(Kitco News) - Despite the struggles faced by the cryptocurrency ecosystem over the past year, the integration of blockchain technology into the internet continues to pick up steam as the metaverse remains a popular topic among both consumers and businesses.
According to the findings from a recent report released by the information technology services and consulting firm Accenture, 55% of the roughly 9,000 consumers surveyed see the metaverse as a business opportunity for creating and monetizing content.
A vast majority (89%) of C-suite level executives also indicated that the metaverse will have an important role in the future of their organizations, according to the results of a separate survey completed by 3,200 C-suite executives.
Altogether, the growing interest from consumers and businesses in the metaverse as a creator economy and tool for completing day-to-day tasks is expected to generate more than $1 trillion in commerce – which represents roughly 4.2% of company revenues – by the end of 2025.
On the user side of things, 55% of consumers want to be active users of the metaverse, with 90% of those interested looking to get involved within the next year. The top features highlighted by those surveyed include easy-to-use interfaces (cited by 70%) and access to a wide variety of applications (68%).
As for what they want to get out of using the metaverse, the majority of responses included practical uses such as connecting with friends and family, saving time, accessing consumer services, and completing everyday tasks.
Surprisingly, only 4% of consumers viewed the metaverse as a gaming platform, with 70% of respondents saying that they intend to use the metaverse to access products and services across a variety of sectors including media and entertainment, fitness, retail, travel and healthcare.
Younger consumers showed more interest in media and fitness uses, while the older crowd is more interested in accessing health services in new ways. All respondents expressed a desire to enhance the things they already do every day, such as the experience of working out at home (cited by 60%) or improving interactions with health professionals (55%).
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“The metaverse as a continuum of technologies and human-centric experiences will usher in the next era of our digital lives and transform all aspects of business,” said David Treat, senior managing director and co-lead of Accenture’s Metaverse Continuum business group. “Underpinning it all are opportunities for new products and services, digital assets, business models and the technical capacity for conveying a sense of presence and expression.”
In order to take advantage of this opportunity, businesses are encouraged to be highly engaged with consumers from the start to ensure optimal development, understand that this will be a continuous learning process, and build to meet consumer expectations for today while also planning for the industry’s future developments.
Above all, a key takeaway from the surveys is that both businesses and consumers need to start thinking about the possibility of the metaverse becoming as ingrained into day-to-day life as the internet and mobile device are currently.
“Consumers are starting to see the metaverse as an essential tool which, when integrated into their lives, can streamline how they complete tasks and increase productivity,” said Kevan Yalowitz, Accenture’s Software & Platforms industry practice lead. “Businesses able to deliver tangible experiences that address consumer needs in key areas of interest will gain [an] early-mover advantage in a rapidly forming metaverse industry.”
