The metaverse is no longer a figment of our imagination—it's become a real part of our lives. New technology is allowing us to immerse ourselves in a digital world in a new way. The metaverse is already a place we can visit to hang out with friends, attend concerts, and even shop. Major brands are already taking advantage of the virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality available to them in the metaverse.

A virtual experience is a great way to interact with customers by providing them with personalized experiences that help boost sales, increase loyalty, and build trust. Some companies are taking things a set further and using NFTs to sell virtual products to their online audience.

If you’ve got some cryptocurrency to spend, you can now invest in iconic and luxury brands in the metaverse. Here are the biggest brands you can shop today.

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Pokémon

Pokémon marked its 25th anniversary by launching a virtual city—Electric/City—where visitors could shop for virtual and physical products. In partnership designer Charli Cohen and Yahoo, they created a 3-D space inspired by fashion capitals such as Tokyo and Paris. Each user creates their own custom digital avatar, dressed in the digital garments they purchased, and then uses it to explore the city.

Louis Vuitton

‍In honor of its 20th year in business, Louis Vuitton celebrated its namesake founder in an online, adventure-based game called Louis the Game. Players could lead Vivienne through six worlds where her aim was to collect 200 candles in honour of Louis’ birthday. They were also given the chance to customize their character in Louis Vuitton clothing and accessories. The most exciting part of the game, however, was the 30 hidden NFTs created by artist Beeple waiting for the luck few throughout the game.

Balenciaga‍

Balenciaga made their first foray into the metaverse in partnership with Epic Games. They created custom Fortnite skins inspired by the fashion house’s real clothing. Aside from these four skins, accessories such as bags and weapons were also created.
Players can shop the items in a Balenciaga-themed hub within the game where real-world clothing and beauty products were also available for sale. This launch made headlines with billboards promoting the hub showing up in Times Square, Tokyo, and Seoul.

Hyundai

This automaker is one of the more unique brands in the metaverse. They partnered with Roblox to launch the Mobility Adventure, a metaverse space on where users can purchase Hyundai Motor’s products and future mobility solutions. Users can enter the virtual space with customized avatars and shop Hyundai vehicles for sale in the real world.

Nike

Nike joined the metaverse in December of 2021 with the acquisition of RTFKT, an NFT creator that helped them produce virtual sneakers and other Nike collectibles. The brand intends to sell Nike-branded virtual footwear, apparel, and accessories in the metaverse.

Gucci

Gucci joined the Roblox platform in 2021 by designing an immersive experience called the Gucci Garden. The Italian fashion house created a virtual garden that consumers could visit and shop in custom avatars. As the guests strolled the exhibit, they’d absorb elements of it. At the end of their visit, each avatar would be completely unique based on how they explored the exhibit and how long they spent in each room.

Shopping was also a part of the garden with several rare Gucci items for sale and even some digital clothing. The most notable item was the virtual Gucci Dionysus Bag with Bee, which was resold 350,000 Robux, the equivalent of $4,115 USD and several hundred dollars more than what the physical bag sold for.

Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola launched their first ever NFT collectibles to celebrate International Friendship Day 2021. In partnership with Tafi, they designed virtual apparel designed for Decentraland as well as an NFT loot box that was auctioned off on OpenSea. They also coined the Coca-Cola Friendship Box, a virtual version the Coca-Cola vending that hid a futuristic Coca-Cola Bubble Jacket, a Sound Visualizer with that pop-fizz sounds, and a Friendship Card inspired by the brand 1940’s trading cards.

The future of retail is the metaverse.

When it comes to buying clothes and other items online, the future isn't what we thought it would be. Instead of scrolling through website after website, we'll simply hop into our favorite metaverse and let our avatars do the shopping for us. In this new world, brands will compete for attention with AR objects and experiences. Players will have their own customized avatars, who can sell NFTs as part of a game—and they'll be able to buy those clothes and other items directly from other players in-game. That's the future that's coming soon: think about how you can bring your business into the metaverse!

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