Towards the backend of 2021, the metaverse seemed to lose a little of its mystique.
Yet, it had momentum, with many start-ups throwing their hats into the ring and attempting to capture the imagination of customer experience leaders.
Many industry analysts bought into this. In February, Gartner even predicted that 25 percent of people will spend at least one hour per day in the metaverse by 2026.
At the time, Marty Resnick, Research Vice President at Gartner, stated:
Enterprises will have the ability to expand and enhance their business models in unprecedented ways by moving from a digital business to a metaverse business.
Fast-forward less than 12 months, however, and this narrative has somewhat diminished, with many companies dialing back their metaverse talk.
As one article puts it: "Silicon Valley tech CEOs are not big fans of metaverses."
Digital twins and VR gaming have somewhat negated this trend. Yet, parallel markets – including crypto, blockchain, and Web 3.0 – did not.
The sudden demise of FTX is an excellent example of this trend. Then, there is Meta.
2022: A Painful Year for Meta
In a time with looming economic uncertainty and high inflation, Meta pivoted from its traditional focus to delve into a new market: the metaverse.
The cost? $676BN in its market value, falling from the world’s sixth-largest business to its 27th.
Of course, this decline came as a shock. After all, Meta is a name in which many would invest their retirement funds. Yet, 2022 proved a particularly challenging year for the company.
In addition, perhaps its most promising CX innovation came in a space where it is much better established: messaging apps. More pointedly: WhatsApp.
Indeed, the business now allows consumers in Brazil to find, message, and buy from customers on the app. If this innovation catches fire, WhatsApp could host the entire shopping experience and challenge traditional search engines, including Google.
It also acquired Kustomer, the CRM solution, in a move that went under the radar at the start of 2022 and could support these native buying journeys.
However, it faces many challenges regarding its current Metaverse and Web 3.0 proposition. These include market headwinds and decentralization.
In an interview with prominent industry analyst Patrick Moorhouse, Daniel Newman, CEO of The Futurum Group, said: