A few weeks ago, Meta (formerly known as Facebook) opened its first ever store, located on the Meta Burlingame campus, home to the Metaverse-focused Reality Labs division.
Here, customers were able to try out the various Meta hardwares available at the store.
This included the Portal, Meta Quest 2 and Meta’s Ray-Ban Stories, their take on Google’s smart Glasses.
The company’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg, set out (in a very Apple-esque) 1,500 Sq. foot store, his futuristic vision for the Metaverse, where people could come to interact through VR devices and headsets, and enter virtual worlds.
Martin Gilliard, the Head of the Meta Store, told CNBC “The store is essential for us to be another touch point for the consumer. What we will learn from this store will help inform if we continue to do more of these, but what we’re really looking for is the ability to tell a story and to get the feedback from the consumer.”
Customers who were lucky enough to visit the store were able to try on a range of styles and lenses, to fully immerse themselves in the products offered by the company, which must be “experienced” in order to fully grasp how they work.
Moreover, once inside the modern store in California, customers were able to place video calls to retail executives, in order to fully explore the features of the products.
According to the Meta Newsroom, the company further states that, “Ultimately, our goal with the Meta Store is to show people what’s possible with our products today, while giving a glimpse into the future as the Metaverse comes to life — and hopefully demystifying that concept a bit in the process.”
It is reported that the Metaverse won’t fully be completed until the end of the decade, but Zuckerburg has given us glimpses into the various service offerings and exciting futuristic vision for the brand.
Although the store was only open for a week, it is unsure if they will continue to open additional stores, or even pop-up versions similar to Amazon.
It was an effective way for the company to see how consumers interact with the products, that included Meta’s Ray Ban Stories aka Smart Glasses, which can capture photos and videos to share on social platforms.
Here, the company also finally showcased the long awaited ‘Portal’, which is a video-calling device used for people to stay connected when working from home and families to stay in touch.
“The Meta Store is going to help people make that connection to how our products can be the gateway to the Metaverse in the future. We’re not selling the Metaverse in our store, but hopefully people will come in and walk out knowing a little bit more about how our products will help connect them to it.” – Martin Gilliard, Head of Meta Store.
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