Amazon previews gamified metaverse platform in India

Consumers in India are getting a first look at Amazon’s planned metaverse environment through a series of interactive games.

Amazon is debuting what it calls the “Amazonmetaworld,” a metaverse of digital gamification experiences, in five Indian cities - Kanpur, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Nagpur and Chandigarh – during September 2022. Consumers in those cities can walk into physical experience centers where they create a virtual avatar, put on a virtual reality (VR) headset.

Activities available on Amazon’s metaverse platform include competing in virtual games with other customers to collect points and win prizes, and virtually meeting social media influencers. After entering an Amazon Metaworld experience center, creating a personal avatar and putting on a VR headset, consumers enter the virtual lobby and wait for other players to join.

They then enter one of three portals or zones, and three of nine portals will be visible randomly in every demonstration round. A maximum of five players only are allowed in one portal.

After entering the portal, customers through their avatars will compete with others while trying to collect points. Once they have 100 points, they will have to answer a closed-ended question related to the zone they are in. Customers who answer the question correctly get a virtual diamond.

A player who finds three diamonds and opens the Amazon pop-up truck in the lobby will be declared the winner and will get Amazon prizes. The grand winner for the day (most points in the shortest time), will get the grand prize.

Once a player clears the hurdle, the portal closes and the players are sent back to the lobby, where they can enter more portals. Here’s how the gamification experience will work in key product categories.

• Electronics: Amazon’s products from the electronics category are displayed in this portal, where players have to jump from one moving platform to another, while collecting Amazon Pay cashback points, to find the diamond.
• Fashion and Beauty: Players have to create various looks on a virtual mannequin; the one to create maximum looks in a limited time gets the maximum points, which can be redeemed to find the diamond. 
• Fresh and Consumables: By collecting fruits, pulses and other virtual grocery items, players can collect the Amazon Pay cashback points and use it to find the diamond box. 
• In this simulated city street portal, multiple shops will be visible, of which a few will bear the Amazon logo and branding. Players have to spot these shops to get Amazon Pay cashback points, which can be redeemed for the diamond box. 
• Players have to collect 10 specific smartphones of a particular brand among several others that will be floating around. Each phone will have special Amazon Pay cashback points, which can be redeemed for the diamond box. 

The Amazon Metaworld experience centers were featured in the recent Amazon Great Indian Festival sales extravaganza.

While most surveys indicate that a majority of consumers are not yet active metaverse participants, an increasing number of retailers are establishing themselves as pioneers in the metaverse commerce space. Gap, Pacsun, and Facebook parent Meta (which changed its corporate identity to represent a metaverse orientation), and chief Amazon rival Walmart are just a few. Presumably, Amazon will be following up this gamified demonstration in the not-too-distant future,

“The Amazonmetaworld will give customers an entry into the Amazon universe, a virtual destination that will let you experience your favorite Amazon categories,” said Noor Patel, VP, HCTP, Amazon India. “We are bringing our vast selection and offers to an immersive offline space where customers can play games, become a musician, collect coupons and meet their favorite influencers.”