🛍️ Walmart's crypto move
The world's biggest retailer is entering the metaverse.
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The Big Story
Last year in September, telecom firm GlobeNewswire sent out a press release that claimed Walmart would start accepting Litecoin as payments for goods. The announcement sent the popular altcoin to surge 20%, only to be revealed hours later that it was fake.
But not this time.
New trademark filings reveal that Walmart is planning to establish its own cryptocurrency and NFTs. The retail giant, which first sought these trademarks back in December, also intends to make and sell virtual goods such as appliances, toys, sporting equipment, electronics, home decor, apparel and personal care products. Along with this, Walmart is planning to offer its customers "physical fitness training services" and “classes in the field of health and nutrition” in VR and AR.
The company submitted 7 filings in total and has sought trademarks for the names such as 'Verse to Home,' 'Verse to Curb,' and 'Verse to Store,' alluding to plans of creating a virtual shopping experience similar to the one it made back in 2017.
So, while the metaverse concept isn't really new to Walmart, it's only recently taken a keen interest in the fictional world. In August, the company first indicated its interest in the digital economy after advertising a job position for a cryptocurrency product specialist. This was around the same time when even Amazon was looking to hire someone to lead its transition towards cryptocurrency.
Retailers 🤝 Metaverse
Ever since Facebook changed its name to Meta and announced its move into the metaverse, brands and retailers have been rushing to find their place in the metaverse movement and protect their IP. For them, the metaverse presents a great opportunity to not only expand their revenue streams by selling virtual goods but also connect with their customers. After all, it's an 8 trillion market.
Luxury brands like Louis Vuitton and Gucci were the first to experiment with NFTs as both share similar attributes. In November, sports giant Nike filed several trademarks to sell its products in the metaverse and collaborated with Roblox to create a virtual world called Nikeland. It also made an acquisition of virtual sneaker maker RTFKT to leverage its blockchain technology. Soon, brands like GAP, Under Armour, and Adidas debuted their first collection of NFTs, showcasing some of their iconic products. More recently, apparel retailers such as Ralph Lauren, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Urban Outfitters have announced plans to open a virtual store.
Considering the ongoing everyday developments happening in the metaverse, the space is constantly testing out new areas to innovate, which makes us wonder:
What's next?
Well, the most obvious answer remains decentralized commerce.
With the help of its infrastructure's better authentication methods, merchants could soon tokenize their physical products and avoid paying online transaction fees to middlemen such as Amazon or Alibaba. Few startups like Splyt Core and Boston Protocol are already working on creating NFT-based decentralized commerce infrastructure.
Let's face it, the metaverse is unavoidable. Failing to capitalize on this enormous opportunity would mean companies pay a high price later. And it seems like no one is willing to play those odds.
But as the coronavirus pandemic continues to put pressure on the global economy, can the virtual world manage to thrive?
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