Web3 Could Become the Future Of Customer Experience. The World's First Permanent Web3 Store Can Show Us How
This new dimension of social media is exactly where companies might soon be finding, fielding and receiving customer feedback.
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Over the past two years we’ve all been introduced to the Metaverse–whether or not we’ve wanted to. Whether it’s the ability to pay your friends back on Venmo via Bitcoin, counting on Doge to pull through as a big investment, or buying digital art from your favorite Instagram artist, the world has gone more digital–and dimensional–than ever before.
For super tech savvy web users, that’s no problem. But if you’re somebody like me, who upon mention of the world “Metaverse” has flashbacks to drowning Sims in a pool, then there's likely a huge barrier to entry in understanding the tech trend being referred to as Web3. It may be ultra-digital and super pricey, and it doesn’t seem to be the most accessible–yet. The world’s first in-person permanent crypto, Metaverse, Web3 gaming, and NFT experience store is looking to change that, starting with educating potential customers.
At Web3 Gallery located on Fifth Avenue in New York City, the crypto-curious, wannabe Metaverse meddlers and NFT newbies can come to learn, purchase products in person and get onboarded to their new technology, all before they head back out the gallery’s double doors. Being green in this tech space isn’t anything to be embarrassed about says Corey Adams, co-founder and COO of the gallery. In fact, “that’s the exact person that we're targeting,” he tells CCW Digital. “Aspects of it, Metaverse, curiosity, whatever. [If you] don't have a strong knowledge of what it is, that's where we come in—educate and provide the barrier of entry to getting into Web3.” He has noticed that hesitancy around the space primarily exists because potential users are nervous about interacting with others anonymously online, as opposed to face-to-face. “It seems scammy and unsafe, but this is a real life location, and they have somebody that they can see.”
When throwing around words like crypto, Metaverse and Web3, the terms may sound lofty to some. But at the gallery, there are different sections of the store dedicated to showing the various types of technology that you can see, hear, touch, create and even buy. At the front of the store they have digital art hanging, made by artists who have rented the gallery frame in the hopes that onlookers will purchase their pieces. On the opposite side hang NFTs, which according to Adams aren’t actual art pieces–they’re more like digital codes that signify ownership of the art to which they are assigned. “Think of it more like real estate,” he told CCW Digital while touring the space. Towards the back of the gallery is a section hosting a variety of digital wallets, some so technologically secure that you can only access it via mobile if you have a physical crypto card to tap/or scan on your device.
The New York City location, which opened in July of 2022, also hosts events and panels so that experts can come in and share their knowledge with attendees. It’s much needed: with all that’s going on in the Metaverse and beyond, there’s a lot of ground to cover in person and online. “There are multiple Metaverses that accomplish different things—creation, social media,” says Adams. They all serve their own purpose as part of the current wave of global technological advancement, and Metaverses only scratch the surface of what makes up Web3.
Corey Adams describes Web3 as the third technological evolution in the history of modern computerization:
Web1 focuses on in-home computers, Internet access and the democratization of information. “Finding information that wasn’t easily accessible, it’s now easily accessible online. You can learn about anything that you wanted,” he recalls.
Web2 goes beyond just reading and accessing information. In this stage you can now write your own content and contribute to what others are reading or digesting. “Social media, blogs, the ability to create your own content and publish it online” are all a part of this period of tech advancement, says Adams.
Web3, our present stage, consists of not just reading and writing information, but owning it yourself. “If we break down the complications of Blockchain, what it means is the ability to own your content on the Internet,” Adams explains. “Everything involves a wallet, Apple Wallet, Meta verse property, social media property…Web2 was corporations, now Web3 is the individual.”
According to NPR, “in a Web3 world, people control their own data and bounce around from social media to email to shopping using a single personalized account, creating a public record on the blockchain of all of that activity.”
Where Web1 was about accessibility of information, Web3 is about removing that information from the multibillion dollar companies that have amassed our personal data, learned our shopping habits, and have a copy of every instant message we’ve ever sent. But now, we all have the opportunity to essentially own a part of the Internet. It inspired Adams to the point that he got to work on creating a brick-and-mortar store. After witnessing BestBuy’s educational role and customer service success model during the Web1 phase of modern technology, he knew that having a similar model where newcomers can find Web3 assistance would be key to technological growth. “I think the easiest way to explain anything is to compare it to something that people understand or people know,” he explains. “BestBuy was really good at educating individuals on all the tech that came around Web1, when the Internet really started gaining traction. They had GeekSquad, so people understood what they were purchasing, the benefits for each thing.”
He’s looking to do the same thing for customers at Web3 gallery who are looking to engage with new technology, from cryptocurrency, to alternate reality gaming, the metaverse, NFTs and beyond. In fact, “Web3, in a lot of ways, mirrors the Metaverse. It’s an additional dimension of social media,” he says. This new dimension of social media is exactly where companies might soon be finding, fielding and receiving customer feedback. “Just as social media has impacted it, advertisement and customer service…the same thing happens with the Metaverse, that being the new way that people interact online through Facebook or Twitter, just as customers,” he notes. As Web3 focuses on individual as opposed to corporate ownership, key customer service social media players like Twitter and Facebook may become secondary methods to what lies ahead.
As it turns out, the process has already started. In January of this year Ethereum Push Notification Service (EPNS), a communication protocol for Web3, was launched as a way to bring the Web2 push notifications we’ve grown accustomed to into this new tech world. It can work with crypto wallets, mobile apps and more. Tools like these are going to be key as technology shifts, especially as digital wallets grow in popularity and various cryptocurrencies become more common as payment methods. Knowing you could make a secure purchase–and knowing what platforms you can use to contact merchants. But before we take our Yelp reviews to the Metaverse, we need to have a hold on what today’s technology looks like. The Web3 Gallery is expanding in order to do just that: they have a goal to open 20 stores around the world within the next year. As we think about sending our funds to the anonymous mystery makers of the Metaverse, we all deserve a chance to see the Web3 world up close and personal.
