Lowe’s is all over the news today, for their corporate announcement of NFTs and “metaverse assets.”
Not to mince words, I have no idea what they’re talking about. I understand what NFTs are, and what brands and popular media think the metaverse is about, but I don’t understand what Lowe’s is actually doing here, or why.
Let’s pick apart the announcement. There’s a lot of corporate PR speak in the quoted segments, so feel free to skip those if you’re inclined, and go back if you want the full details.
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It starts off with a bold headline:
LOWE’S TO HELP BUILDERS CREATE A NEW WORLD OF POSSIBILITY INSIDE THE METAVERSE
Okay. So Lowe’s is aiming to help builders with this metaverse stuff.
Lowe’s Opens its 3D Product Library Making More than 500 Assets Available for Free to Virtual and Augmented Reality Developers
Wait, did they mean builders as in pros and home builders, or as in augmented reality developers?
Lowe’s has been at the forefront of building in the real world for more than 100 years and today announced it will begin helping builders of the metaverse create new possibilities. Rather than entering the metaverse with a storefront to sell virtual goods, Lowe’s aims to equip builders free of charge with items from its real-world shelves to make their creations more beautiful, more useful and more inspiring.
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Ah, they seek to help builders of the metaverse.
Lowe’s explicitly says they’re NOT talking about entering the metaverse with a storefront to sell virtual goods, which makes sense. What kinds of virtual goods would Lowe’s even be selling?
They will equip [digital metaverse] builders free of charge with items from its real-world shelves.
To start, Lowe’s will make more than 500 3D product assets available for download for free via Lowe’s Open Builder, a new asset hub designed to be available to all creators, addressing key challenges of interoperability and accessibility.
Ah, so they’re introducing Lowe’s Open Builder, a new asset hub – which basically sounds like a digital file repository. The goal is to address key challenges of interoperability and accessibility. I don’t know what this means.
Will this be like CAD files of the type that many brands, companies, and industrial parts suppliers – such as McMaster Carr – have been providing for free for years and years? Unfortunately, from the sound of it, that doesn’t match up with their goal.
So what will this be, digital throw pillows?
For added inspiration, Lowe’s will also release a limited NFT wearable collection* for builders in Decentraland** to the first 1,000 participants starting to outfit their avatars in boots, hardhats, and other accessories. The NFTs will be accessible via a free airdrop to users who have linked a MetaMask wallet*.
OH BOY! A limited NFT wearable collection!! Isn’t that exactly what everybody has been wanting Lowe’s to devote time, talent, and resources to.
Many of us are still waiting for Lowe’s to make good on the website user experience upgrades they promised back in 2020. But isn’t it great they’re releasing NFT wearables for “builders in Decentraland”? What about improving the customer experience for real-world builders and shoppers?
Is anyone lining up for Lowe’s limited collection of NFT boots, hardhats, and accessories for their avatars?
“We’ve been at the forefront of building since the beginning, and the metaverse is in a pivotal stage of development. It’s only natural that we would be interested in working alongside and in service of the emerging community of builders creating this new world, with the democratization of possibility in mind,” said Marisa Thalberg, Lowe’s chief brand and marketing officer. “At the same time, we are also very clear on our reason for being – to make homes better for all by helping our customers to create real world value in their homes, in their jobs and in their communities. This will continue to be our North Star in the metaverse.”
Lowe’s has the “democratization of possibility in mind.” I don’t know what this means – can someone please explain this to me?
But don’t worry, Lowe’s is also very clear on their reason for being – to make homes better for all by helping their customers to create real world value in their homes, in their jobs, and in their communities. And how will this metaverse involvement and NFT help that?
This reminds me of the time, a long time ago, when someone from Craftsman and Sears wanted to run some ideas by me for feedback. Back when Sears was still relevant, and they were thinking of establishing 3D printing centers at Sears’ stores tool departments. I told them that their hands-on Craftsman tool innovation demo displays were always unmanned and broken, and that maybe it would be a better place to focus their efforts.
