Welcome to the dawn of a new era in customer service, where the metaverse is rapidly transforming how businesses interact with their customers.

With 60% of internet users projected to engage in metaverse environments by 2030, the urgency to adapt customer support strategies has never been more critical.

This digital revolution presents a unique set of challenges, from navigating complex virtual worlds to meeting the heightened expectations of tech-savvy consumers. However, it also offers unparalleled opportunities for innovative, immersive support solutions that can enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty.
In this article, we delve into the evolving landscape of customer service within the metaverse, identifying both the hurdles and the pathways to success in virtual support.

Understanding the Metaverse

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The metaverse is like a massive, interactive online playground where people can meet, work, and play using digital avatars. Imagine stepping into a video game where everything feels real—you can attend concerts, visit art galleries, or even try on clothes in a virtual store.

This leap from simple web pages to these vivid, 3D worlds is powered by some pretty cool tech. Virtual Reality (VR) goggles can transport you to these spaces, making you feel like you’re really there. Augmented Reality (AR) blends digital objects with the real world, so you could see a digital sculpture in your living room.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) makes the experience smarter, with digital beings that can talk and interact with you. And thanks to blockchain, you can buy and sell things safely in this virtual universe. Companies like Facebook’s Meta are investing big time in this, betting that the metaverse is the next big thing after the internet.

The Role of Customer Service in the Metaverse

In the metaverse, customer service isn’t just about answering calls or replying to emails. It’s a whole new ballgame. Here, businesses can set up virtual help desks or even entire support centers where avatars (digital versions of us) can walk in to ask for help, just like in a real store.

This setup is a game-changer because it adds a personal touch that’s often missing online. For example, a fashion brand might have a virtual store where you can try on clothes with your avatar. If you have questions, a customer service avatar can show you different styles or explain how to make a purchase.

Companies like Verizon have experimented with virtual reality to help customers troubleshoot issues in a 3D space, making complex tech support more intuitive. This approach makes solving problems faster and more fun, turning customer service into an experience rather than a chore.

Technologies Shaping Customer Service in the Metaverse

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The tech-powering customer service in the metaverse is straight out of a sci-fi movie. Virtual reality (VR) lets customers step into a 3D world to solve problems or learn about products in a way that feels real. For example, if you’re trying to fix your internet router, a VR simulation could guide you through the steps in a hands-on way.

Then, there are AI-driven avatars and chatbots, ready to help anytime, day or night. These aren’t your average chatbots; they can understand complex questions and give personalized advice, almost like talking to a human.

Blockchain technology keeps your purchases safe and sound, ensuring that the transaction is secure and transparent when you buy something in the metaverse. And let’s not forget augmented reality (AR), which can overlay digital images onto the real world, so you can see how a new sofa looks in your living room before you buy it. Together, these technologies are the pillars of customer service in the metaverse.

Why Metaverse Customer Service Is The Future

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Currently, traditional customer service is equipped with some pretty cool tools. Take Zendesk, a powerhouse in helping businesses manage customer questions, requests, and feedback. Moreover, there are many other Zendesk alternatives that are streamlined, efficient, and let customer service teams provide help quickly and effectively – all in one place.

However, the emergence of the metaverse introduces a new dimension to customer service. Zendesk, among others, has already begun incorporating metaverse-based customer support. This reflects a broader industry trend where many sectors are eager to engage in the metaverse, highlighting a significant opportunity for customer service within this space. As we transition into the metaverse, customer support will become more immersive and interactive, allowing businesses to establish 3D spaces for real-time interactions with customers as if face-to-face.

The metaverse also makes it possible for the service to be more proactive. With AI, companies can predict issues you might run into and offer solutions before you even encounter a problem. Plus, the support experience can be much more engaging and fun with VR and AR. Imagine troubleshooting your tech issues with a game-like experience in VR, turning a typically mundane task into something you might actually look forward to.

