June 22, 2022
It seems like every company is getting into the Metaverse—a collective virtual shared space including the sum of all virtual worlds and the Internet—these days. And Lowe’s doesn’t want to miss out on the opportunity to use it to help builders imagine projects, reports CNBC.
But unlike other retailers, which chose a particular virtual platform or game, such as Fortnite or Roblox, Lowe’s’ Metaverse assets—including free downloads of 500 product assets, including items such as chairs—are available on its own hub.
“It’s all emerging, and it’s all up for exploration,” Lowe’s EVP and Chief Brand and Marketing Officer Marisa Thalberg told CNBC in an exclusive interview. The retailer decided not to choose one Metaverse platform, but rather “a kind of an agnostic and kind of democratized approach,” she said.
While other brands have found immediate ways to make money in the Metaverse, even on an experimental basis, Thalberg said “this isn’t about immediately jumping in and trying to make an event or immediately commoditizing it.”
Rather, she told CNBC, “Our goal really is to take this new frontier and help people use their imaginations and help them make their virtual spaces as exciting and inspirational and enjoyable as their real-world spaces. And that’s the only benefit we seek to obtain at this point.”
Seemantini Godbole, Lowe’s EVP and chief information officer, told CNBC in an exclusive interview the retailer is applying many of the principles it currently uses for shoppers for this metaverse project.
“What we have noticed in our current mediums like Lowes.com and in our stores … people like to experiment and while they’re shopping and getting inspired they like to put things together in the virtual world before they start their project,” she said. “It’s the same idea for the Metaverse. That you want them to experiment, feel and understand how it’s going to look before they start the project in the real world.”
“There is just a huge appetite from our customers to use emerging technology” like the VR and AR tools Godbole said. “We are applying some of those lessons in the Metaverse.”
Right now, Lowe’s isn’t offering a physical good with the purchase of a virtual one, or any link back to its website from any Metaverse platforms, Godbole said. But that could change.
“In the future, we could absolutely think about, how do all these different things link, and make sure that [Metaverse users] are able to shop these items on Lowe’s dot com or in our stores,” she said.
Thalberg acknowledged that the typical metaverse participant “skews really young,” likely younger than the typical Lowe’s shopper or homeowner today.
“But if you look at kids who’ve used platforms like Minecraft and Roblox, a lot of what they do there, is fascinatingly enough, build and design. This idea of being able to build and decorate and design and improve is kind of core to how these spaces are emerging,” she said. “And so if we catch them young, that’s great, but we see a real utility too, as we look to a huge wave of millennial new homeowners who aren’t afraid of technology.”
Research contact: @CNBC
