Meta’s ambitious strategy to promote the metaverse through retail outlets has not gone as planned. The company’s first physical Meta Store opened in California a year ago to showcase the Quest headset, but it has not been followed by others. Martin Gilliard, the leader of the store initiative, has left the company, and another planned store was abandoned due to economic slowdowns and changes in Apple’s privacy norms.

Recently, a focus on cost-cutting has prevailed at Meta, with over 20,000 employees let go in recent months and certain projects winding down for efficiency reasons. Despite this, the original Meta Store continues to operate.

A few years ago, the metaverse was a marketing buzzword, with brands flocking to virtual platforms like Fortnite and Roblox. But the initial excitement has faded with the rise of AI and other tech trends, causing the metaverse to lose some of its allure. However, some industry leaders, like Jen Jones, CMO of Commercetools, still see potential in the metaverse. Jones believes the narrative around virtual experiences is evolving and advises brands not to lose faith in the metaverse’s potential to reshape marketing and retail.

Now, Meta has begun evolving its strategies and shifting its focus to improving the workforce using the metaverse. In the past year, the landscape of the retail labor market has experienced unprecedented transformations due to AI, machine learning, augmented reality, facial recognition, robotics, and beyond. Prior workforce development practices and procedures were swiftly replaced as progressively digital-centric workplaces evolved in response to demands for increased flexibility from the workforce.

The arrival of these technological advancements has unlocked infinite potential for retailers and is a key focus of the NRF Innovation Lab 2024, which explores how business operations can be streamlined for retailers. The metaverse, in particular, is now expected to revolutionize several facets of retail, including workforce development. New research indicates that virtual reality might hold the key to enhancing learning outcomes.

With an established presence in the metaverse, Meta is leveraging insights gathered on the efficacy of VR for learning to grapple with a crucial retail challenge: ensuring employee engagement, training, and retention.

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