Samsung Launches Native Metaverse Store in Decentraland

South Korean Electronics firm Samsung has opened 837X, a digital replica of its flagship 837 store, in the metaverse network Decentraland. Electronics giant Samsung is joining the metaverse with the unveiling of a virtual store in Decentraland.

According to a press release from the firm, the project is named after Samsung's flagship 837 store in New York, the Samsung 837X virtual store will be accessible briefly for a limited time from January 6, 2022.

Decentraland users will have a chance to explore an "experiential playground" and earn non-fungible tokens rewards by completing tasks.

The metaverse experience will feature three spheres, the Connectivity Theater (which indicates news from Samsung's level at CES 2022), the Sustainability Forest, which features a "journey through millions of trees" to mark the firm's sustainability campaigns, as well as the Customization Stage.

The Customization Stage will exhibit a live in-metaverse DJ Gamma Vibes' dance from the physical 837 store, with NFT badge holders qualifying for a raffle and an opportunity to win the brand's customized swag for their Decentraland avatars.

Senior Vice President of Corporate Marketing and Communications at Samsung Electronics America, Michelle Crossan-Matos said in a statement, "The metaverse empowers us to transcend physical and spatial limits to create unique virtual experiences that could not happen otherwise."

Following the unveiling in Decentraland, Samsung intends to take 837X on the virtual trajectory to other metaverse platforms.

Samsung link to crypto

Samsung has partnered with several brands in venturing into the metaverse, an uninterrupted virtual space in which users link as avatars.

Companies including Budweiser and Pepsi have ventured into NFTs, while Nike has filed trademark applications for virtual goods, and Adidas has disclosed a partnership with The Sandbox metaverse platform.

Facebook's rebranding as Meta late last year has fueled a corporate metaverse land grab. Meta's CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that "we're basically moving from being Facebook first as a company to being metaverse first."

South Korean electronics giant has an advantage over its competitors as far as cryptocurrency and blockchain are concerned; its flagship Galaxy smartphones have integrated a blockchain wallet since 2019, backing crypto hardware wallets in 2021, while in the first week of January 2022, Samsung took to the stage at CES to state that its 2022 line of smart TVs would feature support for non-fungible tokens.

The metaverse's prospective use of financial services

Since Facebook changed its name to Meta back in November 2021, the idea of the metaverse has become a central theme in much of the media agenda surrounding technology this year.

This new form of networking, a digital infrastructure of interconnected, engaging digital environments, has the potential to have an effect on society comparable to that of social media in the early 2000s. A variety of strategies are being explored by experts, businesses, and developers to take advantage of the expanded opportunity for user growth and retention.

An entirely new world

Maybe as was to be expected, the creative industry was among the first to leap on board and stay ahead of the curve by broadening its creative approach across numerous digital environments. Some well-known instances of this include Spotify Island's premiere in Roblox, Warner Music Group's entry into Sandbox, and Manchester City's partnership with Sony to recreate a virtual Etihad Stadium in Decentraland. This has led to discourse suggesting that the metaverse is basically an ultra-advanced setting where fans and gamers may immerse themselves deeper into entertainment networks than ever before.

However, a wide range of organizations and businesses are entering the metaverse, such as virtual realtors, clothing stores, legal services, advertising firms, and academic institutions. Even a few smaller companies have been experimenting with incorporating Web3 into their everyday operations with workers and customers. We expect to witness a significant change in how society operates as a result of the gradual acceptance of blockchain technology in the real world and the rise of NFTs. On the horizon is a hybridized reality where the basic principles of social life are convertible between the actual and the virtual worlds.

Financial institutions' repercussions

As a result, financial institutions will soon have no choice but to interact with Web3 ideas and the metaverse. It will be required. They should therefore get ready to be flexible in how they respond to shifting tides. They may not need to engage in flamboyant PR stunts, but they should get familiar with ideas like asset programmability, smart contracts, and peer-to-peer networking. Customers will not just be communicating in the metaverse, but also working and spending money. Because they will be able to combine physical and digital assets, which the blockchain will give them full control over, Web3 differs from Web2 in a revolutionary way. In order to keep up, the financial sector will need to alter its services to include new tools for capital management, commercial exchange, and verification.

Banks, financial counselors, brokerages, and insurance firms will all have a place in the metaverse even though decentralized blockchain technology is in practice resistive to the agency that banking institutions exert. The likes of HSBC, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase are already active participants in the metaverse. As they attempt to actively involve themselves in this new world, investors, gamers, NFT collectors, and regular users will require the array of services offered by institutions.

The transformation is already taking place, according to McKinsey & Co.'s "Welcome to the Metaverse" report. Within newly created "financial cities," financial companies are testing virtual replacements for telecommuting centers, investment advising services, and employee training. The insurance industry is undoubtedly going to be a very popular industry. Residents of the Metaverse will be the owners of their data, to which their avatars would be bound, in addition to their digital assets and NFTs. All of this may still be taken in the metaverse since the blockchain is still vulnerable to hackers. Web3 security measures must consequently include services that provide users with cybersecurity policies to shield them from those risks.

In order to give their consumers the security and comfort that will draw them to their areas, Metaverse developers will make partnering with these companies a priority.

Sygnum, a Swiss bank, has also shown that financial institutions may implement crypto-native protocols by creating, regulating, and managing a large number of assets on DeFi (Decentralised Finance) applications utilizing blockchain technology. They recently revealed that they will be the first to create a metaverse hub, which was scheduled to go live on September 27 in Decentraland's version of Times Square in New York.

First actions to be taken

Businesses across the industry should focus first on the marketing potential that the metaverse will present them with, rather than simply boosting ease for their employees and clients. Financial institutions should benefit as the entertainment and retail sectors continue to develop novel ways to communicate with their audiences. It is obvious that they have the potential to grow their clientele by developing fresh rapport. Social media activities are being expanded to carefully planned creative endeavors in the metaverse, much like social media advertisements replaced television, radio, and print advertisements.

It is worth exploring the possibility of allocating a portion of their personnel to concentrate on a metaverse plan, despite any hesitation, there may be to include things like avatars and virtual offices into their agendas. They have just as much of an opportunity as any other sector.