The emerging market of the metaverse is creating mind-boggling business models. Who would have thought we will have a digital self to care for? Perhaps your digital avatar would like a jacket designed by Burberry!? How about a pair of fresh kicks to wear at the online concert?
As our existence will increasingly turn digital, we will soon have an online avatar that is representing ourselves. We will have a digital professional and personal identity to care for in the metaverse and the retail sector is identifying a trillion-dollar future marketplace.
McKinsey has estimated that the metaverse could generate $4-$5 trillion by 2030. Metaverse entrepreneurship is on the rise, and the retail sector is guessing which metaverse will be most successful and profitable. Brands such as Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Adidas, Gucci, Tommy Hilfiger are investing in digital fashion products to equip our virtual selves. Some say there will be more than 10,000 virtual worlds and the biggest ones now days, are The Sandbox, Decentraland and Voxels and Horizon Worlds.
Decentraland has a market valuation of $1.2 billion and has a dedicated area for fashion retail. A real estate developer has invested $912,228 to buy land to build a virtual version of Tokyo’s famous “Harajuku” district to rent shops out to retailers. A retail group K11 is taking a chance at The Sandbox and has purchased a considerable area. The average price of one Sandbox land is around $2,300 but prices jump considerably if it’s an attractive area where lots of users will be present. MetaMetric Solutions estimated that real estate sales on the four major metaverse platforms reached $501 million in 2021.
However, those looking forward to buying a digital Louis Vuitton bag for their virtual girlfriend will have to wait.
The metaverse in full, does not exist yet. Reports suggest that one of the biggest metaverses ‘Decentraland’ only has 8,000 daily active users. It seems far off that we will spend money on the image of our digital selves, but when we are working and interacting with one another in the metaverse our image will be important. Like it or not.
So, when will we live in the metaverse? The company Meta estimated that it will take 10–15 years to complete the construction of a fully functional and publicly available metaverse with all necessary gadgets.
Until then. Enjoy the fresh outdoors.