A KPMG study has found that consumers across all age brackets are increasingly willing to make purchases with tokens, opening up opportunities for businesses to engage with their customers in different ways and potentially transform commerce using blockchain technology. The findings highlight once more the business value of blockchain infrastructure and the opportunities for businesses to leverage the technology for immutable, transparent, and frictionless transactions.
Desire for Tokenization Exists Among Consumers
Tokenization as a concept is something that most of us are aware of if not particularly experienced with – for many, fairground tokens are the closest example we will have come across in our time. This is borne out by the fact that 63 percent of respondents perceived tokens as an easy form of payment, although tellingly only one third were highly familiar with the “modern-day, blockchain-based definition of tokens”. This is also despite blockchain technology having quietly embedded itself into consumer data collection processes on smartphones and other modern technology, not that consumers will have noticed.
Loyalty Programs Could Lead the Way
One area the study said was ripe for organizations to introduce customers to blockchain with was loyalty programs – 82 percent of consumers stated that they would be willing to use blockchain-based tokens as part of an existing loyalty program. Arun Ghosh, KPMG US Blockchain Leader, said in the press release accompanying the study that early adopters of blockchain tokenization would be quickly rewarded:
Tokenization is ushering in the next generation of commerce. It provides inspiring new ways to classify value, either by creating new assets or reimagining traditional ones, sustained with the security and transparency of blockchain. Businesses that take advantage of tokenization can open the door to entirely new process improvements, revenue streams and customer engagement opportunities.
While some projects exist that combine blockchain with retail, such as crypto cashback cards, the truth is that we are barely at the dating stage between the two, with marriage being very far off indeed. However, the appetite for consumers is certainly there, and it just takes one company to break through the barrier to not only act as a spark to set the sector alight, but also help to educate the masses on the benefits of blockchain as a technology.
