CU to introduce shopping platform on metaverse

Convenience store chain CU said on Thursday that it would introduce a meta-commerce service where online business activities take place on the metaverse platform Jeff World in partnership with Jeff, an affiliate of payment service company Danal Co.

Jeff World, which will be available early next year, is a community-type metaverse platform fully equipped with an economic structure based on Danal's blockchain virtual asset system.

S.Korea's CU plans to showcase an ecosystem that connects everyday consumer experiences with virtual reality in this space.

First, it will create more than 30 CU stores in Jeff World and utilize digital assets to exchange items purchased online for physical ones offline.

In addition, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) taking advantage of various intellectual property rights of CU will be introduced and a dedicated community for their owners will be created.

Delivery service and online shopping that would allow avatars to receive items ordered on Jeff World in real life will also be introduced.

Since last year, CU has worked with various metaverse platforms to introduce virtual reality stores.

Write to Jeong-Cheol Bae at bjc@hankyung.com