A newly developed plugin for popular eCommerce platform Shopify will leverage blockchain to eliminate the sale of fake products on its online portal.
A recent report published by Statista shows that online purchases will exceed seven hundred and forty billion US dollars ($740 billion) by 2023. Amid the tremendous surge in demand, there exists a persistently troubling issue concerning the sale of counterfeit items. A Washington Post report published on 24th December 2019 suggests that over seven hundred and fifty online retailers allow misrepresented products on their platforms.
What’s more shocking is that more than ninety percent of these sellers are supported by Shopify, the world’s third most popular online shop, next only to Amazon and eBay. Better now than never, the renowned retailer has finally decided to take notice and do something about it.
Shopify to leverage blockchain to prevent people from getting cheated
A San-Francisco based blockchain firm named Real Items Foundation leveraged the ability of VeChain blockchain and remotely-hosted application Tokenized Asset Manager (TAM) to enable merchants to generate non-fungible tokens (NFT). When consumers buy any product with an NFT, they will be able to verify the authenticity of the same by checking its origin, method of sourcing, supply, and distribution.
A recently published tweet by Real Items Foundation offers a sneak peek into this next-generation plugin developed for Shopify. All users need to have is a smartphone, using which then they can simply scan the QR code and confirm its genuineness.
David Mernard, who is the CEO and founder of Real Items Foundation, confirmed that the plugin, which is currently in its beta testing phase, is being considered by several cosmetics, food, skincare, health, and wellness stores. The plugin would most probably launch-ready during the first half of 2020.
A step in the right direction
Meanwhile, the blockchain startup, with a vision to raise global awareness surrounding consumer protection, considers this as a step in the direction of that goal. Referring to consumer protection 3.0, Mernard explained that the new plugin will bestow power back in consumers’ hands. With no need to install additional apps, consumers simply need to scan QR using their smartphone camera or access it using the WeChat app.
Commenting on what sets this plugin apart from other similar products in the market, Mernard added that it enables brands to leverage power of public blockchain to guarantee originality. Through the use of the NFTs, we ensure we aren’t in the business of circulating or distributing any form of a security, thus making blockchain integration into the market as effortless and secure as possible, Mernard asserted.
Featured Image by Pixabay
