Companies have taken note of this new trend and have begun to redefine their customer journeys to satisfy new client demands, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, when e-commerce reached a whole new level.
However, despite its many benefits, e-commerce still suffers from specific pain points that it hasn’t been quite able to solve.
And NFTs present themselves as a suitable option to fill in the gaps.
The loopholes of e-commerce
While there’s no doubt that people now prefer digital shopping channels, brands still face several challenges when it comes to selling their products online. One major issue is, of course, the sale of counterfeit products that may damage the brand’s image and reputation.
The resale of genuine products on secondary markets also poses some challenges, especially in the case of the luxury goods industry. Let’s say, for instance, that you want to buy a new designer bag, so you head over to an online resale shop and find a real bargain.
How can you make sure it’s original?
In the case of physical shops, you simply check that the bag has all the relevant tags, labels, and codes that verify its authenticity. But you can’t really do that online, so you’re constantly exposed to the risk of purchasing a counterfeit product.
That’s when NFTs come in.
How NFTs can disrupt the e-commerce and retail sector
NFTs could potentially revolutionize how e-commerce works, especially regarding luxury items or expensive products being resold. As a nascent blockchain-based technology, NFTs can help buyers verify the provenance of their goods.
The whole point of NFTs is that blockchain technology allows buyers and sellers to verify their authenticity and ownership. This means that a digital certification of ownership rights can be attached to digital assets.
Now, let’s circle back to the designer bag you wanted to purchase. An NFT with a serial number would allow you to quickly verify that the bag is an original by checking that the physical product has the same serial number. With the NFT version of the bag, you can trace its journey all the way back to the place, time, and date it was manufactured, meaning there would no longer be room for counterfeiting in secondary or resale markets.
What’s the bottom line?
NFTs are slowly starting to expand beyond the digital realm. We might soon begin to see them attached to actual physical products as a kind of digital stamp that authenticates them.
NFTs can help address long-standing problems in the high-ticket retail industry, especially those involving counterfeiting and authenticity, driving a whole new era of innovation in the sector.
While only time will tell how the role of NFT will evolve in e-commerce, brands would be wise to start adapting their business and organizational models to keep up with the changing digital times.