Walmart is already working on the future and preparing the ground to adopt the metaverse, create its own cryptocurrency and develop its own collection of non-fungible tokens or NFTs, reported CNBC.
The chain The retailer filed several trademarks in late December that evidence its intent to manufacture and sell virtual goods, including electronics, home décor, toys, sporting goods, and personal care products.
According to the information, Walmart filed seven separate applications with the US Patent and Trademark Office on 30 December.
Through a statement, the company said that it is “continuously exploring how emerging technologies they can shape future shopping experiences”, but declined to give details about the specific presentations of the trademarks.
The company assures that they test idea s all the time and that some end up becoming products or services that reach customers and others don’t.
″(The presentations are) super intense,” Josh Gerben, an attorney for trademarks. “There is a lot of language in these, which shows that there is a lot of planning behind the scenes about how they will approach cryptocurrency, how they will approach the metaverse and the virtual world that seems to be coming, or is already here.”
Gerben explained that ever since Facebook announced its move to Meta, businesses have scrambled to figure out how they will fit into a virtual world.
Gerben said that as consumers become more familiar with the metaverse and the items stored on the blockchain, more retailers will want to create their own ecosystem, so as not to be left behind.
For Frank Chaparro, director of the crypto information services firm The Block, many retailers were latecomers to e-commerce and are still recovering from that mistake, so they don’t want to miss out on the metaverse.
“I think it’s beneficial for any retail business,” Chaparro said. “And even if it turns out to be a fad, there’s not much reputational damage to just trying something weird like giving some customers an NFT in a giveaway, for example.”
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