Challenges of Implementing Customer Service in the Metaverse

Implementing customer service in the metaverse isn’t as straightforward as it sounds for companies. First off, there’s the technical side of things. Setting up a virtual world that’s both functional and user-friendly takes a ton of tech savvy and resources. Imagine a company like Zara wanting to offer virtual shopping experiences. They’d need to create digital twins of thousands of clothing items, not to mention a virtual store that can handle hundreds of shoppers at once.

Security is another big hurdle. When transactions happen in the metaverse, companies need to ensure that customer data is safe from cyber threats, which requires cutting-edge security measures.Then, there’s training staff to operate in these virtual environments. Your customer service team needs to be as comfortable navigating a 3D world as they are answering a phone call. Plus, they need to know how to handle new types of customer interactions that don’t even exist yet in traditional retail settings.

For example, a significant challenge is ensuring that each virtual visitor receives prompt and personalized support, akin to the high standards expected in the physical world. This is where a visitor management system comes into play. These systems can be instrumental in orchestrating and enhancing customer experiences in the Metaverse. By seamlessly tracking visitor data and preferences, it ensures that virtual support teams can deliver tailored assistance, much like a concierge service for the digital realm.

All these challenges mean that while the metaverse offers exciting new possibilities for customer service, getting there is going to require some serious innovation and investment from businesses.

Companies Leveraging the Metaverse Tech for Customer Service

Companies are diving headfirst into the metaverse to revolutionize customer service, making interactions more immersive and engaging.

#1 Meta

Meta, formerly known as Facebook, is leading the charge by creating virtual spaces where businesses can interact with customers in real-time. Imagine walking into a digital store, designed by Meta, where you can chat with avatars of customer service reps to get product recommendations or troubleshoot issues. This approach not only makes customer service more interactive but also adds a personal touch that’s often missing in online shopping.

#2 Google

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Google is transforming customer service by integrating metaverse elements into its services like Live View. Live View uses augmented reality to enhance real-world experiences, guiding you to stores or helping you navigate inside large buildings.

For example, a business can use Google My Business listing to highlight products and services, schedule their posts that appear in Google Search and Maps and more. Then, with the Live View feature, a person can easily find your location if they only lift their phone and search the area. This AR feature can dramatically improve how businesses provide in-person support, making it easier for customers to find products or get help in real-world settings.

#3 Nike

Nike is sprinting ahead in the metaverse race by creating virtual worlds and products for its digital-savvy audience. They’ve launched Nikeland, a virtual space within Roblox, where users can try on and buy digital sneakers and apparel for their avatars.

This not only serves as a unique marketing tool but also offers a new avenue for customer service, where Nike can directly engage with customers, gather feedback, and offer support in an environment that feels both fun and futuristic.

#4 Ikea

Ikea is leveraging AR technology to redefine customer service in the home decor space. Their app allows customers to visualize furniture in their homes before making a purchase, solving the age-old problem of “Will this look good in my room?”

Beyond just visualization, Ikea’s foray into the metaverse could extend to offering virtual design consultations, where representatives can assist in planning your space within a virtual version of your home. This approach makes shopping more convenient and ensures that customers make more informed decisions, enhancing satisfaction and reducing returns.

Embracing Tomorrow’s Support Today

As we stand on the brink of a new frontier in customer engagement, the metaverse heralds a transformation in customer service that is both profound and exhilarating. The leap into virtual worlds not only challenges businesses to reimagine support but also offers them a canvas to craft experiences that are more personal, interactive, and immersive than ever before.

The key to thriving in this evolving landscape lies in embracing the technological marvels of VR, AR, AI, and blockchain, to deliver solutions that are not just about resolving issues but enhancing the overall customer journey. By doing so, companies can not only meet but exceed the expectations of a digitally native generation, ensuring loyalty and fostering a sense of community.

The future of customer service in the metaverse is about creating meaningful, memorable interactions that resonate with customers on a personal level, making every virtual encounter an opportunity to build lasting relationships.

