METAVERSE DIGITAL SALES
Selling in the Metaverse
Welcome to the Metaverse – the next generation of the internet. But what exactly is it? And what can it offer business aviation? Words: Conor Feasey
Welcome to Jetcraft’s lounge in Decentraland – opened last year.
METAVERSE DIGITAL SALES
Selling in the Metaverse
Welcome to the Metaverse – the next generation of the internet. But what exactly is it? And what can it offer business aviation? Words: Conor Feasey
Welcome to Jetcraft’s lounge in Decentraland – opened last year.
THERE IS NOTHING quite like putting your hand on the cold metal of a shiny new business jet. Or first smelling the plush interior of a new or pre-owned aircraft. But a new frontier is opening in jet sales – one that the industry can’t afford not to explore. This year’s World Economic Forum predicted the Metaverse will become an $800bn market by 2024.
Plus the emergence of a new demographic of younger buyers and the evolution of the internet, particularly during the global pandemic, has led to a new frontier for aircraft sales: The Metaverse. Potential buyers now have the opportunity to buy aircraft without even leaving their office.
So, what is the Metaverse? A relatively new concept, it’s a 3D virtual world where people operate in online spaces and build their own versions of reality. And businesses are already taking advantage of this new frontier for expansion.
Platforms such as Decentraland are aimed at trading and marketing. Users can buy and sell virtual assets such as Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and even property. In 2021 alone Decentraland recorded sales of $500m and is expected to report figures more than $1bn for 2022. It’s an especially lucrative venture for investors who originally bought parcels of land for $20.
IT research and consultancy company Gartner predicts that by 2026, one-quarter of the population with access to the internet will spend at least one hour a day in the Metaverse for work, shopping, education, social or entertainment purposes. It also predicts that 30% of businesses will have some product or service available for sale and it is already happening in business aviation.
“Instead of spending $100k sending an aircraft for a customer to inspect, all they have to do is log on.”
Ed Greig, chief disruptor, Deloitte, reported that the firm has already witnessed elements of the Metaverse being used to “tremendous effect in business – especially in terms of collaborating more easily with others as we settle into hybrid working.”
In business aviation, Jetcraft launched into the Metaverse last year, according to Lauren Kinelski, the company’s vice president, Marketing. “We purchased real estate in Decentraland in mid-2022, making us the first business aviation company to establish a permanent presence in the Metaverse,” Kinelski tells Corporate Jet Investor (CJI).
“We pride ourselves on being early adopters of new technology and innovative ways of working. Right now, we’re in learning mode,” she says, adding that the firm’s presence in the Metaverse will help reach existing and prospective buyers, who are already Metaverse users.
Aside from its use as a marketing tool, what more can the Metaverse offer business aviation? And can it actually sell aircraft?
Covid played a huge part in the growth of the digital world and the Metaverse. The likes of Zoom, Teams and other forms of video conferencing platforms and digital communication were suddenly at the forefront of everyday life during lockdowns. While most of the physical world came to a standstill, the digital world thrived.
Aircraft sales thrived during the pandemic too. Jeffrey Lowe, CEO, Asian Sky Group, tells CJI that selling aircraft remotely has proved lucrative for them. “The past couple of years during Covid were record years for us. We sold far more aeroplanes than we did normally and we did that without ever seeing anybody.”
To do this, Lowe worked in partnership with Metaverse platform, Mytaverse. Company CEO and founder, Kenneth Landau explains to CJI how the platform works and how some business jet manufacturers are already benefiting from the new opportunities on offer.
Jeffrey Lowe says new, younger buyers are attracted to the Metaverse.
“We have worked closely with Dassault to build a 3D showroom with exact replicas of its aircraft,” he tells CJI. “We essentially create an online world, purely dedicated to the functions needed by the company, rather than being an open platform like Decentraland where anyone can walk around.” Think of it as a 3D website that you can walk around using your keyboard, adds Landau.
Platforms like the Mytaverse offer brokers and OEMs a chance to interact with prospective buyers across the world, without them having to leave their offices. Using 3D mapping cameras, OEMs like Dassault create virtual replicas of their aircraft and bring their 3D assets to developers such as Mytaverse to upload to a Metaverse platform.
“This is particularly helpful when you want to sell an aircraft which has not yet been built,” says Landau. “For example, we can show you around the Falcon 6X, which has not passed regulations. You won’t get a look at it anywhere else for some time.”
It also offers a unique opportunity to illustrate interior design options to the client. “Most of the OEMs are now offering on their websites experiences where you can change the configuration [to suit your personal tastes] on the fly as well. So, you can stand [in the virtual cabin] and ask yourself: ‘What does it look like with two seats in the back?’ Then you can click and change that right away,” says Lowe.