The efforts are born of a vision for the future in which Lowe’s sees both virtual and augmented worlds playing a role in its customers’ everyday lives. While this is the company’s first step into the metaverse, Lowe’s has been using emerging technology to help customers gain inspiration and more easily visualize and plan their home improvement projects for years. Offerings like the recently launched Measure Your Space, which uses LiDAR to sense depth and map dimensions of a space, and Holoroom How To, which was one of the first home improvement virtual reality clinics and taught customers how to tile a shower in a fully immersive virtual environment, are prime examples. Through its intentional experimentation and focus on delivering what customers need, Lowe’s is uniquely positioned to leverage emerging technology to help people imagine the possibilities.
This part makes sense, but I don’t quite agree with the contexts.
Lowe’s sees a future where both virtual and augmented worlds play a role in its customers’ everyday lives.
Virtual and augmented technologies can be helpful, such as for seeing how a product might fill in a real-world space. Imagine holding your phone for a simulated view of how a new chair might look in your living room. A visualization can be more helpful than masking tape depicting measurements, and it’s not always easy to craft a mock-up using cardboard.
Experimentation in this space can be good, and I’m curious about what their “Holoroom How To” shower tiling virtual clinic is like.
However, brands have been doing things like this for years. Well before NFTs and metaverse talk existed, Lincoln Electric had virtual reality welding trainers.
“Over the past several years, we have infused new technologies into the planning and shopping experience and know our customers have benefitted greatly from being able to explore and test home improvement projects in the virtual world before taking the leap to implementation in their real-world homes or job sites,” said Seemantini Godbole, chief information officer of Lowe’s. “By entering the metaverse now, we can explore new opportunities to serve, enable and inspire our customers in a way no other home improvement retailer today is doing.”
Lowe’s says they have infused new technologies into the planning and shopping experience. Like what?
Have ANY of you “tested home improvement projects in the virtual world?”
Lowe’s is entering the metaverse now, so that they can explore new opportunities to serve, enable, and inspire their customers in a way no other home improvement retailer today is doing.
Just because Home Depot, Ace Hardware, and other home improvement retailers aren’t offering limited NFT avatar wearables and “metaverse assets,” that doesn’t mean Lowe’s is at the front and others far behind.
3D assets that will be available include such items as lighting, patio furniture, area rugs, kitchen and bath accessories, and décor accents and will be usable across metaverse and non-metaverse environments, such as gaming, augmented reality and creative design.
Oh, okay, so this is basically like IKEA’s “IKEA PLACE” app where you can virtually place true-to-scale furnishings in your space, including sofas, lamps, rugs, and tables.
They want these 3D assets to be available to gaming environments as well? That could be interesting.
Assets could be leveraged by metaverse builders making virtual land, homes, goods and experiences for a myriad of decentralized communities.
I am sure that metaverse builders will be thrilled to hear that they can finally add a Lowe’s patio set to their virtual home.
Custom, wearable NFTs will focus on the outfitting of metaverse builders, rewarding and incentivizing these critical pioneers to engage with Lowe’s as they work to deliver positive, inclusive experiences for all of this in this new frontier.
Positive, inclusive experiences for all in this new frontier. How do you go from “free digital home décor models” to “positive, inclusive experiences?”
Starting today, users can visit LowesOpenBuilder.com to access and download Lowe’s 3D product assets and NFT.LowesOpenBuilder.com through July 20, 2022 to link their MetaMask wallet and sign up for our airdrop. Available while supplies last. The first 1,000 participants will be able to claim one of Lowe’s limited NFT wearables.
I am so happy that I can add this Lowe’s allen + roth Fairway Oaks black frame with brown woodgrain steel dining bench to my virtual home.
Lowe’s says that you will need a cryptocurrency MetaMask Wallet in order to claim the free NFTs virtual wearables.
All that said, I have just one question: How does this help me as a Lowe’s customer?!
Exploration into new technologies is not a bad thing, and there could be some potential benefits in what Lowe’s is doing here.
But what’s the benefit for Lowe’s shoppers and customers here? What will limited NFT virtual wearables and “Decentraland” furniture and home décor models going to provide, aside from mass media articles sharing about “Lowe’s entering the metaverse.”
Maybe something was lost in the announcement, and that corporate and marketing language buried what is actually a brilliant and helpful initiative. I try to be open-minded and optimistic, but I’m really having trouble seeing it.
