Do you know who the retailers are setting up shop in the Metaverse?

There is a well-known saying when buying property that the three most important things to consider are "location, location, location".

Well, it now appears that this mantra also applies in the virtual universe that some are hailing as the future of the internet, the so-called metaverse.

Still very much in its infancy, this is the immersive, online space where cartoon-like 3D representations of ourselves, known as avatars, can walk around, and talk and interact with others.

You typically access it by wearing a set of virtual reality (VR) goggles connected to your computer.

The company formerly known as Facebook is so convinced that the metaverse is the future of the internet that last year it changed its name to Meta.

Meta and its boss Mark Zuckerberg think that eventually many of us will work, play - and shop - in the metaverse. Or at least our avatars will.

While for many people this all sounds fanciful, a growing number of companies are buying up space in the metaverse so that they can set up shop there.

These firms include the likes of Adidas, Burberry, Gucci, Tommy Hilfiger, Nike, Samsung, Louis Vuitton, and even banks HSBC and JP Morgan.

The question for such businesses, though, is what location do they pick?

There are now some 50 or so different providers of worlds within the metaverse, with the most popular ones including The Sandbox, Decentraland, Voxels, and Somnium Space, plus Meta's own Horizon Worlds.

Click here to read the full BBC News article.