Management technology is crucial to maximize opportunities and understand how the consumer will approach this interaction.
Spending millions of reais to open a luxurious restaurant or pay for an expensive dinner in a gourmet environment beyond refinement and, in particular, all this in the virtual world? This became possible with the arrival of the metaverse. But why is this “new internet” making the world euphoric? The metaverse immerses users in a virtual environment, providing a truly immersive experience without having to leave the couch.
To access this “new layer” it is necessary to use virtual and augmented reality technologies, as already happens in famous games, such as “Minecraft”. In them, users create their own characters, participate in missions and interact with each other.
Bringing this new moment to the day-to-day of a company, it is now possible to hold meetings in the metaverse and participate in fairs and events, including interacting with visitors. It is also an innovative way to reduce the distances imposed by the home office work format, or a way to bring together employees who work in different locations. Thinking about leisure, very soon, it will be simple to visit emblematic tourist spots, such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris (France), for example.
Why is the metaverse promising?
This connection between the physical and the digital is gradually transforming consumer behavior, in terms of what they wear, eat, how they have fun and, above all, how they pay for this entire experience. And that’s just the beginning. The trend is for these innovations to advance more and more. Research by McKinsey & Company, a business consultancy, points out that spending on the metaverse could reach $5 trillion by 2030.
Although it is a terrain full of uncertainties, the fact is that the metaverse changes are already happening in several sectors, including food outside the home. Burger King, for example, last year launched Keep It Real Meals. The action consisted of fixing QR Codes on the packages, which, when accessed, unlocked digital collectibles and bonuses in the format of NFTs. Many customers were awarded Whopper sandwich vouchers and exclusive products.
McDonald’s is another chain that decided to invest in this universe, approving a patent application for virtual assets. This means that the giant fast food chain will have a virtual restaurant offering real products. That is, consumers will soon be able to relate in the virtual world and receive their orders physically, at home, through delivery. Faced with these examples, the question remains: how can the food service segment surrender to the metaverse, acting efficiently on all its business fronts and ensuring the best customer experience?
ERP in the metaverse
In this sense, having an adequate integrated management system (ERP) will play a leading role in the company’s performance. As much as it takes place in a virtual environment, consumer behavior remains an important source to support various strategies for the products that will be offered, including understanding the company’s ability to meet the demands that will arise.
In a case like this, ERP is decisive to maximize opportunities and understand how the consumer will approach this interaction. “It is the ERP that will have the ability to process all the information generated in the virtual and real worlds, and which will help the manager to understand what worked or did not work, what needs to be done to correct it and what is the best path to follow. . Decision making is conscious because it is based on true information, consumption that is happening in real time. This allows the restaurant to create strategies that deliver more value to the customer”, highlights Eduardo Ferreira, CCO of ACOM Sistemas, the foodtech responsible for ERP EVEREST.
The tools that an ERP carries with it help in the best construction of the products and services that will be offered. An example of a tool is menu engineering. In the same way as in the offline world, within a service in the metaverse, the menu that will be available to users was designed to meet the needs of customers, but, above all, to bring profitability to the business, always respecting the capacity operation and delivery possibilities.
“The restaurant needs to know which products will be taken to the metaverse, considering some aspects, such as preparation costs, demand and coverage radius. And these definitions go through menu engineering and study of the ABC curve of products. Another care will be with the types of dishes and the preparation time, because those that are in the virtual environment need to be prepared and delivered with much more agility to the consumer”, reinforces Eduardo.
The demand for the metaverse will also create other perspectives for dark kitchens, which can stop being “ghost restaurants” to start receiving interactive visits from customers, connecting them with the choice and preparation of dishes, creating a valuable experience. “The metaverse is an opportunity for innovation, flexibility and scalability to be explored by the industry. But it is necessary to be supported by intelligent solutions, capable of delivering mobility and agility so that the entire production, delivery and after-sales process has a positive impact on the customer”, concludes the CCO of ACOM Sistemas.
