GEEIQ_ Retail Report

GEEIQ.COM
RETAIL REPORT
Retail in Web3
and the metaverse
geek noun
\ ˈgēk \

2
Contents
Foreword
01
Demystifying the metaverse
3
02
The evolution of brand marketing
4
Charles Hambro
CEO & Co-Founder, GEEIQ
03
The opportunity today
6
04
Retail & virtual environments
7
The opportunity for retail brands in Web3
and the metaverse is huge.
Our position at GEEIQ is that the opportunity
is so much bigger than that.
05
06
07
Which environment do you choose?
Brand case studies
The GEEIQ platform
8
9
18
In a recent report, we looked at how few
industries can leverage Web3 and virtual
environments as seamlessly as automotive.
But when it comes to retail, the opportunity
isn’t so clear. Skeptic’s of the metaverse
often look to retail as the basis for their
argument: ‘Why would people want to
complete a mundane task like grocery
shopping in a virtual world?’
The retail brands activating in Web3 and the
metaverse are not only making the shopping
experience more seamless, but they’re
building communities around their brand and
reaching consumers of tomorrow by tapping
into cultural relevance.
So, which retail brands are active in this
space, what are they currently doing, and
what does the future hold for retail in Web3
and the metaverse?
RETAIL REPORT

Demystifying
the metaverse
Since being brought into the public
consciousness, the metaverse has
been cloaked in mysticism and met
with skepticism. Regardless, retail
brands like Target, Walmart, M&S and
Aldi are recognising the opportunity.
So, how did we get here?
3
Metaverse
Web3
METAVERSE
The metaverse is a vast expanse that
we liken to the ocean. It evokes fear and
intrigue, and like early seafarers, brands
seeking to navigate it require the right tools.
We best see it a network of virtual
environments that humans can
inhabit and socialise within. Eventually,
these worlds will become interconnected
and interoperable.
WEB3
The ‘third generation’ of web tech.
It speculates as to what the future
of the internet will be: Decentralised,
permissionless and token-enabled,
allowing individual ownership and
representing tech like blockchain.
RETAIL REPORT

Print, television and radio
Advertising used to be passive
and consumers were marketed to
through traditional channels.
Social media
In the 2000s, advertising became
integrated into social experiences
- through Facebook, Instagram
and Twitter.
Virtual environments
Innovative brands are now
creating enriched experiences to
engage audiences they couldn’t
traditionally reach.
Walk past marketing Scroll past marketing Immersive marketing
brand marketing
The evolution of
4
RETAIL REPORT

The evolution of the
advertising model
Because traditional in-game
advertising focuses on media buying,
like most marketing channels, it incurs
a cost to the business. As virtual
activations have evolved, we see
more brands focusing on the selling
of digital goods and services, with an
effort to become native to the space
they’re activating in.
5
In-game
advertising
In-game
activations
Branded
partnerships
Branded
digital goods
Advertising
Cost to business
Digital goods and services
Revenue generation
RETAIL REPORT

The opportunity
6
today
Virtual Environments
3.2 BILLION USERS
The opportunity for retail in Web3 and
the metaverse is vast, but one approach
for all won’t cut it. It’s important that
retail brands adopt independent
strategies for each segment.
Video Gaming Content
1.7 BILLION VIEWERS
Esports
474 MILLION VIEWERS
Unique
Crypto Wallets
295M+ HOLDERS
RETAIL REPORT

Retail and virtual
environments
Gaming
Video gaming
content /
Esports
Virtual reality
/ Augmented
reality
Blockchain /
Owned Worlds
Roblox
Roblox
Just You Campaign
(+L’Oreal)
Zeekit
Virtual Fitting Room
Fortnite Fortnite Rocket League
SuperMassive
360 o Shopping
AR Shopping Tool
Team Vitality
La Ligue Française de LoL
Solary
Dent Reality
AR Shopping Tool
MIRA
(M&S, Influencer, Reality,
Augmented)
Berjaya Dragons
The Sandbox Horizon Worlds Play Together
7
RETAIL REPORT

Which environment
8
do you choose?
At GEEIQ, we see virtual environments sitting within three distinct
categories, all with their own set of measurable KPI’s.
Gaming environments Blockchain environments Owned environments
Addressable audiences are a big pull for
brands, and these can be compared to
setting up shop on Fifth Avenue: heavy
footfall is guaranteed.
But the game is the gatekeeper of the
environment, so data like emails and age
won’t always be shared. Brands are also
restricted by the rules and aesthetics of
the environment.
These are like virtual gaming environments,
but they’re built on the blockchain. This
means less limits on data collection.
Decentraland is blockchain based and
managed by its users, often known as a
decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).
Experiences here can be enhanced through
the sale of NFTs, but these environments
have less traffic than games, which means
less brand exposure.
Some brands are exploring their own 3D
ecommerce websites, which means they make
the rules.
These are a huge investment, and brands
are starting at 0 when it comes to traffic.
These spaces will require a huge mentality
shift in the way people shop before they
really take off.
CHECK Higher player base
TIMES Limitations on data collection
TIMES Restricted by on-platform build
CHECK Less limitations on data collection
CHECK NFT compatible
TIMES Lower player base
CHECK Unlimited build restrictions
CHECK Unlimited data collection
TIMES No player base
RETAIL REPORT

Gaming environments
Walmart x Roblox
The strategy
The world’s largest company by revenue, American
multinational Walmart ventured into Roblox in 2022 with
their own branded experience.
Chief Marketing Officer, William White, said ‘Roblox will
serve as a testing ground as the company considers its
moves into the metaverse and beyond’.
The brand sees this experience as a way to experiment
with how it engages its consumers, with a particular
focus on Gen Z.
9
GEEIQ: Engagements with Walmart Land as of April 2023.
GEEIQ: 30 day experience stats for Walmart Land as of April 2023.
*As of April 13 2023
RETAIL REPORT

