NFT Revolution: the new Shopping Experience and opportunities for Retailers

During the last decade, the customer experience has been drastically evolving; the retail industry is currently looking for new channels to engage with final customers, increase revenues and gain a competitive advantage. According to a recent report of the WEF, the capitalization of the market is expected to grow to $5 trillion within 2030.

What Are NFTs?

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are digital collectibles built on a specific Blockchain network, which, conversely to cryptocurrencies, cannot be replicated. NFTs are growing in importance as the preferred medium for digital assets due to their properties of scarcity, security and transparency. ANIMA’s NFTs represent real-world assets, such as art, music and collectibles. Alternatively, ANIMA also allows for a representation of intangible assets, such as videogames and phygital experiences. These NFTs features integrated by ANIMA make the retail industry a useful case particularly for those Micro, Small and Medium enterprises which have scarce resources and know-how to digitize their business model.

How Are NFTs Used in Retail?

The retail sector is highly impacted by this technological revolution and the supply chain is being rethought from an end-to-end perspective. ANIMA allows the brands in these sectors to enforce a new shopping experience, which not only may be perceived as unique, but will also be able to capture the moment and let it last forever. By exploring the new customer trends, ANIMA can allow retailers to create innovative journeys, more interactive and profitable. In this article, we will discuss the factors revolutionizing the shopping experience and how ANIMA can help businesses capture these trends and renew their operations and to avoid disruption.

NFTs are assets which allow retailers to create an added value of production. There are several ways in which a brand may benefit from them. Some examples are:

• Authenticating and Tracking Goods
• Providing Royalties to Brands with Each Resale
• Selling Collectibles
• Creating and Selling Digital Products

ANIMA offers the brands an opportunity to create and trade phygital products in its marketplaces. Furthermore, NFTs can also be helpful in order to create virtual fashion collections, digital art and a gamified experience for the users.

Brands like Gucci, Balenciaga and LVMH are creating virtual fashion collectibles that can be traded by customers and digital “skins” that can personify their avatar.

ANIMA allows your brand to use NFTs also to create tokenized versions of real-world products and services. In addition, ANIMA’s partners in the retail sector have the opportunity to sell digital versions of products, which can be easily stored and monitored, exploiting an already established niche of customers, as well.

The Benefits of NFTs for Retail and how ANIMA can help your brand achieve success

Thanks to ANIMA, retailers can gain different benefits in adopting NFTs and exploring a new e-commerce channel of their business model.

Firstly, ANIMA allows for the brand’s creation of unique experiences and to engage customers in innovative and engaging ways. For example, retailers can use NFTs to create virtual fashion collections or to sell digital art. In addition, ANIMA can enforce loyalty programs for the brand and even create a NFT utility which rewards its customers.

Another important aspect is that ANIMA can help retailers generate additional revenue with NFTs. By creating digital collectibles and tokenized versions of products and services, retailers can offer customers more options and increase sales. There will also be a percentage of revenue corresponding to the artist who created the phygital collection, therefore protecting also the Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) of the creators and thus changing the traditional way in which we create and consume art.

Last but not least, ANIMA supports brands to increase the efficiency and reduce the costs of their operations. By leveraging blockchain technology with ANIMA, retailers can streamline processes, reducing the necessity of manual intervention and settlement times. Not to a lesser extent, the technology shared by ANIMA can be used to enhance supply chain and data management, as well.

What brands in the retail sector are experiencing the best result with their web3 strategy?

Many companies across various industries are exploring and implementing blockchain technology and exploring its trends in their digital strategy. To name a few examples of firms that are experimenting with blockchain technology:

• Supply chain management: IBM is working with Walmart and Nestle to use blockchain to track production, improving transparency and food safety;
• Luxury goods: LVMH and Prada are among the luxury brands that have been exploring blockchain to track the authenticity and provenance of products;
• Fashion: the Blockchain platform VeChain is helping fashion brands track and trace the entire lifecycle of a product across the supply chain;
• Diamonds: De Beers, the world’s largest diamond company, launched Tracr, a blockchain platform which tracks diamonds from mine to retail, allowing customers to verify authenticity of their purchases;
• Healthcare: Pfizer, Aetna and UnitedHealth Group are exploring blockchain to improve secure treatment of patient data across the supply chain;
• Real estate: Propy, an example of blockchain-based platform, allows you to trade properties online and record all transactions on the blockchain;
• Gaming: Enjin, an example of blockchain platform which allows developers to create in-game items that can be collected and traded by players.