“A client could ask for something more caramel [in colour] and you can change the cabin to more light-tone browns or maybe they want something more geometric and click. That's something you can't even do in the real world.”
Building a virtual showroom that can be accessed anywhere with an internet connection has other benefits too. “Instead of spending $100,000 sending an aircraft for a customer to inspect, all they have to do is log onto your website,” says Landau. “It also cuts fuel down for the same reason, so it’s also an environmentally conscious offering.”
The Metaverse can also offer businesses a chance to hold meetings and conferences. “Companies can create conference halls, meeting rooms and showrooms, all on one site,” adds Landau. “You can virtually go into a private meeting room, sit on a chair and speak with your colleagues or clients.”
Critics might suggest Metaverse meetings offer little more than Zoom. “My answer would be ‘attention’. People are far more engaged when they can walk around, move their avatar’s head, it is like meeting people in real life,” says Landau. “We hosted a large conference, which started with 412 attendees and after eight hours, there were 400.” The host of the conference noted that if this was on Zoom, that number would have been 70% fewer.
So, it may come as no surprise that brokerages, like manufacturers, are using the evolving Metaverse platforms like Decentraland and Mytaverse to sell aircraft too.
“Jetcraft is well established in the physical world,” says Kinelski. “The next logical step in expanding our global footprint was to remove physical barriers from business aircraft sales, acquisitions and trades and enter the virtual world.”
But who are these potential clients that are using the Metaverse to view aircraft and facilities? According to both Lowe and Kinelski, it is typically new, younger buyers.
“The Metaverse is set to be the evolution of the internet but how and when it will happen, is yet to be seen,” says Kinelski. “What we do know, from our 2022 Market Forecast, is that the share of Jetcraft buyers under 45 years old has risen by 20% in the past five years.” Using the Metaverse is a matter of preparing for the future, she adds.
Kinelski says the rise is driven by the growing number of young entrepreneurs from technology and finance, who are entering business aviation and are already established Metaverse users.
Lauren Kinelski says Jetcraft’s launch into the Metaverse last year made it the first business aviation company to establish a presence there.
Showroom in cyberspace: Dassault has built a 3D showroom for its business jets on Mytaverse – part of the Metaverse platform.
Showroom in cyberspace: Dassault has built a 3D showroom for its business jets on Mytaverse – part of the Metaverse platform.
For Lowe, aged 61, the ability to sell aircraft virtually is imperative to engage with this demographic. “We all want to say that personal interaction is the be-all-and-end-all,” he says. “Our generation seems to think that the way you sell aeroplanes is still at the bar over a Scotch and Cuban cigar. But the reality is, I don't think that's the case. And the up-and-coming buyers don’t see it that way either.”
There are doubts about how essential this offering is to business aviation. Of course, technology can do its best to replicate and imitate aircraft. But can it really be better than being there in person, touching the metal?
“We don’t ever see face-to-face interactions going away, especially within business aviation,” says Kinelski. “Our presence in the Metaverse and our online hangar will bolster our convenience but will not replace the value of in-person connection.”
Landau also says this will never replace smelling the leather. “But it is the next best thing.”
Red carpet treatment: Visitors to view Dassault’s new Falcon 6X in the Mytaverse showroom can expect a VIP experience.
Lowe agrees. “Nothing will ever be as good as being there in real life,” he says. “But this goes a long way to getting people to say, ‘OK, I'll give it a try’”.
This is especially true for the younger generation of buyers now accounting for significant portions of the market. “The guys that are coming up, these new buyers, have no problem whatsoever never meeting you. They do everything using their smartphone. So, for them, a virtual showroom is not a problem,” says Lowe. “For them, virtual is the way they always interact. It’s no big deal. We meet virtually and you can show me what you have to offer, without me spending time getting on a flight.”
So, the Metaverse will by no means end public interaction or face-to-face clients meetings and viewing aircraft in person. But it does offer new sales tools for brokerages and OEMs, as well as branding opportunities and ways to interact on a new frontier with a new demographic of buyers.
“A lot of my generation might look at the Metaverse and think: ‘Come on, this is not how you sell aircraft. This is just a video game.’ But it’s not,” says Lowe. “It is sophisticated and allows you to be anywhere, at any time: ‘The times they are a-changing.’”
Above and below: Business jets can be viewed from every angle – inside and out – in the Mytaverse. Prospective owners are encouraged to try different cabin layouts and colour schemes in these cyberspace showrooms. The Metaverse is predicted to soar into an $800bn market by 2024, according to this year’s World Economic Forum.
