Big companies that thrived in brick-and-mortar locations on the World Wide Web are making their way into the metaverse, providing a glimpse into how money might be made there, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday (June 20).
Companies in businesses as diverse as fashion and toys are creating digital-only versions of their offerings that exist only as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Musicians, according to the Journal, are creating versions of their work to be played there.
Established brands such as NASCAR, Wendy’s and J.P. Morgan Chase are also part of the mix, according to the report.
“As more people spend time in virtual spaces, we believe it’s important for us to go along this journey with our customers,” Avery Worthing-Jones, Gap’s head of product management, told the Journal. “We are going through the discovery process of understanding what is meaningful to our customers and what experiences we can drive through the metaverse that will enhance and augment these experiences.”
J.P. Morgan paid for space in a digital world called Decentraland, the report noted. Umar Farooq, chief executive of the bank’s Onyx business, told the Journal spending money on the metaverse is “a great way for us to use our marketing resources.”
See also: JPMorgan Opens Branch in Metaverse
While many companies are eyeing or using the metaverse for advertising, some already have made money — albeit limited amounts — from sales in the metaverse. Nike and Gucci are among retailers that have put products for sale in the metaverse, according to the report.
“We’re still in the very early stages,” Lidiane Jones, executive vice president and general manager of Salesforce.com Inc.’s Digital Experiences unit, told the Journal. “But we’re already seeing new ways for companies to express their own brands and deliver commerce experiences in these virtual environments.”
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