Fashion is constantly developing, and not just in appearance. Fashion businesses need to be on their toes due to the actions because of the way consumers keep buying. However, the fashion demands vary from one trend to the other hence entrepreneurs and fashion lines have to survive by improving the trends. It is never an easy task.
Apart from predicting trends being a daunting task, there’s more pressure in the fashion industry. The pressure is making businesses come out of their shells and think of new approaches regarding their supply chains which involves going global.
Most importantly, it would be best to safeguard your lines and copyrights. This is because counterfeit is on the rise due to how we share ideas and data online. Among the best approaches to staying secure in the fashion industry is blockchain technology.
Read on.
How Does Blockchain Technology Work?
Blockchain technology upgrades the internet by making a genuinely devolved, worldwide network of computers that generate and authenticate trades mathematically, without any human involvement.
Nodes are the cluster of computers in the network. Each node has a folder or record of all transactions finalized on the Blockchain, with apprises near actual time. Still, a node has to consent that an operation is reasonable before storing it on the Blockchain.
Immutability refers to the incapacity to make any modifications or eliminate information about the transactions. A transaction added on the Blockchain is as good as forever permanent.
Transparency of the Blockchain is a significant bonus. Besides, you can make the Blockchains public or private. As long as you have internet, you can view the transactions on public Blockchains.
Blockchain transactions are cryptographically botched, so you can only see the amount of money moved, when, and the sender and recipient’s address, but not personal information.
Conversely, private blockchains’ transactions are confidential hence unavailable to the public. Only people with matching private keys are open to view the history of the Blockchain transaction. Private Blockchains are becoming more popular among enterprises, fashion included.
So, what’s fashion’s business with Blockchain?
Fashion and Cryptocurrency
Do you have your Bitcoin hoodie from CryptoSwag?
Bitcoin is hard to overlook as it continues to top the crypto world and boom the industry. It’s among the several cryptocurrencies harvested from Blockchain. With Bitcoin, rest assured of a speedy transfer even when Blockchain takes longer to mine. This means, cross-border trades can exchange money within seconds and at fixed rates. Besides, no devolvement means no red tape.
Millions of people are embracing Blockchain and digital coins globally to buy goods and services. Why?
Track Deliveries
Many times, products get lost on their way to your from the seller. However, that is all in the past now, thanks to blockchain technology used by cryptocurrency. Amazingly, both the consumer and seller can monitor the goods every step of the way, including GPS tracking right from the warehouse to the consumer’s doorstep.
Because many businesses embrace using the crypto mode of payment, it is very convenient to have multiple items delivered to you within a few clicks. This has majorly improved how the fashion industry operates. Nothing beats the frustration of waiting for a large consignment for your new store for the whole day and even fail to get it on some occasions.
More so, people relying on dropshipping rely on frequent deliveries to their customers; delays can mess up their businesses. Thanks to Blockchain for offering efficiency and transparency.
Minimizing Counterfeits
With Blockchain, sellers will have no chance of registering counterfeit items for trade. There’s an argument that it’s possible to note a product in the Blockchain initially or during the supply process. Most consumers do not mind exclusive brands having fake shipping items though items without QR codes are seemingly counterfeit. How so?
For instance, if someone switches an original for a fake product in the distribution process, the blockchain records will clarify when and where the switch happened. So when you buy with your Bitcoins, rest assured of getting a genuine brand as you perceive.
Supply-Chain Management
Blockchain crypto is a game-changer for large and small businesses. This way, companies can now access utmost transparency of their purchased or imported goods for future sale or service. It includes the validity of goods, the process from manufacturer to dealers, suppliers to merchants and retailers, and even the record of ownership once you buy the product.
Blockchain technology is also a great addition to particular fashion companies because consumers can now register several items with matching serial numbers. Better still, Blockchain enables a customer to filter out garments made in a specific country, type of material, and even the duration for the production.
Reducing Product Cancellation
Because of the transparency in Blockchain, businesses can now access information of the employees involved in the supply chain of a particular product. It is no longer shocking news about the poor working conditions and wages for various workers in fashion styles in a long time.
However, integrating Blockchain in the fashion industry can help bring out concerns, observe, and boost employee wellbeing. This execution is possible using the transparency of pay or labor duration on the Blockchain.
Subsequently, product recalls could become history as Blockchain in supply chain management becomes progressively noticeable in all sectors. By including every step of the supply chain on the Blockchain, it is possible to avoid unnecessary costs and develop customer satisfaction. This way, products will tend to be less flawed in reaching the customer. Thus, quality assurance is possible to observe on the Blockchain.
Nowadays, most shoppers are mindful of the materials used in the products hence preferring eco-friendly materials instead. While this may seem challenging to verify in most products in the market, Blockchain is here to help. This is how.
The Blockchain includes a convincing value proposal for the eco-conscious buyers, for which all eco-friendly rights made by retailers are digitally genuine. Therefore, if an item claims to be suitable for the environment or factory employees, that is what you get or can prove.
Warranties and Coupons
With open-source electronic records of the time of purchase for goods makes it effortless for the consumers and manufacturers to keep records. Such records include product warranties, guarantees, claims, and provable records of when the stakes are functional.
Well, that’s good news because now you don’t have to store receipts for that expensive dress that failed to fit or reached you when flawed. That’s because you can easily log into an account on the Blockchain and view the information for your purchase to prove your claims.
Remarkably, blockchain technology has enabled brands and retailers to offer their clients digital coupons on the Blockchain. Digitalizing promotional offers is a perfect move as now brands can reach a larger audience on a massively broader scale without wasting or spending more time and money.
Customer Data Control
Apart from tracking the goods on the Blockchain, customers can also see the usage of their data. Once the consumer data is in the Blockchain database, the customers can control whom and where their data goes.
This is due to prominent companies such as Facebook and Google encountering endless regulatory pressure on consumer data regarding obtainability, usage, and selling. Usually, consumers have no clue about what happens with their data when such companies acquire it. This way, it leaves people exposed to cyber-attacks and identity theft.
What Next For Blockchain?
More people are jumping into the bandwagon of Blockchain and cryptocurrency; however, the technology is still anonymous regarding ownership and originality. More so, representatives propose that shortly, everything will hit the mainstream.
Because of the progressive growth of crypto and Blockchain, several fashion entrepreneurs are risking integrating this technology now. The drift is leaning on the crypto world, attracting more people, changing how people transact and store money. Besides, money is safer in the crypto world than in banks anymore.
Subsequently, daring designers and manufacturers are implementing emerging tech to protect themselves as soon as now; you never know what tomorrow holds anyway. Still, why not? The fashion industry needs the complete intellectual and royalty security available. Hence, this makes absolute sense to grab hold of Blockchain.
Moreover, when international payments are cost-effective for businesses, it is easy to pass on the savings to consumers. This means that when a company spends less to plan for recalls, refunds, and wastage, operation costs go down. Even better, Blockchain could reduce the risk of pollution and carbon emissions from production materials that are not eco-friendly.
Also, online shopping practices will be straightforward than ever before. The wellbeing of workers in the supply chains of major companies will improve, not to mention the number of fake products will reduce. In the end, it seems the technology is making an opportunity for intimate and more direct interactions between brands and customers. Blockchain in the fashion industry will be a progressive movement for customers, traders, dealers, workforces, and stockholders equally, an umbrella to protect everyone.
Let’s wait and see how everything turns out in the coming future!
