THE FOOT LOCKER NFT — ALL ABOUT THE PROJECT
Web3 conception for Foot Lockers’ Virtual Stripes
Through the NFT project called Virtual Stripes, Foot Locker not only manifests their brand identity in Web3, but also realises their vision of the future of customer loyalty. To reward the Foot Locker community for their loyalty in a more innovative and personalised way, we launched the Virtual Stripes Box, which included a physical or virtual prize for each owner.
Working closely together, it was fundamental to clarify the vision and purpose of the NFT project. We took an in-depth look at Foot Locker’s business objectives and how NFTs could be used as a tool to achieve these goals. A detailed analysis of the target group and their preferences was also crucial to ensure that the project would generate a lot of interest and enthusiasm.
The design was thus aimed at both attracting new members to Foot Locker’s FLX loyalty programme and rewarding existing members in an innovative way. To achieve this, two factors in particular were key:
1. No Complexity
Foot Locker’s loyalty programme, called FLX, has millions of members and is used in six European countries. A member receives loyalty points when they first register and purchase Foot Locker products. It was clear to us that it made no sense at all to confront members with a complex registration process in order to participate in Virtual Stripes.
For this reason, it was fundamental that the creation of the NFT Wallet be foolproof for each participant. A wallet is necessary in that the Foot Locker NFT is stored in it. So every user needs a wallet. It was also important that the respective wallet be linked to the respective profile of the FLX user.
Therefore, a solution was developed that automatically creates a Web3 wallet for every FLX user who logs into Virtual Stripes with the same email address. No password, no further credentials, no cryptocurrencies and, above all, no complexity. The only requirements: FLX membership and the NFT, which could be exchanged for 2,000 loyalty points.
This created the framework conditions to take a new path and turn customers into fans who identify with the brand.
2. Clear Benefits
However, innovative technologies and easy participation are not always enough to achieve the goals and build a sustainable Virtual Stripes community. Tangible added value for members is, in our view, essential to build a satisfied community around Foot Locker.
In addition to a limited Virtual Stripes membership, an entry ticket to the Web3 world of Foot Locker, a unique NFT to collect and participate in future Web3 projects, each NFT includes a 100% chance to win with individual prizes and rewards. With Virtual Stripes, for the first time in FLX history, we are realising that every participant wins. No losers, 100% winners, clear benefits and added value. What rewards and prizes await the owners of the Foot Locker NFT, we describe in the further course of the article.
Technical implementation and Web3 development
As identified in the conceptual design, it was of great importance to integrate the Web3 project into the existing architecture of the FLX treu programme. This was because it was the only way to ensure that the business objective — growing the FLX community — was achieved in parallel with the brand objective — building a fan base.
Consequently, all participants in the Virtual Stripes project first had to own or newly sign up for an FLX membership in order to even have the opportunity to purchase a Virtual Stripes box for 2,000 points and sign up to Virtual Stripes or generate a wallet. So the wallet generation could run in the background:
Single Sign On
Thanks to our Single Sign On system and the integrated interfaces to FLX, it was possible to directly recognise at login whether a user is a FLX member on the one hand and has actually purchased the box on the other. Only if both conditions are met does the user receive their own Foot Locker Wallet.
Self Custodial Wallet
We use a passwordless and self-custodial wallet for the storage of the NFT, which uses MPC. This enables us to store the NFT securely and transparently. However, only the owner of the wallet has access to the contents of the wallet. In this case, the owner is the person with the linked FLX email address.
Polygon Blockchain
The Foot Locker NFT is based on the Polygon Blockchain. The Polygon Blockchain offers a number of benefits that set it apart from other blockchain platforms. The most important features for us in the context of the Virtual Stripes project are scalability, security and transaction costs. Thousands of transactions can be processed per second on the Polygon blockchain, resulting in faster and cheaper transactions. In addition, the transactions on the Polygon blockchain are regularly reconciled with the Ethereum blockchain to ensure the integrity and security of the transactions.
