Metaverse Expectations

Consulting Company Gartner has released their first report on the Metaverse, reporting 25% of people will spend an hour a day in the Metaverse for work, shopping, education, social, or entertainment purposes by 2026. They also speculate that 30% of brands will have a product/service in the Metaverse by that same year. This comes after a recent Grayscale study found the Metaverse could be a $1 trillion-dollar opportunity within the coming years. Gartner vice president, Marty Resnick, noted that the Metaverse is still very fragmented and will take the cooperation of all brands to build an immersive experience customers demand to go. (View source)

BNPL Expansion

The BNPL space is beginning to evolve, with Affirm and Klarna each launching new expansions to their services. Consumers will be apt towards these new experiences, PYMNTS reports nearly 20% of the US adult population has used a BNPL option to pay for at least one purchase over the last 12 months. The most popular services being the likes of Affirm, Klarna, Sezzle, and Zip. 70% of these consumers report they will use it more in 2022.

Affirm is looking to expand themselves via a new mobile app and chrome browser extension. The new app will feature personalized offers to Affirm customers, allowing them to create a single virtual card that works like a normal credit card, among other features similar to a banking app. The browser extension has identical features to the app, allowing users to use their Affirm account on any brand website, even if they don’t offer Affirm at checkout. (View source 1, source 2)

Reviews Hold the Power

Recent studies point towards quality and price as the biggest determinate towards consumer purchasing habits but those aren’t the biggest factors. The greatest is actually reviews, particularly recent reviews, and many of them. According to a new study by PowerReviews, 70% of consumers read between one and 25 reviews prior to making any purchase. When it comes to purchasing a product or brand for the first time, 86% of consumers will place even more importance on reviews. Especially recency as 64% would be more apt to buy a product with fewer, more recent reviews than one with a high volume of older reviews. (View source)

AMC Expands into Retail Popcorn

During the pandemic, the famous movie theatre chain saw a massive influx in stock purchases as many, coupled with GameStop stock, began the “meme stock” buying, increasing the value of these companies nearly 500% within a month. Now, the growth has greatly subsided, and AMC is looking to expand, their solution – selling popcorn called AMC Perfectly Popcorn. This decision comes as AMC claims to be the nation’s top seller of freshly popped popcorn, serving more than 1 million bags per week in their theatres. The popcorn can be delivered to a home/business after being freshly popped in a local cinema, picked up, or purchased in microwavable form from a Target or Kroger that neighbor AMCs. (View source)

Subscription Retail of 2021

In 2021, subscription services saw significant growth in overall customer base, averaging 31% YoY growth. Additionally, these brands saw significant growth in average order value, monthly recurring revenue, and customer lifetime value, according to a recent study by Recharge. Over 80% of customers are still customers after one month, within four months that drops to between 50-60%, and after twelve months 42% of customers are still with the brand. For non-subscription e-commerce retailers, the average monthly retention rate is under 1%. While we see supple chain issues continue to persist throughout 2022, expect subscription services to experience continued growth. (View source)

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