Popular Dubai retailer Majid Al Futtaim will open a virtual mall called Mall of the Metaverse in Decentraland, a blockchain-based virtual world that allows individuals and organisations to create, experience, and monetise their own content.

Announced at the World Government Summit, it will be Dubai’s first virtual mall. It will open to visitors “who are seeking increased digital experiences across retail, entertainment and leisure offerings” after multiple stages of testing.

The mall is in the initial phase of development as the retail group looks “closely” at customers’ needs and expectations. Inside the mall, customers’ avatars will find Carrefour, VOX Cinemas, THAT Concept Store, Ghawali and Samsung Store, “with many more brands and exciting features in the pipeline”.

Khalifa bin Braik, CEO of Majid Al Futtaim Asset Management, said the Mall of the Metaverse will be a leading retail and entertainment destination — “and surely a huge attraction for customers who crave digital experiences from their most loved brands”.

Fatima Zada, director of Omnichannels and Digital, Majid Al Futtaim Shopping Malls, highlighted how there has been an increased demand for digital experiences in the last few years.

“We work to leverage behavioural science and data to deliver customers what they want and desire. Our swift consumer observations, followed by an action plan and a series of testing stages, has now led to a fully-fledged project that is a step ahead of online shopping — Mall of the Metaverse.”

The UAE has made several advancements in the metaverse, with three healthcare groups entering the virtual world. Dubai Mall had showcased its Etisalat store in the metaverse in 2022.

In November 2022, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, and Chairman of Dubai’s Higher Committee of Future Technology Development and Digital Economy, approved the new phase of the Dubai Metaverse Strategy.

The strategy aims to enhance the digital economy and implement measures to empower the use of the metaverse and future technologies. It aims to support 40,000 virtual jobs and add $4 billion to its economy in five years.