Lowe’s never announced changes to their military discount and appliance return policies, or that veterans and service members lose their military discount entirely when they convert to an MVP user account. But this NFT and metaverse news makes the cut?
Lowe’s has entered the metaverse!! So what?!
James C
Hold the comments, I need to run to the store for some popcorn!
John
Poor people will be even poorer (chasing a fictitious dream) and the rich will be even richer from the scam. That is what crap like this does. Utterly useless is the metaverse, said yoda.
ball_bearing
Sadly I must agree.
Matt the Hoople
So Lowes can now suck virtually as much as they do literally.
Coach James
How does one wear a non-fungible token? I understand metaverse to be virtual reality stuff.
I think Lowes would be better served, profit wise, by selling better quality lumber and hiring more staff to assist customers.
Coach
Stuart
The way I understand it, it’s like customizing a video game character, but with Lowe’s brands’ workwear and accessories instead of slightly more generic workwear and accessories.
Jan D
Metaverse doesn’t have a strict definition right now and can mean anything from blockchain cloud computing to VRChat with blockchain. The wearables are intended for Decentraland which is virtual space where you buy/rent land with crypto and then you can place buildings there with items that can redirect you to buy the NFTs representing those items. To explore Decentraland, you set up a character that you can equip with supported gear. All of the 3D models are low-poly, meaning you get the same level of detail as in older mobile games or computer games twenty years ago.
MattG
An NFT is a way to determine ownership of a digital item. Think of it as a deed for a house. The problem with a digital house is that it’s not rare or expensive and it has no real value. Anyone can make as many exact copies of it as they want for free. You can’t do anything about it as there are no laws backing NFT’s up on the books currently and it’s not a transfer of Copywrite either as the original creator would still have claim over that. The only way these things might have value is in some sort of closed ecosystem where they enforce scarcity by not allowing you to copy anything, like buying digital items in a video game. Good luck with that, that’s not how computers work and it’s easy to just stand up a new environment where restrictions don’t exist. The whole thing is basically a scam with little to no practical real-world use cases other than to separate a fool from his money.
IronWood
I feel my faith in the future slipping another notch. So Lowe’s website still sucks, but they’re working hard on 3D models of crappy furniture and digital hardhats? I can’t even wrap my head around the discussions leading to that. Maybe they’ll get through the possible recession by selling NFTs (the dumbest invention since I don’t know when) to people with no disposable income due to the recession? Glad I’m not a shareholder, or customer, or optimist.
SamR
When the trend is fading, I see someone will get fired!
Bob
Sounds like Lowes is jumping the shark.
While not my favorite home improvement store I hate to see them go belly up.
Clown acts like this certainly reaffirms there’s no captain of this ship.
Jim Felt
Same disconnected management team that closed all the more focused Orchard Supply stores on the west coast.
What dopes. Missing yet another paradigm shift. Looks like J. C. Penny all over again.
Jared
This sure sounds like a lot of marketing wank for what is essentially nothing significant.
I understood this as an announcement that Lowes is releasing some sort of data files with 3d product renderings. The link to NFTs, I think, is just that some of the 3d “wearable” renderings will be limited release, presumably linked to a block chain.
I hesitate to draw firm conclusions because the language is so obtuse (though I’d point out that wording like that isn’t intended to help the audience understand, it is intended to make the announcement seem complex and exciting).
Lowes offering 3d renders of some products has nothing to do with the company being innovative or leading the charge to a new frontier – literally any of the other home improvement chains could hire someone to produce something similar. It might create an opportunity to develop visualization tools – but the actual benefit is nearly drowned out by all the noise of this announcement.
I honestly can’t see the importance of the NFT connection. My hunch is that they only added that in because it was cheap and easy – but NFTs have that element of “limited availability” to engender FOMO, so perhaps they thought this was another way to attract attention.
Luke
I could see Best Buy or Amazon pulling this. But Lowes..? C’mon, know your audience.
