The metaverse is coming. Did you hear? Amid the noise of NFTs and cryptocurrency and digital avatars, Facebook officially rebranded itself to Meta, making it clear that the notion of a parallel virtual reality is one in which it really believes.

With the metaverse will come shopping and, if Mark Zuckerberg is right, lots of it. In his presentation, Zuckerberg “tries on” several outfits before settling on his tech-bro uniform. That’s even as he promises that in the metaverse, we will all have access to “a wardrobe of virtual clothes”, and that the company hopes to “reach 1 billion people and host hundreds of billions in commerce”.