatar to represent yourself, however you want to be seen.

McKinsey believes that metaverse value creation could be worth around $5 trillion by 2030 - that’s just inside this decade alone. 79% of existing metaverse users have purchased something. There are immediate opportunities in industries such as fashion and clothing and in others it will take more time for the ideas to emerge.

As Colson noted in his article, it is happening. It can’t be ignored. It’s not a fad that will gain attention and then pass by. A decade from now we will all be used to virtual workspaces, games, sports arenas, and entertainment in the same way that we are all now very familiar with social media.

So, experiment with a few ideas and see how your customers react to engagement in the metaverse. Those with early experience will be the ones that succeed in this emerging opportunity.

?

Let me know your thoughts by commenting or contacting me directly via my LinkedIn. You can follow the Alorica page on LinkedIn or visit our website here.