Is the Metaverse the next big thing in the supply chain?

Today’s trend seems to prepare us for an entirely new universe. What will the logistics industry look like in such a world? Where does today’s logistics stand? Let’s talk about it.

With this new trend, users can create immersive experiences with technologies such as virtual reality (VR), blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT). How will this new virtual environment affect industry and logistics as steps have already been taken to build the metaverse?

First of all, we have to learn what exactly is a metaverse and how it works.

The metaverse comes across as a digital world that allows people to move and communicate between different devices in a virtual environment. It opens the doors to a virtual world where we exist with all our perceptions thanks to technological devices without physical effort.

In other words, is a new digital economy, where users can create, buy and sell goods. The unique blending of gaming, social, entertainment, and e-commerce in the Metaverse has the potential to revolutionize consumer behavior.

When it comes to e-commerce, the Metaverse can combine the best of both a store experience and customer service with the convenience of shopping at home. Interacting with the products in a multi-dimensional manner, understanding their attributes and features, getting answers to any questions in real-time before making a purchase, and still being physically present at the location of choice could transform consumer behavior unlike anything else.

For example, consider a customer looking to buy a new computer online. Rather than visit various websites to look at brands and models online through pictures/text or even a video, the Metaverse elevates the same experience in a 3D immersive world. It’s a world where the customer can visit digital stores, get served by the store employees, and actually operate and interact with the computer selected before making the purchase.

Now, the question that naturally arises is: If supply chains are traditionally built to buy, make, store, and move physical products, would the shift to a digital-first world, with digital products and digital experiences, diminish the importance of supply chains? Could the Metaverse elevate and redefine them?

For this blog, let’s touch on some of the impacts of this emerging technology on supply chains.

Global supply chains are complex and difficult to understand, even by the most seasoned global SCM professionals. Recently, customers, investors, employees, and stakeholders have been asking for more visibility into where raw materials are procured as well where and who is producing components and final products.

Both corporate and consumer customers want transparency about the environmental and collateral impacts of the supply chains with whom they’re doing business.

The Metaverse will enhance supply chain transparency with 3D representations of how products are made, distributed, and sold. This would also mean interested stakeholders will gain visibility into lead times, transit times, shipping delays, and even real-time shipping costs.

This transparency and visibility will enhance the trust and effectiveness of supply chains.

The Metaverse isn’t just revolutionizing the gaming and entertainment industries. This technology will also transform social dynamics, economics, and politics. The arrival of web 3.0 will reveal a whole new world of commerce and relationships that will be closely tied to logistics and retail. With Web 3.0, the internet will be based on machine learning and artificial intelligence. Machines will produce, process, and evaluate data instead of humans. In Metaverse, shoppers can shop and meetings can take place in holographic environments. The metaverse will have a profound effect on the way everyone does business, it is expected to restructure areas dominated by e-commerce, especially retail and fashion. For the system to become widespread, the number and quality of virtual reality hardware need to increase. It is also estimated that there will be approximately 3.5 billion augmented reality users in 1-2 years, which means more than 25% of the world’s population.

The metaverse could become a revolution that transcends the world of entertainment and video games. In fact, its features — interactivity, a decentralized environment, and persistent reality — can help to improve processes and eliminate cost overruns in the different areas of a business, i.e., in a company’s industry or logistics divisions.

Logistics could be one of the industry segments to benefit most from the advent of the metaverse. This new technology would help to optimize processes, eliminate cost overruns, and facilitate interconnection between the different links in the supply chain. What do you think about that?