E-Commerce in Crypto Era

Elementh Foundation
3 min readSep 14, 2018

Shopping online becomes more and more popular. Nowadays, over half of Internet users have made a purchase online, while most of the millennials prefer to buy goods online rather than in conventional shops. Diversity of goods, payment and shipping methods expands dramatically, and it is not the end of the story. The e-commerce sector has huge potential and far-going development prospects.

But what for this industry may need such a technology as blockchain? What can it give to e-commerce? Let’s make clear in this article.

E-commerce is based on deals made via the Internet. With the usage of the global network, transactions became instantaneous, a variety of goods became unthinkable, payment and delivery options are as flexible as never before. But there is one problem: the reliability of all operations performed when an item of goods goes its way from manufacturer to consumer.

Blockchain is a multi-use technology which the main purpose is ensuring security and robustness of decentralized data processing. Such secure data processing is of extreme importance for e-commerce, and it makes sense to employ this technology for the needs of clear and reliable trade. Especially for such a fast-growing sector as e-commerce.

To speak more concrete, let’s determine what are the main advantages of blockchain for e-commerce.

First, with blockchain implemented in e-commerce, counterfeiting has less chances to survive in the global market. Simple is that: all data on product manufacturing, distribution and sales are recorded in a blockchain and cannot be changed at one’s discretion. Therefore, if a fake item has been produced, it will be visible for all participants of the blockchain-based e-commerce system.

Second, this kind of data recording allows for the tracking of ownership transfer and goods transportation. Anyone who has access to the system can watch live where a product is located and who owns it. Saying as short as possible: e-commerce becomes transparent with blockchain.

Third, easy search for goods. When a customer has been registered in the system, with its transparent structure, looking for a particular item of goods literally takes seconds. What makes it so fast? Unified blockchain system for goods registration and accounting: similar goods are recorded in one card which is addressed to all manufacturers producing such goods. And the search process is aimed at this product card. No doubled records, no excessive search results — less time taken from customers.

Fourth, easy catalogue building. This advantage sounds interesting mainly for distributors and vendors. They won’t have to spend hours on the creation of catalogues since they can use ready product cards recognizable by millions of consumers worldwide and set their product lists quickly. Upon connection to the system, a vendor gets a great variety of different product cards and becomes noticed for potential buyers and suppliers.

Fifth, the entire global e-commerce network becomes more flexible and self-regulated. With the transparent and reliable blockchain foundation, it is simple to track all changes in supply and demand, as well as new trends in the market.

Finally, we can see that such innovation as a blockchain system in e-commerce could accelerate the transformation of the world into a cozy, convenient and fast-developing global village.

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