Gaming environments
10
Walmart x Roblox
The audience
76%
USA
31m followers
According to GEEIQ’s platform, Roblox over-indexes with
a younger audience, with Walmart having a x3 affinity
with the Roblox community and a 12% follower match.
76% of Roblox’s online audience is located in the United
States and 70% is under the age of 24.
RETAIL REPORT

Gaming environments
11
Walmart
x Roblox
The result
GEEIQ:
After its opening weeks, Walmart expanded the
experience by hosting Electric Fest, a virtual music festival
featuring Madison Beer, Kane Brown and YUNGBLUD.
Total visits to Walmart Land as of May 2023.
This showcasing of Gen Z artists led to an uplift in
engagement across Walmart. Since launch, Walmart Land
has had 18 million visits and consistently ranks as a highly
engaged virtual experience in the retail vertical.
GEEIQ: Walmart is third for new visits to general retail
brand experiences in Roblox, May 2023.
RETAIL REPORT

Gaming environments
12
Target x Fortnite
The strategy
In October 2022, Target, the eighth largest retailer in the
US, took its first foray into the metaverse in the form of the
‘From Spark to Shelf’ activation in virtual gaming environment,
Fortnite.
In their map, players race shopping carts and discover stories
behind some of the most interesting brands at Target.
RETAIL REPORT

Gaming environments
13
Target x Fortnite
The audience
62%
USA
44m followers
According to GEEIQ’s platform, Target over-indexes with
the Fortnite audience 1.47x, and is overrepresented
within the 25-29 age bracket.
RETAIL REPORT

Gaming environments
14
Target
x Fortnite
The result
Target worked with gaming influencers to drive awareness
of the activation, including Typical Gamer, Sushibae and
pgod. This was a logical choice; GEEIQ’s platform shows
that these influencers have varying social shares across
key platforms like YouTube, Twitch and TikTok.
The most engaged piece of content was by Typical Gamer
on YouTube, with +833,000 views and +18,000 reactions.
RETAIL REPORT

Blockchain environments
15
Carrefour x
The Sandbox
In January 2022, Carrefour, the eight largest retailer in the world by
revenue, bought land in The Sandbox.
Elodie Pethusiot, Chief E-Commerce, Digital Transformation and
Data Officer, said: ‘This is our first move in the metaverse on The
Sandbox. A virtual field, and above all a field of innovation for
Carrefour, in line with our digital transformation strategy.’
In May 2022, one month after launching the Supermarket NFBee,
‘the world’s first metaverse supermarket’, Carrefour launched its
first NFT collection, focused on the preservation of bees.
Ownership included both physical and digital benefits, from
exclusive wearables for The Sandbox avatars, access to private
Discord channels, and in-store loyalty cards.
RETAIL REPORT

RETAIL REPORT
Retail & Esports
In recent months, we’ve seen many blue-chip brands including BMW pull
sponsorship from esports.
As recently as February 2023, German supermarket Aldi affirmed its commitment
to esports as a route to engaging new audiences of gamers, with Team Vitality’s
unveiling of its first women’s League of Legends roster in collaboration with Aldi.
According to GEEIQ’s platform, esports provides Aldi with a combined reach of
17 million gamers. This sees the brand consistently place high on GEEIQ’s Partner
Total Following Leaderboard in the retail category.
16

17
Aldi
x Team Vitality
Team Vitality is a French esports team, with a reach of 3.59 million, which reaches
14 million when taking into account its individual players followings.
Its partnership with Aldi has been in place since 2020 and it continues to provide
value for the brand. According to GEEIQ, Team Vitality’s reach has increased 16.62%
over the last 6 months, with their biggest presence being on Instagram.
The team’s largest growth channel is TikTok, with an increase of 111.31% over the
last 6 months. Aldi are also partnered with another French esports team, Solary,
which commands a reach of over 4 million people, and a total reach of 10 million
when it comes to its individual players.
RETAIL REPORT

RETAIL REPORT
Data-driven virtual strategies
The metaverse hype is over, it’s here to stay
Our platform provides the insights
brands require to effectively
navigate and engage the metaverse,
encouraging a data-led approach, set
against long-term strategies.
For our Enterprise subscribers, we
provide in-house data and strategy
expertise from inception to execution.
18

Metaverse experiences
19
The platform’s latest feature provides data insights into brands, their virtual
environments and their performance, across Roblox, ZEPETO, Decentraland, Animal
Crossing, Fortnite, and The Sandbox.
From Spark to Shelf Tonight At The Rock 200 LEVEL DEFAULT...
Roblox ZEPETO Fortnite The Sandbox Decentraland
RETAIL REPORT

20
What is your
audience into?
Who’s excelling
virtually?
The affinity features take you inside the
mind of a brand’s audience: Which people,
brands, games, and industries do they
associate the most with?
Leaderboards show which brands’ virtual
strategies are winning, from partner
growth, campaign performance, and
brand reach.
To explore our features
further, check out
geeiq.com/product
RETAIL REPORT

21
How are branded
NFTs doing?
Who commands
the most attention?
A holistic view of Branded NFT collections,
with live and historical insights into the
world’s top collections.
The platform’s social insights show a
brand and its partners ability to command
attention and engagement.
To explore our features
further, check out
geeiq.com/product
RETAIL REPORT

GEEIQ.COM
RETAIL REPORT
Retail brand wanting
in on the Web3 and
metaverse action?
Speak to the team
LinkedIn
Website
geek noun
\ ˈgēk \