By
Kofi Ansah
September 20th, 2022
British Virgin Islands-based retail startup Benebit uses an app and physical card to allow users to collect loyalty points, exchange them for Benebit tokens, and spend them at all of customer’s favorite online stores.
Online retail firm Benebit has revealed a blockchain-based solution that will improve the way online shoppers buy things, with plans to launch a platform to allow international customers the chance to be rewarded with digital assets for their shopping.
The British Virgin Islands-based retailer will introduce an app and physical part as part of a loyalty program, allowing its users to collect loyalty points and exchange them for Benebit tokens, according to the company’s press release. These tokens can then be used to buy goods at all their favorite stores online just as they would with regular money.
Doing away with an archaic system that forces users to store and maintain a growing number of individual loyalty cards, Benebit envisions a single app and card that can be used across thousands of cross-sector brands and businesses all over the world.
With a public crowd sale to be launched on January 22nd next year, Benebit will raise the funding required to introduce this revolutionary concept to the industry of online shopping. At the same time, cryptocurrency users and retail players will gain a unique opportunity to support the company’s growth and own Benebit tokens for use.
Additionally, holders can expect potential value appreciation in the future as adoption and demand for the tokens grows. Interested participants of the crowd sale can contribute in several cryptocurrencies.
E-commerce Has Taken Retail by Storm
The introduction of the Internet has resulted in commerce migrating online, with e-commerce already a major disruptive force in the retail industry. From hobby items such as books and collectibles, to everyday necessities such as clothes and even groceries, the convenience and savings in terms of cost and time have appealed to the resource-conscious consumer.
Both retailers and consumers have benefited from e-commerce, with buyers enjoying a greater range of choice at lower costs and sellers accessing a wider audience beyond the local reach of physical stores with lower overheads. Nevertheless, an old issue remains:
How can retailers convince customers to return and keep shopping with them?
The Issue of Customer Loyalty
Cashback and loyalty programs are the prime tool for incentivizing customers to remain loyal to a store or brand. With every purchase, value is returned to customers, creating an improved relationship between merchant and customer by making them feel valued.
The customer’s natural inclination is to participate, since it comes as no extra cost. Marketing analyst Loyalty360 estimated in a survey that 83% of consumers are active in at least one loyalty program, while 13% enrol in more than five.
However, the majority of these programs end up being inefficient, slow and utilize value that cannot be easily liquidated. Consumers are bound to spend points earned from the same retailer and often have them expire if not used within certain periods.
Targeting the needs of both retailers and consumers, Benebit will use the innovations of the blockchain to implement a cashback and loyalty solution. By using Benebit tokens (BNE) in the place of disparate points, users can freely convert tokens into major cryptocurrencies or fiat. Regional or national concerns will no longer matter – the single BNE token can be used to shop online from any store across the world.
How It Works
The Benebit App and Benecard will be introduced to consumers in 2018. Users can locate brands and shop through the app, storing tokens as their accumulate, while the Benecard does away with the need to maintain several cards. Essentially, the Benecard acts as a hardware wallet for all cashback points, able to be spent anywhere, as proprietary technology will allow it to be used as regular money or debit card.
Retailers stand to gain from Benebit’s Point of Sale system, which can collect shopping data from customers as well as manage internal processes like staff payroll, inventory tracking and vendor listing. Thanks to Benebit’s proprietary technology, retailers can look forward to third-party-free lower transaction fees secured by the Benebit network.
The Benebit App will also allow for increased engagement between retailers and customers as brands are free to interact with users. Unlike the majority of blockchain projects built around conceptual ideas with no viable use case, Benebit’s solution is a direct address to the shortcomings of retail loyalty issues, bringing real value to both businesses and consumers.
