The Carrefour group has bought a plot in the video game The Sandbox, self-proclaimed metaverse.
When it comes to testing emerging ideas, the Carrefour group is never the last. In 2018, Carrefour gave us an interview to talk about its ” blockchain chicken “, a meat traceability program which had the particularity of being based on a private blockchain to guarantee by inscriptions each step covered during processing – from the live animal to the cutlet in a blister pack.
In 2022, it is not surprising that Carrefour is seizing the concept in vogue: a tweet from Élodie Perthuisot, head of digital transformation, announces that the group has purchased a plot in “the metaverse” The Sandbox. A statement confirmed by the CEO of the Alexandre Bompard group : “ innovation is at the heart of our model “, he claims, without specifying how a plot in a video game will allow Carrefour to move forward into the future.
Carrefour in The Sandbox: what for?
And this is precisely the question that many Internet users ask Élodie Perthuisot in response to her statement: what is it going to be used for? We remember a similar announcement in 2021, in which Carrefour had used the map editor of the game Fortnite to create “The Healthy Map”, which has become a game mode in a supermarket environment where eating fruits and vegetables gives back of life (the healthy side). Difficult to see more than a work on the brand image of the group with a young audience. In other words, little innovation, lots of marketing.
But The Sandbox is less a game than an “open” experiment. The principle of this service is located on the border between Minecraft, the ancient Second Life, a “codeless” video game creator, a cryptocurrency exchange platform and a store to buy NFTs. Yes, all of these at once. Brands like Atari or Care Bears mainly sell character skins there. The main difference with the same concept on a game like Fortnite being that in The Sandbox, these clothes and looks for players are multi-thousand dollar NFTs – and released in limited quantities. There is also early access to Snoopversea kind of game and experience zone built for Snoop Dogg.
The plot that Carrefour bought at coordinates 33.147 is one of the possibilities of the system put in place by the developers of The Sandbox: bits of this virtual land can be privatized by brands or individuals. It is on these purchased areas that it is possible to create almost tailor-made experiences – almost, since in-game creation cannot exceed the limits of the game, namely a cubic universe à la Minecraft where characters move. Carrefour could very well create a supermarket there. skins for its customers, or a playful experience as is the case in Fortnite.
However, it is difficult to see how Carrefour intends to innovate in its sector. Like all self-proclaimed metaverses, The Sandbox is a closed environment controlled, even if they deny it, by its developers. Like Second Life, Minecraft or Fortnite. The only difference with its elders is that by relying on blockchain, The Sandbox can imagine a future where a meta-economy has been woven between several entities, games and experiences. And in which it will be possible to come across a Carrefour. The dream, right?