About the Author

Scarlett Finley is a business-savvy affiliate marketing specialist with a wealth of experience in high-growth software companies. She excels at consulting businesses on how to leverage SAAS tools to achieve their growth objectives. In her spare time, she loves exploring the Scottish Highlands and training for her next tough-mudder challenge.

With the metaverse predicted to nearly double, potentially reaching $783.3 billion by 2024, it’s not a surprise that businesses across industries are looking to invest.

In fact, several new startups are opening virtual headquarters in anticipation of the Metaverse dominating the future of work. Gerald Martinetz, VP of Applied Intelligence at Mindbreeze explores further.

Accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the last decade has seen a digitization boom. But the rise of the Metaverse is expected to bring digitization to a new level, far beyond that of Zoom meetings and Slack chats. The Metaverse eliminates the need for a formal workplace, enabling digital working versions of ourselves to interact with one another in a virtual sphere.

Even if you are in the tech world and have excellent knowledge of what the Metaverse can be, one may still be a little unclear. Perhaps, a productive and accurate way to see the Metaverse is as a digital twin of our reality, enabling businesses to transact and interact virtually to optimize digital projects.

While this virtual world of work will allow ultimate flexibility, it will also exacerbate many challenges organizations face today with remote and hybrid work, such as collaboration across teams and time zones. To address these challenges and ensure the Metaverse is a valuable workspace for all, businesses should utilize tools that generate a holistic view of their corporation within the digital space. Seeing holistic views of what is going on inside your company can not only enhance your current business processes, but also prepare you for the leap into the Metaverse when the time comes.

Digital Twins and how the Metaverse Compares

Digital twins are virtual representations of physical objects and processes, serving as counterparts to real-life things. These twins provide little use without being exact, so they are continuously updated from real-time data and machine learning. In maintenance, a digital twin of a machine part is often created, enabling professionals tasked with fixing it to have insights into different components and functions of the piece – avoiding reworks and leading to more efficient labor.

While the Metaverse is still in creation and undergoing construction from the ground up, digital twins are designed from an existing entity. For companies and processes to go into the Metaverse, digital twins of what already exists will have to fill the space.

This is where access to data and information come into play. If the Metaverse truly becomes our new reality, companies need to have their data sorted on customers, company processes, employees, and more. It would be a shame to enter a new reality unprepared for a customer meeting.

Holistic views of customers give customer support and experience teams insights they never had before. Connecting data from internal and external sources ensure support teams are equipped with knowledge from every interaction or touchpoint a client had. Today, this is highly beneficial when a customer fills out a support ticket and the support desk is tasked with resolving an issue in a timely and efficient manner. All necessary knowledge on the problem and the customer history is in front of the support desk’s face in a matter of seconds, leading to expert solution finding and happy customers.

In the Metaverse, this could look slightly different. It’s important to note that nobody truly knows how the end product will look for business interactions. That said, if the avatar of a customer visits your virtual headquarters with a problem, your support team best be prepared.

In this scenario, augmented information will prove very useful in enriching content within the Metaverse. Augmented information adds modified existing data to a dataset, giving machines more to learn from. With an AI-powered solution, such as an insight engine, all digital entities in the “new” reality can be updated in real-time, enhancing the benefits of operating inside the Metaverse.

The Key Takeaway

Today, there are countless technologies on the market – many of which people had trouble conceptualizing until they saw it. If the world of business is heading towards the Metaverse, companies should begin conceptualizing what it will look and feel like as best as they can. Starting with digital twins to represent entities throughout your organization could be highly beneficial to serving your customers in the Metaverse.

About the Author

Gerald Martinetz is VP of Applied Intelligence at Mindbreeze.

Some exciting trends are emerging in the world of Mixed Reality (MR) that could have a major impact on the online customer experience of the future.

MR encompasses a range of technologies that combine the digital and natural worlds. Augmented Reality (AR) functions in a real-world environment and overlays computer graphics you can see and manipulate using smartphones or glasses, while Virtual Reality (VR) creates a digital, simulated environment you can explore and interact with using a headset.

