The metaverse will be very present in our daily lives in the next few years. That’s why companies are completely rethinking the customer experience in the metaverse. According to an Accenture survey, more than half of consumers (55%) want to be active users of the metaverse. And practically all (90%) aspire to be in the next year.
In addition, experts predict that 25% of people will spend at least an hour a day in the metaverse, where they will increasingly go to buy products and services, so brands must be prepared to offer the best digital experiences to their customers.
What do users expect from the customer experience in the metaverse?
According to data from the Talkdesk Metaverse report, more than half of the 1,500 Metaverse consumers surveyed, more than half (51%) expect customer service to be better in the digital ecosystem. In the same way, 27% believe it will be much easier to access information about products and brands through cyberspace.
Whether for work, shopping, education, or entertainment, users have different expectations about how the metaverse will offer them new habits and ways of consuming. This new scenario will undoubtedly mark a before and after in the customer journey and experience.
Personalized customer experience
Companies that can deliver tangible customer experiences that meet user expectations will be at a huge advantage. In the metaverse, customers expect more personalization and an offer tailored to their interests. Organizations will be able to meet the expectations of their customers if they can engage consumers quickly and without incident.
Use of virtual reality
The metaverse creates a virtual parallel universe accessed by virtual reality and augmented reality headsets. Consumers expect a fully immersive customer experience where they can interact with others and access products and services.
Digital Assets
With digital assets or NFTs, customers expect new company offers and services. In this case, the leading role is taken by new technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, whose objective is to offer a service in real-time, satisfying one of the main demands of consumers in the metaverse.
Accessibility
The development of the metaverse is linked to the evolution of technologies such as extended reality, facial or voice recognition. This reduces the distance between traditional screens. Thus, customers seek to find much easier access to the metaverse and overcome current physical limitations with technology.
How will the metaverse affect ecommerce users?
Metaverses have existed for years, especially in the world of video games. However, with technological development, anyone can now interact with the digital world. Hence, large companies such as Meta, Microsoft, and Google have seen its potential and are already investing millions of dollars in this technology.
On the other hand, some companies use marketing strategies in the metaverse which are financially profitable. There are many examples, from buying clothes in video games like Animal Crossing or NFTs to footwear in the Roblox metaverse.
The metaverse will transform our purchasing decision processes, thus changing the rules of electronic commerce. Increasingly, customers will have the ability to shop without a smartphone or computer and to do so directly through cryptocurrency payments. In the metaverse, consumers can visit stores, explore, try products, and buy them right there, whether for the virtual or real world.
According to a study by the retail agency Outform, more than 40% believe they will make purchases in the metaverse in the future. Similarly, 79% are willing to use Virtual Reality in the store to evaluate products. For these reasons, any company considering selling in the metaverse must have a comprehensive reality implementation strategy defined.
In short, we are facing a true revolution in the customer experience in the metaverse. Users can visit physical stores from home, interact in the virtual world with store staff or even go shopping with their friends without moving to the physical space.
What challenges are companies facing with their customers in the metaverse?
With the technological evolution of the metaverse, the physical and the digital will be less separated than ever. Undoubtedly, the metaverse opens up new possibilities for companies and, at the same time, new challenges to satisfy the customer experience in the virtual world. The new immersive interfaces (Virtual, Mixed, and Augmented Reality) will be the way to connect with customers, but there are other challenges to address:
A technology that reaches everyone: The metaverse must be accessible and leave no one behind. And, for the moment, its use has yet to be widespread.
Legal certainty: As a new emerging economy, certain regulatory gaps still need to be solved.
Privacy: another of the great challenges of companies with their clients is managing and protecting the personal data collected by Extended Reality systems.
The risk of misinformation: As a decentralized environment, the metaverse can enhance some rights but harm others. Establishing rules about freedom of expression and fighting against misinformation is another of the pending subjects.
Ultimately, the metaverse offers a much more dynamic and tailored customer experience.
Thanks to AI and automation, companies can offer a more personalized journey and predict future needs. The transformation of the customer experience in the metaverse can thus be radical. And the goal of all brands that want to attract audiences should be to build stronger relationships with their customers. But without forgetting that in this experience, users must feel safe and control their privacy, data, and identity.
