Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M) just confirmed that they are not opening a metaverse store at the moment. The Swedish company contacted Bitcoin.com almost a month after the rumor began to spread, and denied any development of a H&M metaverse. In addition, the company stressed that they are not in collaboration with CEEK.
The rumors started when VR developer CEEK, posted a teaser of a sleek H&M concept store on Twitter. The tweet also added that the H&M store would be a great use case for their $CEEK tokens. Since then, many major publications have reported this news, further spreading the hoax. CEEK later clarified that this video is merely a concept that was presented to the H&M team and that they were still in discussions.
H&M’s iconic store on Fifth Avenue, NYC. Credit: Wikimedia
What if…
Although the company has rubbished the claims altogether, a H&M metaverse does not seem like a bad idea at all. Last month, Ralph Lauren has already entered the Roblox metaverse, and is doing just fine. Furthermore, H&M is no stranger to the blockchain scene. The company recently partnered with Lablaco and TextileGenesis to work on supply chain traceability and sustainability respectively.
Theoretically, there are no limits to design options in the metaverse given that it is not bound by any rules of physics. Moreover, insane high street rental costs and big budget renovation bills are out the window. The metaverse can be a good complement to existing e-commerce facilities, or it can sell NFTs of metaverse wearables. The possibilities are almost only limited by one’s imagination.
The industry has been developing technologies such as virtual reality and interactive games for awhile now. These technologies act as precursors to a holistic metaverse experience. Coupled with blockchain technology and NFTs, metaverse shopping may very well be a part of our lives in the near future.
