Growing e-commerce businesses with the help of emerging technologies like Blockchain
E-commerce serves as a new user experience where brick and mortar businesses locally are beginning to feel the pinch with stifling competition from cross-border retailers. There are various factors as to why one would shop online. Pricing differences, variety of goods selection as well as convenience are some factors. However, as the value chain increases, there are imminent flaws that can be observed. Tackling this is an important factor because it reflects on the brand image of the company.
Oftentimes when a value chain involves multiple processes with a variety of merchants on-board, processes get mixed up. One solution to this is by adopting emerging technologies like blockchain. Although the technology is still in its infancy stage, it is uniquely suited to solve many of the ills facing e-retailers. Now, let’s look at the three greatest advantages blockchain offers the e-commerce industry.
- Security
Distributed ledger technology (DLT) offers the highest level of security available for online database platforms. Although there have been instances where vulnerabilities in smart contact coding resulted in fraud, there have been no verified breaches of a major blockchain backbone framework. Since one data breach can cost online retailers millions in revenue and loss of future market share, blockchain offers a level of security that retailers cannot afford to do without.
2. Integration With Business Processes
Blockchain is not limited to processing online payments. Part of the reason for the growth of DLT is its power to interface with new and existing systems. For an e-commerce vendor, this means tie-ins between online stores and multitudes of internal and external systems, processes, and partners. By providing a shared ledger that serves the company, the online store, and external entities, a wealth of opportunities becomes available to the vendor that is only possible with blockchain.
3. Supply Chain Tracking
An online store hugely relies on its supply chains. It is the onus of the brand owners to make sure that the products are delivered on time in an efficient manner, but it is also crucial for them to make sure vendors are supplying the exact products ordered. Fraudulent products in the supply chain could lead to inferior products being sold. By using the blockchain to track the supply chain, e-commerce companies can ensure that vendors do not substitute products without notice, and that transparency is maintained throughout the process. Besides, issues like counterfeit issues can also be resolved.
In Japan, e-commerce platforms like ‘’Pocket Marché’’ have come out with a unique way of instilling confidence with its consumers. They have included detailed information about farmers who produce their own products. Information that is shown is the variation of products produced by the farmers, price, delivery date, and time as well as payment methods. This method is done to convince consumers of its product origin as well as instilling confidence and trust with every purchase to eradicate issues of counterfeit (refer screenshot below). It also increases visibility and serves as a new user experience for customers where they are able to directly connect with the producers while leaving some comments, feedbacks to the producers after their purchase.
E-commerce is rapidly becoming the storefront for merchandisers around the world. However along with it comes its advantages and disadvantages. Partnering with a qualified and experienced technology provider is the best way to compete in the current marketplace. Chaintope is a Japanese blockchain startup which helps SMEs and e-commerce companies grow their businesses. The recent launch of Paradium a blockchain solution, helps retailers identify gaps in the supply chain.
