[jackbrookes]

To address (1), I think shopping in what may end up being the "metaverse" will look somewhere in-between a current 2D lists with pictures and current aisle based stores. They don't need to be exact replicas of current stores, and the geometry doesn't even need to be Euclidean. There are a few things that we can take from real stores to possibly make metaverse shopping more enjoyable and efficient.

Think of some of the reasons people still shop in stores:

  * They can interact with products and see their true size.
  * Our brains are great at memorising and imagining 3D spaces. We can remember where in the store certain products are located, and so shopping can be more efficient than searching for every item. Of course, search could still work in the metaverse, but is not necessary. 
  * I feel like its easier for me to know if I've seen everything in a real store, because I know I have walked down each and every aisle.
  * 3D spaces seem more natural to navigate with other people - they can move around the same space, pointing at and grabbing hold of products

More generally, I think your point:

> It's also more efficient for the vendor to provide the list than pay people to model the interior of their 3D store, scan all their products in, etc

could also have been made 20 years ago when physical stores were hesitant about moving online; it cost money to build a website and take photos of all of their products.

[furi]

The non-euclidean idea I like, something a bit like a physical store but it reconfigures based on traditional search terms (perhaps supplied via voice). But that's incompatible with memorizing 3D spaces and also with knowing that you've seen everything. But both of those are probably more to do with scale than anything else. I'm not sure I could remember where I saw a good product within a 3D Amazon because it's going to be the size of a small city and constantly in flux. The multiplayer thing is a definite strength too.

>could also have been made 20 years ago when physical stores were hesitant about moving online

Indeed, but what we've learned since then is that consumer convenience is king (see: dark patterns in cookie prompts). Businesses were wary of the Internet transition but the force of convenience pushed them into it, I don't see a matching spike in convenience here.