The Covid-19 pandemic pushed the world into a virtual work environment as it caught most of the global workforce unaware and unprepared. As the pandemic lingered on, a lot of businesses found new creative ways to establish a niche for themselves in their new found virtual reality.
As the world is transitioning into the post-pandemic era, an opportunity lies on the horizon promising numerous benefits to early movers. Increasingly, more and more companies are realizing the benefits of running a business in the Metaverse. According to a report by JP Morgan, the Metaverse will become an integral part of every business sector in the near future with the annual revenue set to cross $1 trillion.
Stepping into the Metaverse
Like with every new business opportunity, the understanding of Metaverse as a platform is of paramount importance. Broadly, there are two types of Metaverse platforms that are currently available for businesses. Firstly, a blockchain-based Metaverse such as The Sandbox (SAND), Axie Infinity (AXS), and Decentraland (MANA) wherein people can buy virtual real estate, digital assets and a lot more. Finally, the second platform aims at forming a general virtual world for gaming or business purposes. One can classify pre-existing gaming virtual worlds like Fortnite and Minecraft in this category.
Business Transformation in the Metaverse
Some of the key issues that the Metaverse helps a business solve is interaction with customers, product experience and explaining the brand journey. The Metaverse can become the final push needed for an organization to go ahead with a complete digital transformation. While the platform and the technology surrounding it still may be in a nascent stage, the possibilities are endless and the successful adaptation of the Metaverse can be a game changer for businesses looking for a competitive edge.
Commercial Activities in the Metaverse
There are multiple business opportunities in the recently opened Metaverse that organizations can look at-
● Virtual Concerts- There are already artists of the global music industry that have held concerts in the Metaverse already. World-renowned artists like Justin Beiber, Ariana Grande and Marshmello have taken the leap into the Metaverse for performance arts.
● Improved Client Interaction- A big opportunity for businesses presents itself with the advent of Metaverse. The virtual world has removed the distance barrier between the customer and the business, allowing a more interactive insight for the end user into the working and making of the end-product.
● Remote Working- As a concept, Remote Working was thrust upon the world due to a pandemic but with time, many companies found more benefits in working remote. It allowed greater flexibility to workers and with an ever-improving virtual world landscape, softwares recreated meetings in a virtual environment unlike never before.
● Digital Real Estate- What may have sounded as a scarcely believable idea a decade ago, has indeed become a reality. Digital real estate sales in the Metaverse crossed $500m in the past one year, and this figure is expected to cross the billion dollar mark in the upcoming year.
