Six ways 5G & Metaverse set to revolutionize life and commerce

5G gives metaverse the founding blocks to realize the vision of bringing physical and digital lives together. Metaverse along with 5G will help businesses build spaces that are highly immersive, hyper-realistic, and unique

Metaverse is not just about a digital reality but it is also a digital economy where users will be able to create, buy and sell goods. This unique blend of our physical lives with digital twins is for sure set to revolutionize consumer behavior.

In e-commerce specifically, metaverse will aid augmented experiences for customers by combining the best of in-store experiences with the convenience of shopping from your couch. The immersive multi-dimensional ability to touch and feel the products and understand their attributes and features without stepping out of your home is a technological advancement like no other!

1. Cost optimization – Metaverse will transcend physical boundaries and help in connecting vendors globally. This easy access and collaboration for innovation, cost negotiations, etc. will help in optimizing costs for production and procurements of products. This will also help in quality control and supply chain transparency.

2. Easy collaboration and visibility – Digitization of commerce have called for increased virility in the processes not only from D2C but also in B2B. Consumers, retailers, and manufacturers are looking for transparency. Metaverse will augment supply chain transparency with Extended Reality (XR) representation of the production process and distribution and sales model. This would allow stakeholders and investors to gain key insights about lead times, transit times, delays, and even real-time shipping costs.

3. Warehouse operations – Metaverse with its hyper-reality will provide a digital reality where skill training, operations orientation sessions, etc. can be helped without disrupting everyday processes. Businesses today are looking to increase time and cost optimization. These strategies often require re-organizing workflows that might lead to slight delays. This is where the metaverse will step in. Testing new adjustments and layout and lows digitally will not hamper work in the physical world thus increasing productivity. Besides this dynamic space modeling, racking optimization, slotting, etc. with the metaverse will help in cost optimization, especially for micro-fulfillment centers.

4. Advanced analytics – Metaverse will enhance the shopping experience for customers by bringing virtual reality billboards, the digital presence of brands, augmented videos, etc. This change in marketing technique would also call for advanced analytics specific to the metaverse. From understanding virtual avatars and their purchase patterns to advanced analysis of data, metaverse will help businesses in understanding, refining their target audience, and obtaining maximum ROI.

5. Accelerated production – Metaverse provides a safe space for companies to test and generate prototypes without affecting the physical world. This would not only help companies save cost and time but also increase product quality and innovation. Trial production, testing, operation management, etc. can be simulated and verified before rolling out in the physical world.

6. Faster and safer logistics with 5G-supported Blockchain technology – In a nutshell, Blockchain technology is like a digital ledger, a framework that stores transactional records. For Logistics, blockchain enables smooth and integrated communication across complex supply chains. With 5G technology, logistics stands to gain increased security and speed. 5G-supported Blockchain technology connectivity allows for an efficient supply chain with transparency and visibility even if the products are distributed across the globe. Innovative inventory management and seamless fleet management including managing time-sensitive freight with greater accuracy are also with the help of 5G. 5G is also expected to help in advancing safety enhancements like collision avoidance, vehicle connectivity, geolocation tracking, etc. helming with lower fuel consumption as well as increasing tracking between first-mile and last-mile to keep processes transparent, swift, and safe.

None of the benefits mentioned above is possible without 5G. 5G gives metaverse the founding blocks to realize the vision of bringing physical and digital lives together. With the application of 5G in IoT and AI, metaverse can avail rapid connectivity speed, ultra-low latency, and a wider bandwidth helping advance this concept. Offering low latency, reliable communication, roaming capabilities, mobility support, and an enhanced render level of detail, 5G is helping businesses build spaces that are highly immersive, hyper-realistic, and unique – be it for work or play and can be accessed by multiple people at the same time without congestion.

By Rajneesh D, Director, CABT Logistics