OldDominionDIYer
Lowes has clearly lost their way, this is sad. It would be way better if Lowes actually wanted to compete with Home Depot, but it appears they know they’ve been beaten and are refocusing their efforts on this stuff instead, what a tragedy indeed. I rarely shop at Lowes anymore because time after time I have been left disappointed but despite this, I am an optimist so this weekend I needed a door lock set and my local Lowes had one. I drove out there and before I made my purchase, I inquired about getting it rekeyed as I want it to match my existing locks. They told me they no longer offer that service! I thanked them, remembered why I never shop their and left, I went to Home Depot and was able to get a suitable replacement and get it rekeyed on site with no questions asked, what a pleasant experience. I needed a specific brand and type Lowes had a nearly exact match, but Home Depot also had a suitable match which is why I initially went against my gut and went to Lowes first, that’ll teach me.
Then there’s this: “democratization of possibility in mind.” pardon me but what the heck does that mean? Wow we are witnessing the collapse of a once strong company who has failed to reinvest in their core business.
Nathan
Strip away alot of the language and I see more of a virtual home shop. Sort of the next step beyond the current “try out this paint color on your phone before you buy it system.”
so you can make up your virtual home (and proably lawn and garden) in a lowes website, keep it there under some log in. Probably pay for it monthly too knowing greed.
but you can then say well my bathroom needs a shelf – let’s try out ________________, once you get one you like – Hey cool. and then buy that, add to account have it sent to you . . . .
and while there gee you know the kids room needs repaint let’s try light spring mist greige. . . . . . . etc. and like that so let’s add to cart . . . rinse and repeat.
That’s what I see with maybe a side of hey I want new fixtures – so let’s try out . . ., and I liek that OK how would I install that. here’s instructions and a video pop up on wiring in the box or such and etc.
The rest – who knows.
John
It’s kind of like that, except instead of Lowes developing software to do what you’re talking about they’re just releasing some 3d models and hoping the crypto community will build the rest of it. But if you’ve followed the development of decentraland at all, you’ll know it’s a trainwreck and will never become a widely used platform. So instead they’re releasing some assets for a failed platform that has no future, making this entire exercise a waste of time.
Of course they could easily port those assets to another platform in the future, but it still shows this is entirely a marketing exercise – no doubt put together by a marketing exec who is proud to be up to date with all the popular buzzwords. It accomplishes nothing, has no long term vision.
Even just thinking about it for a few minutes you’ve clearly come up with a better idea than the lowes marketing dept.
Sean
🙄
Robert
“ Decentraland”. That ad copy is either by Putin or SNL.
Despite this alarming indication (the whole NFT gimmick) of losing focus on their core business, their stock was slightly up today, 0.71%.
I feel bad for the employees. It seems they have worked hard at getting more knowledgeable employees and more employees the last few years; I’ve had much more luck getting someone to help. But upper management seems hell bent on following Sears and Kmart into oblivion.
Stuart
I was confused at first too, but there’s an actual “metaverse” “virtual world owned by its users” called Decentraland. It looks kind of like a new version of the Sims or Second Life.
Jim Felt
The only use I’ve found for Lowe’s in the last couple of years is just occasionally they might have a specific brand item that I’m needing over night or the weekend while my better suppliers are closed. And obviously Home Depot doesn’t stock or to me worse yet has gone the private label route.
Bean counters eventually take over these mid market focused/thinking enterprises.
Gucci or Hilti they aren’t.
TomD
Someone sold Lowes on the NFT craze at the top of the hype and now this crawls out.
Embarrassing for all involved.
Travis
I could not agree more. Whatever they have done over the past five or more years has obviously not worked but I cannot imagine this nonsense will either. It’s too bad really because at least they used to keep HD honest. Like many people have said already… Maybe fix the website first!
MI Dad
100%
Joe E.
Lowe’s should focus more on hiring knowledgeable employees and less on this type of nonsense.
I stopped by my local Lowe’s in Cincinnati last weekend and was incredibly aggravated with the employees I had to deal with. They hire the most unqualified, dumb and lazy people I have ever encountered.
MFC
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL! I thought it was an April Fools Joke!
WHAT IS GOING ON? Lowes is a dollar short and a day late with this stuff.
Has everyone lost their minds? I feel like I’m living in some prequel mash-up to Idiocracy and Player One. No one wants to work. We’re paying people $20 per hour to flip a burger. Gas is $5-$8 per gallon. The market is going down. Houses are $200 sq ft. My tool has been in the shop for 3 months waiting for parts. It takes the truss company 8 WEEKS to make a few dozen trusses…
Is Lowes thinking that the real future is looking bleak so they better save their spot in virtual reality land?
