Though light traffic, Cannabis brands hope the metaverse can educate consumers
Companies such as Higher Life have begun to open virtual stores for their cannabis sales to get into web3. The shops are being created in order to educate the masses on the products they carry, sell the products out in the real world, and create and sell NFTs.
This is not a new concept, many companies such as Miller Lite, Estee Lauder,JP Morgan & Chase, Nike , Adidas and more have joined onto web3 with the hopes of not being left behind this evolution of the internet. Keep in mind one of the major draws of web3 is its decentralization. Basically, this means marketers can speak on their products without worrying about censorship or any rules like those to be found on facebook or instagram. Currently, there are no real regulators put in place for how things are marketed or how things are said in web3.
Though there are many that would tout web3 as the new amazing change that internet has needed , there are some that claim it is not as amazing as many would have you to believe. Take for example this following video…
The way to purchase CBD products is not necessarily through the metaverse store but instead is still through a web2 website. The users click on a cash register in the metaverse world to be transported over to the web2 site. Currently the team at Higher Life state that the site receives over 1000 visits per day. Saucey which is on the second floor of the virtual store does not have as much traffic or success as Higher Life at this moment.
Keep in mind with regulations and laws held by the U.S government selling of cannabis is still very restricted and the metaverse is of course no exception. There are beliefs that the regulations may ease up in the next few years but there is no exact timeline. The two teams are currently focusing on sales of NFTs that create clothing for online avatars. These NFTs are meant to create awareness of the brands and their products. One such example would be Kandy Girl a dispensary in Decentraland that also uses NFT clothing to build the awareness of the brand.
Kandy Girl is a THC-infused Gummy brand that has acquired land in Decentraland to continue sales. The gummy ships to all states and has made over $30,000 in sales so far.
Most of these projects are not doing the same numbers that they would on web2 at the moment, this is due to the young age of the metaverse. The benefit of the metaverse is that cannabis brands are not held back by any rules or regulations on how they promote their product at the moment. Decentraland and Voxels welcome cannabis brands and have worked fully to aid them in their marketing. That being said there are still some rules that must be followed, for example, companies cannot sell cannabis products to countries that have made the sale and distribution of such products illegal.