The metaverse megatrend:

The metaverse is a topic on everyone's lips – especially now that Mark Zuckerberg has renamed his Facebook empire Meta. However, most of us are still scratching our heads in confusion, unsure of what to think or where to start with it. Meanwhile, many big corporate players like McDonald's have already set about discovering and conquering this new virtual sphere of life.

This article will explain more about the why and how of the metaverse and clarify a couple of key terms. We take a trip over the pond to take a look at two examples of how famous food chains in the USA are taking their first steps in the metaverse – and what future opportunities the realm might offer for the retail and food service industries.

The term was coined in a science fiction novel from 1992 (Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson). In it, the metaverse is a virtual world in which the characters take refuge from their chaotic real-life environment.

Meta is a Greek prefix that roughly translates as "behind", "above" or "after".  Blended with "universe", the portmanteau "metaverse" is formed to describe a second, virtual world that exists above or alongside the real one.

The metaverse is a digitally created world – it is made up of bits and bytes, of ones and zeros. Everything that exists there is the result of programming, of hardware and software. It is often described as the 3D version of the Internet, expanded through the possibilities of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR).

Generally speaking, just like the Internet, although the metaverse needs significantly higher computing capacities. In technical terms, it is based on an interconnection of data centres all over the world. It is likely that there will be several metaverses from different operators, who will probably build their own data centres for their metaverse.

It is likely that numerous different metaverses will be created. Even if the development of a complete metaverse is still largely in its infancy, tech giants like Meta, Apple, Google and Microsoft are all hard at work on their versions of the metaverse. Everyone wants to have the best metaverse and thus bag the leading market position. The first public presentations are planned for 2024.

The metaverse can have everything that exists in the real world – and then some. To move around the metaverse, each user creates their own avatar, a virtual version of themselves. The metaverse will contain cities and parks, restaurants and shops, meeting points and relaxation areas. Your avatar can interact with others and even conduct business. In the metaverse, users will be able to buy and manage digital property. Cryptocurrencies and NFTs will primarily be used as currency and valuables (see below for more info).

Through your avatar, you can do whatever you like in the metaverse. You can go shopping, go to a concert, take a stroll through the park, dine at a restaurant, meet friends, collect artwork – only that it's all digital. The possibilities really are endless.

Founded in 2003, the relatively well-known online community Second Life, in which users can meet, chat, shop and even marry as their avatars, is generally considered to be a simple precursor of the metaverses to come.

The metaverse will present exciting new possibilities, especially in terms of marketing, customer loyalty and new customer acquisition. But how will this work in the food service industry? After all, avatars won't really be able to eat and drink in the metaverse.

New technologies are not created for their own sake, but rather with the aim of generating new markets and earning money. The simplest approach might see consumers being directed via the metaverse back to existing channels like the Internet or stores in order to make purchases there. In this case, everything would remain as it is.

 However, the metaverse follows a different form of thinking. It is not only about the purchase of goods or pleasures in the real world. In the metaverse, users' avatars can also do business, acquire property or even plots of land or unique collector's items.

The basis for these transactions will be cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin (probably the best-known cryptocurrency, although there are many others).

Let's take it one step at a time. Generally speaking, a cryptocurrency works just like normal money. You pay a specific price for a specific item. The only difference is that in this case, you don't actually hand over notes and coins, but rather a new record is added to a blockchain.

What is a blockchain?

 The blockchain is a large, decentralised database. A blockchain system starts with an initial block, and all further information is added to the chain sequentially. You could say the blockchain is like a large Excel file, but with the difference that only new entries are added and no old ones are deleted. All transactions are recorded in chronological order and cannot be changed, meaning that they remain traceable forever.

What is a cryptocurrency?

 Bitcoin is the first and best-known cryptocurrency in the world. The name is a combination of "bit", which is a digital storage unit (usually a 0 or 1) and "coin", to signify money. In other words, bitcoin is a digital coin. It is an entirely virtual currency which has no real notes or coins. The main different between standard and digital money is that cryptocurrencies function independently of states or banks. A cryptocurrency has no real value, but is rather determined only by demand. All transactions are logged and recorded in the blockchain. The blockchain serves as the "digital accounting book" of the cryptocurrency.

What is a non-fungible token (NFT)?

An NFT is a digital asset. Like cryptocurrencies, NFTs are based on a blockchain, in other words, a decentralised database. Each NFT describes a unique, virtual asset that can only be assigned to one owner. NFTs are often compared to artworks or collector's items.

NFTs are therefore unique, virtual objects of value in the form of a data set that can be uniquely assigned to an owner. Normally, data can be copied and passed on. However, NFTs are difference. Here, every transfer is tracked in order to identify the rightful owner.

This might be a plot of land or a work of art in the metaverse. The value of these NFTs is not fixed, but is rather based on supply and demand – just like real estate, collector's items and artwork in the real world.

An NFT for 69 million dollars

 NFTs were first surrounded by hype in the spring of 2021, when the auction house Christie's sold its first purely digital artwork for the record price of 69 million dollars (!) – the highest price that had ever been paid for an NFT.

To mark the seasonal relaunch of the McRib in the USA in 2021, McDonald's gave away ten McRib NFTs among app users – meaning that each winner won a uniquely assignable digital image of the real burger. Alongside the advertising and PR effect, the aim was to achieve a rapid increase in value of these NFTs and therefore attract more attention. However, the McRib NFT is currently bobbing along at around 20 dollars.

In April 2022, Chipotle launched its Burrito Builder on the online gaming platform Roblox. In a virtual Chipotle restaurant, gamers' avatars have a limited time to roll a burrito. If they succeed, they win Burrito Bucks.

It is still impossible to provide a definitive answer to this question today. Despite all the hype, the development of a complete metaverse is still in its infancy. However, since many large corporations and innovative start-ups are investing so much effort in it, it is safe to say that relatively well-developed metaverses will emerge in the foreseeable future. The market research institute Grand View Research estimates that in the year 2030, the metaverse market will be worth some 680 billion dollars.