Retail Data and True Applications of Blockchain
When people think of “Big Data”, they think of some centralized database containing verified, transformable data ready to be visualized and mined by data scientists and machine learning algorithms.
But the truth is: Data hardly turns up in easy to use formats or even in one piece.
Data is messy. It may have missing entries, mixed formats, and be unstructured. The information could be ambiguous, superfluous, or unreliable. Databases may be corrupted, tampered with, hacked, siloed across various systems, and destroyed through system failure.
The potential that blockchain technology can bring to how data is stored and transmitted should be clear to anyone familiar with the technology, but what specific, consumer-ready applications does blockchain have today to assist the gigantic market for Big Data?
Let’s take at a look at the major use case for blockchain in retail. Although crypto payments at retail may be a long way off, putting retail transaction data on the ledger is a huge opportunity for blockchain to add value, and has tremendous implications for the future of Big Data. Although there are many projects attempting to do exactly this, let us examine one in particular: Bizkey.
Bizkey’s philosophy is that transaction data is owned by the parties that conducted the trade and should both be rewarded for the data. In addition to the tokenized rewards, both parties receive access to their own verifiable ledger consisting of the transactions put on the blockchain. This incentive model allows for merchants to actively contribute complete pieces of data to the blockchain, enabling gathering and processing to be done efficiently and maintain the utility of the datasets.
How do individuals benefit from having their own data?
The value of an individual entry in a database is hard to quantify, but fortunately there is opportunity in accessing, verifying, and understanding your own data. The following are some of the ways the personal ledger helps merchants:
Eliminate fraud and abuse: How much do executives really trust the managers running the store? Is there an opportunity to fudge financials? Are cashiers pocketing some transactions? Is the inventory data matching the sales data? Even if there are discrepancies among databases, the immutable transaction data on the ledger will give merchants a reliable insight into what’s happening in their store.
Safeguard and store company data: The tamperproof and decentralized nature of blockchain ensures safe storage and accessibility, ending the era of siloed data in expensive or risky servers.
Verified financials for investors and creditors: Financial statements, especially from unfamiliar people and places, can be easily tampered and have drastic consequences for businesses. Bizkey offers merchants provable transaction volume to approach creditors and investors with. Credit bureaus, banks, and P2P platforms can take this data to determine credit scores, accurately gauge risk, and provide better rates for merchants.
Data mining capabilities for SMEs: While big retail outlets already have money to spend on tools for data insights, smaller or less sophisticated merchants may not be learning anything from their data. What is their top selling or most profitable item? Sales per square foot, turnover, and other metrics will be readily available for Bizkey’s merchants.
Some of these benefits are obvious, but less obvious is the value of the consumer’s own data to him or her. Let’s look at some examples:
No more receipt chasing: Is there a single person on the planet that does this anymore? If you want a ledger of all your own transactions, the best you can do is look up your bank account’s transaction history online. Unfortunately, this is far from a usable format, and usually has unclear information as to what was bought and where.
Automatic discount and reward programs: No more carrying around a dozen different reward program cards in your ever-expanding wallet. Bizkey POS systems automatically detect your gym membership, and automatically apply that elusive salad bar discount you keep forgetting about!
Verifiable transaction history: Life insurance companies can verify non-smoking status for a bigger discount. Your company’s business expense reimbursement program can work even if you lose the receipt! Transparency of expenditures can be useful for your spouse, life coach, parents, etc.
Selling data to advertisers: Why should Amazon or WeChat have all the fun? While Bizkey won’t know who you are, you can sell your own transaction log to a 3rd party if you so choose.
Small data is useful alright, but Big Data is phenomenal. Here are just some implications of offline retail transactions aggregated on the blockchain:
1. Retail merchants will know what the hottest selling merchandise is, find complementary goods through machine learning algorithms, and identify gaps between supply and demand.
2. Retail Brands can monitor real time consumer preferences, shifts in industry landscape, and adapt marketing strategies immediately.
3. Financial analysts will soon have continuous streams of transaction data to measure company performance with, as opposed to quarterly reports.
4. Corporate transparency will be realized, potential for fudged financials greatly limited, decreased insider trading opportunities, and other benefits to investors of Bizkey adopters.
While Bizkey may not be the only solution available out there, we believe that the blockchain model of data contribution will allow enough creativity and room to select the best applications and benefits that merchants, consumers, and adopters will reap from offline retail transaction data going onto the ledger — this is the beauty of the decentralized system! Bizkey enables 3rd party developers to share their own creations directly with merchants and Bizkey wallet holders, bringing their own ideas to life.
How do YOU think retail transactions aggregated on the ledger will change the marketplace?
Join us on Token Day (10ᵗʰ October 2018) where we will be having our first public-ready token payments event in Chinatown and Marina Bay Sands Singapore, working together with other cryptocurrency projects such as BCH, ONT, TRX, BU, and TRIO (with more to come) to demonstrate the usability and functionality of cryptocurrencies in everyday payments. Stay tuned to our official channels below to participate in this exciting event!
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