To Scan, Or Not to Scan

The Decentralization of Coupons and Rebates on the Blockchain

When I was younger I can remember one of the first times I was exposed to the grocery business and simultaneously, the technology that helped it operate. There was no baseball that weekend so my Dad took me to his store somewhere over the hill, like an hour or so from our house. At the time, my Dad was a store manager for Ralphs Grocery Co. (now a division of Kroger) and his was one of the first in the chain to install checkout scanners. Apparently, this was a big deal at the time. It would be a number of years before I would truly appreciate this technology advancement, but for now, I just knew that I wish I had been playing baseball that weekend.

As the dust settled from the customization of the existing equipment and ultimately the installation, the testing began. This appeared to be awkward for the cashier, who for so many years prior to, had been trained to read price stickers and key enter the amount into the register. I seem to recall there was a “grocery” key, a “gen mdse” key and others. This was the beginning of tracking sales by department, which at that time, was also quite an advancement. So the training continues and the trainer tells the cashier to simply slide the UPC bar code over the glass. Sensors will read the number and presto, the data is in the system. Well, as you can imagine this was met with a variety of issues early on, but over time the bugs were eliminated and years later, scanning became a way of life.

In a similar fashion, applying the discount amount of a coupon’s value to a customer order, had also evolved. It used to be that the cashier key entered every coupon and amount, then just the coupon code in some cases, then scanning of the coupon. This continued with enhancements like GS-1–128 and the most recent GS-1 Databar Coupon aimed at managing growth and flexibility for brands, while increasing security to hinder counterfeiting. Digitally we can “load to card” now and other options that provide convenience and greater accessibility. There was solid progress made here, although some would argue that integration across all grocery retail is not without some issues, not the least of which is that regardless of advancement in coupon code design and flexibility, most, if not all coupons are pushed through centralized clearing houses. This may indeed, be the coupon industry’s Achilles heal.

The answer may be in the cryptocurrency markets (Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc),that I’m sure you heard about over the past year or so. Specifically on the Blockchain where these crypto’s exist and value is exchanged. The Blockchain, functioning as a near limitless, decentralized network, has the capacity and structure to fundamentally redefine how coupons and rebates are distributed, redeemed, verified and fulfilled. With the added benefit of security on a scale untouched by traditional methodologies, the Blockchain will afford retailers and brands an opportunity to drastically reduce the epidemic $600M in fraud/duplication, enhance the Brands ability to localize and target promotions by market, and for key consumer groups, effortless transfer of value, to family members living across borders.

It’s an exciting time, with most of the buzz around the escalating price of these crypto currencies, yet I think the real excitement will come with making BRAND and RETAILER programs more accessible, fulfillment more effortless, and the evolution of loyalty programs into a customizable mobile platform that offers the exchange of value right from your phone.

To learn more visit, https://cause-play.com.

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GFT & CASH BACK TOKENS

Cash Back Token (CBT): Rebates and Coupons On The Blockchain AND GFT™ Authentic Digital Collectibles™

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