Writer: Lu Yurou
Promotions are an important part of retail strategy.
In the past, retailers distribute coupons and promotional fliers on the streets and maximise profits through price discrimination.
But in the new era of retail, they are trying new methods to achieve greater profits using technology.
The problem? Consumers today aren’t buying it.
People are growing tired of having to download so many apps, and have grown numb to the incessant bombardment of ads during the 11.11 sales.
Consumers don’t want to spend their valuable time sifting through small-scale promotions, but at the same time, it is also not economically feasible for companies to constantly dish out heavy discounts.
Blockchain Is The Answer
Gatcoin , a marketing company based in Hong Kong, think the answer to this problem is blockchain and mobile positioning technology.
Gatcoin founder Simon Cheong is a former World Bank lawyer. The core team members are graduates from MIT, Ph.D. and master’s degree graduates from UC Berkeley. In 2016, they founded Beijing Tiande to provide the underlying architecture for blockchain technology services.
On Gatcoin platform, businesses can replace traditional discount coupons, vouchers, and membership points systems by integrating tokens in their retail strategy.
Consumers can use the token issued by businesses to purchase goods.
They can also use it to exchange and trade any unneeded cryptocurrency.
When blockchains are combined with Gatcoin’s patented mobile positioning technology called A-Drop, businesses are able to send targeted promotional information to users based on their location, age, and spending habits.
Before a customer even steps into a shop, they can already obtain information of the relevant offers.
Imagine this – when you walk into a mall, you will receive a mobile notification that says that you’ve received 20 yuan worth of discount tokens from a certain store.
And when you tell your friends about this, they might do the same and head to the same location to get their own tokens.
This Pokemon-Go-like experience gets users excited, and has great potential to spread like wildfire on social media.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajFdEvB2hxo&feature=youtu.be
Future Plans
Gatcoin plans to deploy over 60,000 retail outlets worldwide by 2018.
Electronic and digital marketing solutions provider SK Planet Japan took the lead in joining Gatcoin, and will launch a series of retail marketing solutions in Japan.