Walmart Joins the Metaverse on Roblox

Walmart is diving into the metaverse with two immersive experiences on the Web3 platform Roblox, the retail giant announced Monday. In Walmart Land and Walmart's Universe of Play, Roblox users can shop in a virtual store of merchandise, go on a Ferris wheel, and unlock tokens and badges by playing various games and competitions. The immersive Walmart Land includes a space similar to a music festival, with an interactive piano walkway, a dance challenge, and a Netflix trivia experience; a "House of Style" featuring a virtual dressing room; a cosmetics obstacle course; and a roller-skating rink; and "Electric Fest", a motion-capture concert celebration featuring performances by popular artists such as Madison Beer, Kane Brown, and YUNGBLUD.

The more play-friendly Universe of Play features games, virtual toy awards, a Walmart blimp, and hoverboards.

Total Retail's Take: Walmart is one of the biggest names in retail to enter the metaverse, following in the footsteps of brands like Nike, Barbie, American Eagle Outfitters, and Ralph Lauren. Walmart's two virtual worlds show the retailer means business. With more than 50 million active daily users — two-thirds of whom are under the age of 16 — Roblox is the place for Walmart to be in order to attract a younger audience, especially with one of its virtual worlds teeming with "the year's best toys," which have "busted loose and turned up in Walmart's Universe of Play, according to a press release.

Roblox will serve as a testing ground for Walmart as it considers moves in the metaverse and beyond. The retailer is trying to have a presence where consumers, particularly younger shoppers, are spending their time. For now, that place is Roblox.