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A study from McKinsey concludes that while many brands are investing in creating immersive, digital-only metaverse experiences, consumers are seeking real-world applicability.
“For all the rhetoric around letting consumers ‘express themselves’ through avatars in the metaverse, it’s not a major reason consumers want to engage virtually,” McKinsey wrote in the study. “Avatars are primarily viewed as interesting if their use improves product purchasing or experimentation in the real world — or if it’s entertaining in the moment.”
For example, according to a McKinsey survey, in the fashion and beauty category as well as the home category, consumers with some knowledge of the metaverse ranked virtual events and virtual homes in the bottom two use cases. The top use cases were virtual try-ons in fashion and beauty and open houses and product demos in home.
In fitness, the top-ranked metaverse use cases were group workout classes and cycling or running through different locations, while virtual events and digital sports memorabilia ranked low.
Earlier this year, Accenture completed an extensive survey exploring the metaverse and found that while gaming is still a big draw (59% of consumers look forward to playing games in the metaverse), only 4% see the metaverse as solely about gaming. Accenture wrote, “As one U.S. consumer expressed it, ‘I wish that the metaverse could solve how we do our day-to-day tasks, like paying bills, learning how to cook meals or accessing mental-health professionals.’”
Sitecore also concluded a survey last August where they asked U.S. consumers what experiences they’d use the metaverse for. They found the top five to be virtually attending an event, concert, or festival, cited by 43%; engaging in thrill-seeking adventures, 40%; touring a home when looking to buy or rent a property, 37%; trying on shoes, clothes, or makeup before purchasing, 37%.; and engaging in activities that they’d like to keep confidential, 34%.
Gartner expects that “by 2026, 25% of people will spend at least one hour a day in a metaverse for work, shopping, education, social media and/or entertainment.” However, the consultancy urged caution with investments for businesses because it doesn’t expect metaverse technologies to be fully mature before 2030.
BrainTrust
Neil Saunders
Managing Director, GlobalData
Nikki Baird
VP of Strategy, Aptos
David Spear
VP, Professional Services, Retail, NCR
Discussion Questions
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Will consumers initially engage with metaverse experiences that tie back to the physical world in some way, or will the appeal be purely virtual? What use cases will do the most to drive adoption?
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Some of the technology commentators and consultancies that jumped on the metaverse bandwagon certainly need a good dose of reality. Ludicrous forecasts predicting the metaverse to be worth trillions (yep, that was McKinsey – author of this current study), baffling prognostications claiming we will all be living in digital worlds, endless chatter about the supposed highly disruptive impacts. Well, let me tell you: I’ve been to the metaverse via my Meta Quest headset and, frankly, it was rubbish. It also made my eyes hurt. The problem is that people get caught up with what technology can do and don’t ask what humans actually want from it or how it fits in with the way people live their lives. Will people game more in the metaverse? Certainly. Could it be useful for industries like engineering and medical? Certainly. Will it replace our visits to the mall, become the standard way to buy groceries, or make digital apparel more important that actual clothing. Certainly not! All of that is nonsensical hype.
Consumers are always looking for utility. If the metaverse can consistently deliver on this front, then you’ll see upticks in the amount of time consumers spend in meta-like experiences. But reality rules and I don’t see a groundswell of meta experiences that exceed an online or physical store experience. Until this happens, meta-anything will remain underutilized and underwater.
I totally agree with Neil that the metaverse is significantly over-hyped from a business and retail perspective. Its primary purpose will be a gaming platform until someone can create a compelling benefit that is better than physical stores, augmented reality apps, websites, etc. My experiences testing the metaverse have been very underwhelming and disappointing.
The Metaverse was overhyped in its earliest days and now it is maturing. Consumers are more interested in fantasy leading to some practical reality, rather than ‘psychedelic’ experiences than end up stuck in the ether world and produce nothing palpable or material. Good to see the technology mature to where many of us predicted it should play in the first place.
It comes down to friction. The friction involved in getting into the Metaverse is still entirely too high. Have you tried? You have to first make sure that everything is charged (including the paddles for your hands). You have to clear a space large enough to move around without hitting anything. You have to get it all strapped on (which quickly becomes uncomfortable). You have to calibrate it for your space. Then you have to log in. Then you have to navigate to wherever it is you want to go. That can be worth it for an immersive game. But frankly, it’s faster and less painful (and a more immersive IRL experience) to just drive to the mall if you want to shop.
The metaverse, so far, is a dog. Until it has useful applications — and less-clunky hardware — it will remain an oddity.
I agree one hundred percent. So far, the whole thing is nonsense.
Ever since the days of Second Life, we’ve been talking about the over-hyping of virtual reality. Nobody’s rushing to this, most are disappointed in the experience (you’re not alone, Neil Saunders). This is entertainment, and limited entertainment at that.
There just isn’t enough meat in a metaverse experience as yet. It’s like vacationing in a remote rural village: the travel photos look great, the first couple of days are fun, but after a week you’re bored out of your mind because there isn’t enough to do. For consumers, we already have more than enough channels to access anything we want or need. Going to the mental effort of putting on equipment and navigating around a virtual space is much more tiring than driving to a store and wandering the aisles until a product tempts you.
Great analogy!
Complementing and augmenting physical world experiences is key to gaining wider use, especially in the business world.