Walmart takes Metaverse plunge to woo Gen Z customers: Report
Walmart's chief marketing officer William White said it is the first major initiative of the company in the metaverse. He called it another step for the retailer in reaching out to the customers in unexpected ways.
Retail giant Walmart is set to make its foray into the metaverse world. It is set to launch two ‘immersive’ experiences on Roblox, an online game platform, Bloomberg reported. While Walmart Land features fashion, beauty and entertainment, the Universe of Play will have toys.
With its metaverse move, the company has joined giants like Nike and VF Corp to capture buyers' attention through virtual universes. According to the report, Roblox already has a community of more than 5.2 crore daily users, with several of them youngsters.
Walmart's chief marketing officer William White told Bloomberg that it is the first major initiative of the company in the metaverse. He called it another step for the retailer in reaching out to the customers in unexpected ways.
Delving further, the Walmart Land will be offering a virtual store where the Roblox users can use badges and coins earned on platform to buy merchandise for their digital avatars. It also include a Ferris wheel which will provide a bird's eye view of the virtual world along with unlockable tokens and badges to be earned in games and competitions.
According to the report, Walmart Land will feature an experience which is similar to a music festival along with a ‘House of Style' which includes a virtual dressing room and an ‘oversized cosmetics obstacle course’. In October, it will be adding a motion-capture concert with performances from singers like Madison Beer and Kane Brown.
The Walmart's Universe of Play has been designed to allow Roblox users explore the toy worlds and earn the coins for virtual goods. It will be offering games which feature products and characters from Jurassic World, Paw Patrol etc.
Talking about other competitors, Nikeland made its debut and has now garnered about 2.1 crore visits. Contrary to this, VF's Vans World has now 81 million (8.1 crore). The Walmart CMO called it a great opportunity for the company to build relevance, cultural conversation and develop a community with Gen Z and younger audiences.
