E-commerce was born in the 90s when the internet began to penetrate the lives of the public. The system of interconnected computers across the globe opened up a world of possibilities when it came to buying and selling. No longer was a physical shop needed to sell products and services. A simple website and a good marketing strategy were all that was required.
Fast forward to the first decade of the new millennium, the e-commerce industry exploded. With early adopters of e-commerce connecting individual sellers to buyers at a global level, E-bay and Amazon have always led the industry. Alibaba, the world’s largest business to business platform, brought another revolution with its Aliexpress, a business to consumer e-commerce system.
Dichotomy In E-Commerce
Even with these big names, a large portion of the industry is fueled by individual brands, extending their network of sales through an online presence. Their reliance on online presence has become crucial for survival in a world that is increasingly becoming accustomed to shifting purchases online.
Yet, in recent years, data related to their sales have shown a trend that, at first, makes no sense. Brands with brick and mortar shops show a very less walk-in customer, but revenues generated through physical sales are far more than their websites or mobile applications.
A study into this phenomenon has revealed that consumers now days prefer to do their window shopping online, browsing digital stores, checking out what is available, at what price and discount. After they have made their selection, they go to the nearest physical shop or outlet that sells that product. There, they can hold and touch, try it on if a wearable, check the quality and then simply purchase it.
Failing Loyalties
In the situation described above, another problem has arisen. Consumer trends have changed a lot in the last decade or so. With so much to choose from, brands are getting ever more creative in retaining customers. One of the tried and tested strategy has been the loyalty membership. A customer is given a membership when a certain amount of purchases is done, with points being awarded for every purchase made henceforth. The points are redeemable on selected products or sales, creating a discount value.
Loyalty programs were a success once, but the newer generation of customers find it extremely inconvenient. Trends are no more brand specific. A suite by one brand may be in fashion, but the brand’s shoes may not be. Consumers are finding it extremely difficult to maintain multiple memberships for discounts. Furthermore, the way the points collection is structured, the hassle is not worth the time. Points carry too little a value, a minimum collection of points for redeeming in stores is too big, point expiry leads to unused ones being wasted and much, much more.
Raintoken: Loyalty Invigorated
Raintoken is a blockchain token developed specifically for the Raincheck platform. The Raintoken and its platform take on the current disarray in the loyalty and reward point market and tackle with a unique perspective, changing how the consumer industry is going to use it for customer retention.
Every brand on the platform could run its own points and reward system, working independently of each other. However, as much as it may seem to be like the current state, consumers on the platform would not need to sign up for every brand or store’s reward program. Seller programs would be run on the blockchain using smart contracts. A buyer would automatically be allocated for points if a purchase of an item or a service has them.
Secondly, the reward and point system would be integrated into the current credit or debit card of the buyer. He or she would only need to use the registered card for purchases and the points would be collected. This means that a single card will be valid for all rewards schemes on the platform.
Thirdly, the points system will run on the blockchain, meaning that points will be instantly awarded and can be redeemed as same. Riding on the decentralized technology, rewards, and points will have the same speed and efficiency of processing.
Lastly, if a merchant supports it, the points would be convertible to the Raintoken. This is the best feature of the platform. Since Raintokens are not points, they will never expire, will not be limited to store or brand specific items and as a medium of exchange, can be used in purchasing on the platform, or exchanged on listed crypto exchanges.
The Raintoken, offering the speed, efficiency, low cost and security of blockchain to traditional reward and point system, will transform how e-commerce currently attempts to retain customers. The point aggregated, with conversion ability to Raintoken, create a whole new ecosystem of economics and loyalty at the same time.
Find out more on: https://www.raintoken.org/https://www.raintoken.org/
