The latest retail blockchain trends

Blockchain technology is growing significantly throughout the retail sector, with many seeing and attempting to utilise the proven benefits it provides businesses worldwide. Here we will take a look at what some of the most common trends are.

The market value of blockchain technology in retail will be 29 times higher in 2023 than in 2018, according to an analysis by FinTech entrepreneur Monica Eaton-Cardone.

“Today’s retail applications are proving that blockchain definitely lives up to its hype,” says Eaton-Cardone. “Distributed ledger technology has moved from theoretical possibilities to practical uses, and the implementations we’re seeing now are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what blockchain can do for retailers. I believe blockchain has the capacity to completely reshape the retail landscape within the next five years.”

Many retail businesses are now focusing on blockchain technology in order to reap the benefits. This comes amidst increasing pressure to innovate following an increase in business rates and broader concerns around the health of the UK’s high streets.

Simplifying payments

One of the most basic but most crucial benefits within the retail sector is how blockchain helps the payment system. Blockchain gives individuals the ability to choose how they pay and which currency they use. For travellers, it is a common annoyance to have to exchange fiat money, but for businesses handling large volumes of payments, it is a serious financial drawback.

Blockchain will soon be able to help any two parties complete a transaction regardless of the different currencies being used. Blockchain will also enable businesses to avoid overhead costs by providing convenient, automatic, and costless currency exchange, which will also open their doors to new customers.

Logistics/supply chain

Just as how blockchain enables fractions of Bitcoin to be tracked on its digital ledger, it can also support the tracking of physical items. This means blockchain has a large impact on the logistics within retail. Blockchain allows retailers to track their shipments at any given time, whilst creating a record of who handled the delivery at each stage of the process.

The technology is so advanced, it can also record information like the temperature at each stage of the shipment, to make sure all products are being handled safely and correctly. Having this technology available helps to reduce the number of damaged or lost goods during shipment, which in turn will help reduce costs.

By using a blockchain supply chain, businesses are able to identify the single source of any potential issue and have evidence of what has happened at each stage of the shipment. This is because each member of the supply chain is connected through a decentralised database which keeps a record of all documents and makes them easily accessible.

Authenticity

Blockchain has risen to be an exciting new development across the retail sector. The authenticity of luxury brands has been, and most likely will always be, an issue for some businesses, with many convincing knock-offs available at much lower prices. Blockchain can help by tracking data all the way from the sourcing of materials to the customer’s purchases. This will then allow the customer to confirm authenticity and know what they are buying is genuine.

Blockchain enables customers to track and look back through the records for an item, which helps to stop the purchase of counterfeit products. Being able to track a product to its original source helps customers to have confidence when putting down large sums of money for a product as they know it is genuine.

Block Verify is a blockchain-based, anti-counterfeit solutions company which introduces transparency for luxury retail and diamonds, pharmaceuticals, and electronics. The company allows goods to be tagged and verified at the point of manufacture through to the purchase. This enables customers to check the authenticity of the product so they put themselves down as the official owner.

We have a range of blockchain guides on our site along with the latest cryptocurrency news.