Blockchain might be synonymous with cryptocurrencies and especially Bitcoin for most people as it is no doubt the very first application of a decentralized transparent tamper-proof ledger in finance. But the application of such an innovative system did not stop there, with multiple industries beginning to explore and notice the usefulness of blockchain on their business processes. Such utilities can be used to improve cybersecurity, digital monetization and much more. But the most common utility that is sometimes overlooked but is useful for nearly all kinds of industries is ‘Blockchain Powered Transparency’.
Through blockchain transparency, organizations can improve their business both externally and internally. Externally, businesses can expose their supply chain to fortify any positive claims that can boost their reputation to consumers, which in turn can increase revenue and simplify regulatory compliance. Internally, businesses can have anyone accountable for each business process as blockchain exposes each process and can be used to trace back certain process points and responsible individuals in case there is an issue.
To further elaborate the usefulness of blockchain transparency in multiple industries, let us preview how it can be implemented on the following real world examples.
1. Food and Beverages Industry
This industry category may cover a wide range of products with their own distinct supply chain. But every product in this industry has one thing in common, the need for maintaining product safety. Having food and beverage safety compromised is the most fatal mistake a business owner can face. Not only will it cost the company’s reputation and subsequent revenue, but can also result in lawsuits if life endangerment is proven. Yet, on the other hand, maintaining product’s safety and amplifying the image of a safe product can increase brand awareness and even revenue according to studies by Nielsen.
But how is blockchain able to maintain food and beverages’s safety? Through blockchain, business owners can document each process or batches of the supply chain of their product. This documentation then can be stored in an immutable block in the blockchain to be stored forever so that it can be traced whenever there is an issue. Each data can be assigned as well to a certain supplier or individuals, these datas are immutable which in turn increase the sense of responsibility or even provide incentives of the assigned parties to improve their product handling.
2. Fashion Industry
As a 3 trillion dollar industry, fashion is responsible for nearly 2% of the world’s total GDP. In an industry with such a grand scale, it is inevitable that some companies are irresponsible in their business practices as long as it means profit. But consumers, especially millennials and younger generations are more concerned about the sustainability of the clothes that they wear, their origin, their composition and many other factors behind the making of their clothes. As companies realize that the demand is there, clothing lines are marketing their brands with the things that the consumer likes, such as campaigning for using bamboo cotton instead of polyester, claiming to recycle their waste, enabling fair trade practice, etc.
Those are good practices that all fashion companies should indeed begin to explore. But since these efforts are increasing the revenue of the companies that are doing so, some decided to take a shortcut and lie to the consumers. This practice is called greenwashing. But customers are getting smarter and willing to switch brands if they find that a company is doing greenwashing. This is where blockchain transparency can enable companies to expose their supply chain claim to the public.
Business owners can use blockchain to document and store their supply chain data and expose it to the end user for them to learn that the company does implement good practices in their business. Blockchain can be set as public, in crypto, people can look into other wallets and see their movements using crypto trackers, same with clothing, their data can be set as public and allow everyone to see the good and sustainability claims that the companies are campaigning for.
3. Furniture Industry
Even industries that might sound unlikely to apply blockchain technology can also benefit from it. Furniture, especially those derived from wood, is often regulated by the government due to its source of material. Blockchain transparency can enable furniture manufacturers or retailers to comply with regulation as well as to showcase the story of their product to the end user by documenting the supply chain data and recording it on the blockchain for any stakeholders to access. This transparency can also help manufacturers and retailers to export their products to other countries as importers often seek to know the origin of the products they are buying.
These are a few examples of how blockchain can be utilized in various industries. Gratitude can enable transparency for most companies with the Gratitude blockchain powered transparency solution. Companies will be able to utilize the supply chain data that they already have, record it on the blockchain seamlessly and present it to the end user in a beautifully made display that can be easily accessed via QR codes, on product labels or shareable links embeddable on social media or a company website.
In fact more than 20 European companies have already started using Gratitude to tell the story of their products and to fortify their product’s claims. Gratitude will share their products and stories in the coming weeks on our social medias, so stay tuned on Gratitude’s channels to learn more :
Website : https://more-gratitude.com
Twitter : https://www.twitter.com/more_gratitude
Linkedin : https://www.linkedin.com/company/more-gratitude
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/more_gratitude/
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/followgratitude
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