BLOCKCHAIN TRANSFORMING CONSUMER PRODUCTS

A blockchain is a growing list of records, called blocks, which are linked using cryptography. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a timestamp, and transaction data. Blockchain has been in a lot of buzz these days. And that is mainly because it is backbone of the very famous cryptocurrency in the world – the Bitcoin. Many Governments and leading Banks have decided to bring many of their conventional transactions based on Blockchain concept. The applications and potential of this framework is huge and is considered to be changing the way transactions are made in various domains.

In recent years, there is a lot of buzz on Blockchain. Many have described this as a most disruptive technology of the decade. Especially, the financial markets could be the most affected ones.

The technology is being adapted into many verticals like Healthcare, Medicines, Insurance, Smart Properties, Automobiles, and even Governments.

However, so far the most successful implementation of Blockchain is the Bitcoin – A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System, which incidentally is also the first implementation of blockchain technology. Thus, to understand blockchain technology, it is best to understand how Bitcoin System is designed and implemented.

In this article, you will learn what is Blockchain, its architecture, how it is implemented and its various features. I will site Bitcoin implementation while describing the intricacies of blockchain.

The blockchain architecture is not so trivial and many have written good articles, tutorials including several videos. These range audience from Novice to Professionals.

As consumers, regulators, and other stakeholders demand to know the origin of products on the market, producers, distributors, and retailers struggle to provide it. In today’s global supply chain, goods pass through numerous intermediaries from origin to consumer, leaving data spread across multiple systems in different formats. Piecing together the full product journey to ascertain authenticity and safety can be difficult, if not altogether impossible. Sure, there are digital track-and-trace systems in place, but this information, too, is centrally held by a single stakeholder—and it can be costly to implement and maintain.

Blockchain technology offers a solution to product tracing’s complexities by storing each leg of the journey on an immutable distributed ledger. With appropriate permissions in place, real-time visibility becomes systemic, enabling not only live track-and-trace but also numerous opportunities for increased efficiency.

PRODUCT VISIBILITY THAT SUPPORTS THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY

According to a recent report by the UCL Centre for Blockchain Technologies, early projects are already yielding results. For example, the global olive oil market, and extra virgin olive oil (EVVO) in particular, is plagued with deceptions and outright fraud, including shipping product from one country to another to increase its value, or blending cheaper oils to cut costs. Italian olive oil producer Certified Origins uses blockchain to substantiate its product’s provenance. The olive oil is fully traceable back to its point of origin via a customer app that obtains the product journey information from the blockchain.

A significant set of blockchain use cases centers around the “circular economy.” Rather than using raw materials to make products, which are then consumed and thrown away, circular economic models strive to reduce waste, reuse products, and recycle materials. Major retailers, including Adidas, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, and IKEA, have launched circular-economy initiatives. This approach has been driven in part by consumer demand for sustainable and ethically sourced products that has made supply-chain visibility an imperative for maintaining brand value.

Exposing counterfeit goods with blockchain technology

The circular economy has also opened up a bourgeoning secondary market, particularly for luxury goods, which poses additional challenges for companies. How, for example, can a luxury brand support a secondary market for its products without cannibalizing its own sales and destroying value? Previously, stakeholders had to rely on trusted intermediaries to ascertain authenticity. But blockchain’s distributed ledger extends visibility beyond the supply chain, past the original purchase and into the secondary market without intermediaries. With the ability to verify the authenticity of their products even after they’ve left the store, consumer goods companies can make it easier for consumers to distinguish real from counterfeit, removing doubt and increasing the product’s value in their customers’ eyes. In fact, the original producer or retailer could increase incremental sales by buying back and re-selling the same product multiple times, not unlike the auto industry’s certified pre-owned model.

LEVELING THE PRODUCT TRACING PLAYING FIELD WITH DECENTRALIZED DATA

Certainly, implementing blockchain faces some obstacles, largely around the issue of interoperability. If I’ve got a blockchain system and you’ve got a blockchain system, we need to find a way to communicate. Any solution would raise issues of data governance since such an exchange could potentially break the chain. Large companies like Walmart have the leverage to make suppliers use its blockchain, but smaller companies don’t have that power. What’s needed is standardization, so that everyone’s on the same page. That’s the advantage of a platform like the Oracle Blockchain Cloud Service. It’s an industry- and application-agnostic foundation that makes building and implementing blockchain applications much easier. Moreover, thanks to the inherent standardization of a platform, these applications can be more flexible and future-proof.

This is all just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to blockchain’s potential for product traceability. There are numerous opportunities to reduce reliance on intermediaries, save costs, and streamline operations while providing companies and consumers with transparency into the supply chain. Blockchain can help break down the silos of existing data structures while also creating a secure and auditable product history that can be accessed in near real-time. This is a major step forward for retailers seeking to manage the supply chain from source to shelf and even after the sale.

ABOUT US :

Prodigitaly holds expertise in offering your lucrative assistance and ideas for developing blockchain services for your organization. Our expert team of analysts carry on research, analyze different blockchain platforms, tools, and features. The blockchain is an emerging technology that has earned a lot of prominence in recent times. The blockchain is a digital ledger which enables easy transactions using Bitcoins or Cryptocurrencies. The technology is turning more popular considering the safety and security offers businesses in carrying on transactions. It is a safe way of making transactions, recording agreements or contracts.

It is a matter of security of data and trust, and hence we at Prodigitaly offer exemplary blockchain development solutions for varied verticals of the industry. We aid our clients in encrypting their data by providing with the software that will make it impossible for another individual to make any changes or steal data from your system.

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