Steve
Hard pass, on the Metaverse, in its entirety.
Hey Lowes, you’re clowning yourselves, again.
IronWood
Agreed. There are too many problems in this world to spend time and money inventing fake problems in a fake world.
John
They might have been able to get away with this 2 years ago before everyone knew what a joke NFTs are. Today it’s just embarrassing.
Champs
Everybody wants to dunk on Lowe’s and I can’t blame them. It’s actually fine that they’ve accepted second place in the market but they should find a way not to always be the second choice. Crypto bro buzzword bingo, and coming so late that the general public has already decided to call No F—g Thanks isn’t the way.
Some fundamentals are difficult to fix but they could improve the shopping experience and employee morale TODAY by giving employees paid time to dress up the store. Cast off building materials, paint, even plants are everywhere, and you can use them if not new stock to demonstrate tools and techniques for building and decoration. They’ll never be that fun, quirky neighborhood store with fifty years of patina on everything including the cashier, but the point is to show instead of tell how to make your home better. That’s why they exist!
Rog
C’mon now, Lowes. This is super embarrassing for you.
Hon Cho
Lowes is a profitable organization and I’m sure they want to remain profitable. Large businesses looking to grow and stay relevant try lots of different things, including things that may be silly or seemingly irrelevant to their core business like this metaverse stuff. Not every effort has to be a home run or even a base hit and important lessons can be learned from failure. Large corporations play a game that is complex and often hard for consumers and for many corporate employees to fully comprehend. Look at all the failed regional building supply chains that didn’t play the game well-enough to remain ongoing businesses. Big business experiments, buys, sells and trades and touts their successes and buries their failures because they have the scale and revenue to play. The stock market keeps score.
Jack
Clicking through the link, 2 statements from the https://nft.lowesopenbuilder.com/ website:
“A cryptocurrency MetaMask Wallet is required to claim the Offer Item. If a participant does not have an account or a Wallet, the participant can create one for free. Participant’s creation of a Wallet is subject to the Wallet provider’s identity verification process. Upon verification, Sponsor will transfer the Offer Item to the participant’s Wallet.
Lowe’s is not affiliated with MetaMask, and is not responsible for any information shared as a result of the connection to MetaMask wallet. Use of MetaMask wallet subject to MetaMask Terms, Conditions, and Privacy Statement.”
Go for it Lowe’s, not me.
Brian
Time to go short Lowes. See you at the Lambo dealership!
MI Dad
For real lol. Whole executive leadership team needs to be refreshed. The past several years have made it clear they do not understand their customer or, at best, misstepped on trying to make brave moves that fall flat.
MI Dad
So stupid and yet another reason Lowes is irrelevant.
JoeM
I think we’re on the same wavelength MI Dad…
Let’s see… Lowes is a company I hate because it has poor business practices, and makes poor business decisions as a whole.
NFTs are the ultimate flip of the bird to the Supply-and-Demand business model, in that no talent, skill, or physical product is produced… yet real currency is dumped into the vaporware space of the Internet in order to acquire such imaginary things. This also opens up a huge legal loophole for making illegal activities even more lucrative.
Meta, the company, has been guilty of global security breaches that have compromised legitimate legal investigations for legitimately urgent reasons of keeping people safe, and have simultaneously produced not one, but upward of 10 shell companies through which to gather all of this information and exploit it. They are also guilty of interference with global legal procedings, as they have told entire countries to shove their legal investigations where the sun don’t shine, and yet still no one has been arrested for impeding police investigations at any level.
So why, for the love of Ice-Cream, and all that is Holy in this Universe, would I ever want a Criminally Driven Product, Uniquely Made for a Company known for Horrible Business Practices, On a Brand-New Platform from the #1 most Criminal Corporate Entities on the planet, willing to compromise your safety, security, and mental health as a whole, just to make the slightest amount of money? It’s… The perfect storm of “NO!” in this constantly-degrading moral landscape of business!
Brad Justinen
Lowe’s is owned by Vanguard and BlackRock among other soleless entities.
Stuart
Lowe’s is a publicly-traded company. Just because investment management companies own shares in Lowe’s, that doesn’t mean they own the company.