Dubai has partnered with Decentraland to develop its own Mall of the Metaverse, a virtual shopping centre. The mall will cater to visitors "who are seeking increased digital experiences across retail, entertainment, and leisure offerings." This is according to a recent announcement made at the World Government Summit.
The Mall of the Metaverse will represent famous mall chain Majid Al Futtaim, albeit in the Web3 space. Once development is complete, several tests will be conducted before it is opened to virtual shoppers. Visitors will be able to visit and shop inside the mall using their Web3 avatars, where they will find top brands such as Carrefour, Samsung Store, VOX Cinemas, Ghawali, and THAT Concept Store. With time, more exciting features will be added, including the number of accessible brands.
For now, the virtual mall is in its initial phase of development as the team behind the project assesses what potential customers might want and what they might expect from it. According to Khalifa bin Braik, CEO of Majid Al Futtaim Asset Management, the mall will be the leading retail and entertainment destination. Thus, he expects it to be a "huge attraction for customers who crave digital experiences from their most loved brands."
The Mall Of The Metaverse Is Dubai's Most Recent Web3 Initiative
It turns out Majid’s push for a virtual mall in the Metaverse is based on increased demand for digital experiences over the past few years. At least that is the sentiment of Fatima Zada, director of Omnichannels and Digital, Majid Al Futtaim Shopping Malls.
In a statement, she notes, "We work to leverage behavioral science and data to deliver customers what they want and desire. Our swift consumer observations, followed by an action plan and a series of testing stages, has now led to a fully-fledged project that is a step ahead of online shopping — Mall of the Metaverse."
The news comes at a time when the UAE has been pushing to establish itself on Web3 through various initiatives. It is believed that Dubai has a Metaverse strategy that will support over 40,000 virtual jobs and add over $4 billion to its economy by 2028.