Early VR gaming headsets appeared in the 1990s and the technology has taken leaps and bounds since then. The first commercial application of AR occurred in 2008 in the form of a BMW magazine ad readers could augment using a computer camera. With 5G speeds driving the growth of new MR products, the global AR/VR market is forecast to reach $18.8 billion in 2020.

Businesses are now creating applications in a wide range of areas, often with the assistance of software development companies like BairesDev. In fact, 87% of respondents to a Harvard Business survey reported that they’re exploring, piloting, or currently deploying MR.

Here are some of the MR trends you can expect to see in the next few years.

Better Navigation

You probably already use Google and Apple map services to guide outdoor navigation, but did you know that AR technology can assist your indoor navigation? AR smartphone apps can help you find your way around complex locations like airports, hospitals, malls, and office buildings, saving you time and effort. For example, Gatwick Airport in London offers AR apps to help travelers get to the right terminals and gates, and find baggage carousels, check-in desks, and restaurants.

Advancing outdoor navigation, Google is beta testing AR walking directions for Google Maps on AR-compatible mobile devices, allowing you to see overlaid information about things around you in real-time. Automobile manufacturers are using AR cameras and dashboard displays to help you navigate around safety hazards and receive information about nearby attractions.

Improved Wearables

The primary wearable device used for AR is currently “smart glasses” (though you can also access the technology through mobile devices and desktops). VR is typically experienced through headsets. These wearables are getting smaller and lighter, making them more comfortable to use.

Prices will continue to drop, expanding access to even more consumers, while processing power and battery life will increase. Your VR experiences will be more satisfying with higher quality, wireless headsets that display higher resolution graphics. VR headsets out now include Oculus Quest, Valve Index, and Vive Cosmos.

Enhanced Online Shopping

No matter how convenient, online shopping has always lacked the hands-on benefits of interacting with objects in a retail store. Companies are now using AR technology to allow you to engage with products in virtual showrooms, or place them virtually in your home, to help you better imagine using them before buying.

Take IKEA’s Place app for example. This app lets you point your phone at spaces to see what furniture would look like in your home. Makeup companies offer AR technology that adapts to at-home lighting conditions to provide you with personalized product recommendations without leaving your house. Additional online shopping applications include:

• 3D room design for kitchens, bathrooms, and home goods
• 3D visualization to enable remote interior design services
• AR apps to browse products

More Exciting Games

Online gaming is where MR got its start, and developments continue in this arena. The expansion of 5G will allow more advanced mobile gaming, such as multi-user experiences with hundreds of users viewing and changing 3D content in real-time without lag. You can also expect to find smarter, AI-driven opponents when you play. Innovative VR games coming in 2020 include:

• “Half-Life Alyx,” a prequel to Half-Life 2 about a hacker about to start a revolution against an alien force, was built from the ground up specifically for VR.

• “Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners,” an open-world choose-your-own-path adventure, uses a new VR physics system that allows visceral hand-to-hand combat you can physically feel.

Targeted Marketing

You should start seeing more businesses use MR technology in marketing efforts, which will help you understand advertised products more thoroughly, often through virtual “hands-on” experiences. Two industries in particular, real estate and tourism, are effectively utilizing this technology.

Real Estate

Visualize yourself in various homes or apartments through virtual tours and immersive 360-degree videos.

• Explore properties for sale anywhere in the world without physically traveling there.
• Place virtual furniture throughout properties, to better imagine living there, using an AR home staging app like the one Sotheby’s offers.

Tourism

• Experience potential travel destinations through VR to help you decide where to take a trip.
• Re-experience your trips through VR after you return.

In Summary

As prices come down and technology continues to improve, you can expect to see MR expanding into more areas of life. Keep an eye out for new opportunities to use AR and VR to shop online more efficiently, quickly navigate airports and malls, and choose with confidence where to take your next big trip.

About the Author

Malcom Ridgers is a tech expert at BairesDev specializing in the software outsourcing industry. He has access to the latest market news and has a keen eye for innovation and what’s next for technology businesses.