Walmart is the next big company to land on the metaverse

Walmart I will join Facebook social networking siteAnd nikeAnd Ralph LaurenAnd stutterAnd Disney And other companies with the intent to claim their space among the big names metaverso.

We are talking about the largest American multinational retailer that operates a chain of supermarkets, department stores, discount stores and grocery stores.

In addition to being the world’s largest by turnover, it is also the company that provides the most private business, with 2.2 million employees.

Walmart Moves: What We Know

According to the American TV channel, CNBC, the company introduced several new brands with the intent of Produce and sell virtual goods. In one of the patents, it was said to include the ability to provide users with one virtual currency e NFT.

Basically several brands have submitted on December 30th, proposing plans to start selling virtual goods. These include electronics, toys, appliances, sports equipment, apparel, home décor, and more.

By August, the company had already released Post a job on their LinkedIn profile looking for Cryptocurrency expert. However, the list of vacancies has been deleted. It is not clear whether the role has been filled.

In mid-September, however, the news of the implementation Payments using Litecoin cryptocurrency in their stores. It turned out later that this was not true. Finally, in October, he also cooperated with cryptocurrency company Coinstar Andexchange coins to install 200 Bitcoin ATMs in its stores in the United States of America.

Walmart uses a file blockchain technology To manage the supply chain, customer markets and smart devices Since 2018.

Read also: What are stablecoins, what are the main ones and trends for 2022

More and more companies are aiming at the metaverse

according toUnited States Patent and Trademark OfficeWalmart placed seven separate orders at the end of December. In fact, the company recently announced that it wants to constantly explore how emerging technologies can shape future shopping experiences and that it regularly submits requests for brands to be part of the innovation process.

Walmart isn’t the only one turning his attention to the virtual world. There are many brands, including Facebook itself. We all know she renamed herself dead And it announced its goals to invest and expand into the metaverse, a virtual space where people can interact digitally using avatars.

Among other things, there are several companies in particular fashion brand, Including GucciAnd nikeAnd AdidasAnd gap e under the shield, who have successfully tested NFTs in the last period.

Frank ChaparroEditor-in-chief of Cryptocurrency magazineThe Block”, argues that NFTs and the metaverse are comparable to the dawning of e-commerce, in the mid-1990s. That’s why companies don’t want to risk losing what could be the next revolution in the business world.

A world that has yet to be explored

Despite the various realities’ plans for wanting to become part of the metaverse, not everyone is sure how to create a complete metaverse. Analyzers Morgan Stanley They said it could be an 8 trillion dollar opportunity, but The real challenge is getting consumers to participate.

However, Walmart saw its online sales boom in 2021, with revenue of $11.1 billion in the third quarter, the report noted. Digital Commerce 360.

Read also: Millions of Dollars for Virtual Earth – See How Much Land is Worth in the Metaverse

This was not the first time for Walmart

In this regard, a Video who is supposed to appear How Walmart imagines shopping in the metaverse. In fact, the video in question is not recent. The clip was actually created for Walmart by a digital agency, and was already presented at SXSW Festival 2017 When the word metaverse didn’t exist!

If you are interested in taking a look at it, here it is:

We find an avatar sifting through virtual grocery shelves, picking up items randomly and throwing them into the cart.

The video, therefore, has nothing to do with the current wave of metaverse hype Which is spreading in Silicon Valley, but there is no news on whether Walmart has stayed true to the concept and what its virtual stores will look like today. Could things be different this time?

We can’t help but wonder if new virtual worlds can really be successful, allowing us all to wear VR headsets, perhaps for office meetings, populated by avatars of clowns, robots, cowboys and mermaids!