Added values and benefits through the NFT project
The Virtual Stripes Box could be opened by the owners from 30.06. onwards. The content? A Virtual Stripes Robot as NFT for the Web3 world of Foot Locker.
This robot plays an important role in Foot Locker’s communication. Not only does it represent Foot Locker’s brand identity with the Striper shirt, but for many participants it should be their first digital possession and thus their entry into the Web3 world. In this way, Foot Locker is rewarding its customers not only with a unique NFT, but also with a brand-relevant and everlasting digital art asset that brings an individual reward for everyone.
In addition, each Virtual Stripes Robot has a feature incorporated into its design that tells owners about the physical or virtual reward. This is because each avatar carries a bag, which in turn contains different contents. A closer look reveals whether there are additional loyalty points, a monetary value or even physical rewards such as high-heat sneakers in the bag. Depending on the content value, some NFTs are rarer. For example, among all participants, there are only eight winners who have won the rare and high-value sneakers.
Foot Locker laid the foundation for further projects, updates and opportunities with the Virtual Stripes Robot. At the same time, Foot Locker customers were taken on a new and innovative customer experience, where in the end every participant could win and take a step into the next evolutionary stage of the internet. The robot plays a crucial role in this and enables owners to participate in future real and physical projects.
This is how Foot Locker communicates “Keep your digital collectible safe. This is not a static asset. More features will be added.”
Results achieved for Foot Locker
From the beginning, it was important to us that the NFT project was by no means designed for marketing reasons alone. For example, early on in our Discovery Web3 workshop, we worked out that the existing FLX programme could be strengthened by the NFT concept and would be strengthened even further in the future. As the first FLX campaign that offered a 100 per cent chance of winning, but had to be purchased for a high number of 2,000 loyalty points, we had to weigh up in terms of goal setting.
Only 48 hours after the box became available at Foot Locker, we were already able to reach 80% of the target set at the beginning. On Deadline Day, 20 days after the start of the project, we counted twice as many buyers as we had hoped for. This makes the Virtual Stripes campaign the most popular FLX campaign ever and has significantly increased product sales through cross-selling. Not only has the Foot Locker community been introduced to Web3, but they also see Foot Locker as an innovative streetwear retailer.
We designed the acquirer relationship process as follows. Since the 2,000 points needed for the box could not be collected without a purchase at Foot Locker, all prospects had to have shopped at Foot Locker at least once. In this way, as a first step, we were able to convert the brand’s prospect into a customer. One of the goals of the Virtual Stripes campaign is to reward customers in a more emotional and personal way. With this, we want to take the next step in the relationship process and have the customer become a fan of the brand.
Why do we use Web3 and NFTs for this?
In order to increase the customer loyalty of the participants, we specifically rely on the integration of Web3 technologies. This is based on our recognition of the essential benefits these technologies offer. In doing so, we focus on three key aspects:
Interoperability
Web3 technologies enable seamless interaction between different platforms and ecosystems. This promotes the integration of services and applications, which enables us to create a smooth and consistent experience for our customers. Eliminating siloed structures opens up new opportunities for more versatile and effective customer engagement. For example, in the future, a seamless partnership with other Web3 projects such as Adidas or Nike could be set up in no time at all.
Ownership
A core element of Web3 is the idea of individual ownership and control over digital assets. We use this approach to give customers control over their rewards on the one hand and to trigger the emotional aspect on the other. Actual and verified ownership enables greater engagement and associated emotions with the project.
Web3 Customer Profile
By using Web3 technologies, a new level of personalisation in relation to the persona of the customer can be achieved in the future. The decentralised nature of these technologies makes it possible to view and securely manage data in real time. The combination of the already generated data from Web2 and the newly acquired data from Web3 enables a completely new profile of the customer, who can thus be addressed in a much more effective and personalised way.
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Originally published at https://www.minth.io.
