Loyalty reward programs, while important, are costly for companies and difficult to manage, oftentimes frustrating customers with the difficulty of earning and redeeming points. Many such programs are discontinued in less than a year. While the loyalty market continues to grow, the existing programs are not realizing their full potential. North American consumers belong to 13.4 loyalty programs on average but are active in only half of them. In addition, only 44% of consumers are “very satisfied” with the programs, according to the 2016 Bond Loyalty Report. According to 3Cinteractive, 70% of consumer do not join loyalty programs due to the inconvenience of registering. According to a Colloquy loyalty program report, 56% of consumers said the program did not provide offers of interest and 54% said it was too hard to earn points. Retailers looking to set up their own loyalty programs have to invest time and resources, and arrange for customer support services dedicated to the program, incurring training and hiring costs. These challenges can all be addressed through an integrated system that provides convenient tools to earn and redeem rewards. Blockchain technology makes such a system possible.
BitRewards Provides Infrastructure
GIFTD, an SaaS loyalty provider, has already allowed e-commerce retailers to improve revenue by more than 17%. The company is expanding on its success using a blockchain based system called BitRewards. BitRewards allows customers to be paid with Ethereum based tokens that can be redeemed for purchases or transferred to another blockchain wallet. Meanwhile, the system’s internal BIT tokens, which comply with the ERC20 standard, can rise in value. BitRewards currently has more than 80 registered merchants being rewarded with more satisfied customers. The program also exposes retailers to the growing cryptocurrency market. BitRewards will offer its loyalty program free of charge to retailers, who only have to buy BIT tokens in the open market to reward users through the program. The platform uses AI-based predictive analytics, enabling rewards to be tailored to each individual business to address its unique target audience.
Cryptocurrency As Cash Back Reward
Customers receive liquid cryptocurrency as a cash back, which is based on a percent of their purchases, the purchases of friends they have referred to the stores, and shares and likes on social media. The cash back is credited to the crypto wallet that is associated with the particular store. Customers can redeem BIT tokens while at a participating store or with other BitRewards merchants. Customers’ crypto wallets can link to their bank debit cards, and they can spend the balance the same way they use their regular credit cards. BIT can also be purchased on cryptocurrency exchanges or via the Bancor smart contract. Tokens can be converted to various cryptocurrencies on most exchanges.
The token’s value is based on the open market once the listing is complete and the tokens are listed on the various trading platforms. BitRewards consolidates retailers into an integrated open-loop loyalty system providing a simple user interface. Each user receives a wallet that is accessible from any participating merchant’s website or mobile app. It is not necessary for a user to register with each participating retailer. BitRewards transfers value to tokens and credits them to the customer’s wallet. Users receive regular reports and offers from participating retailers.
The BIT Purchase Process
The customer notes how many tokens he wishes to spend on a purchase, and the order amount is reduced based on the existing market rate for the BIT. A smart contract will serve as the middleware between the store and the customer, holding the customer’s BIT until a full fiat currency payment is received, then transfers the BIT to the shop. If the full payment is not received within a certain time period, the BIT transfers back to the customer. The customer can top up the BIT in his network by transferring Ether or any ERC20 tokens from his Ethereum wallet to his BitRewards wallet, then use a liquidity smart contract to convert tokens or Ether to BIT.
Focus On E-Commerce
While all types of retailers can use BIT tokens, e-commerce retailers are the focus as they readily adopt such tools and are the fastest growing retail segment. The e-commerce market is expected to increase more than 70% over the next five years to $638 billion in 2022, according to Statista. The software is compatible with most e-commerce software systems, such as Magento, Shopify, WordPress and Ecwid. As a decentralized system, the solutions are easily scalable and have no geographic restrictions. All participating retailers have access to the AI data analysis system, called BitRecommendations, which automatically recommends actions and rewards for customers.
Partnerships Established
BitRewards has partnered with Mark.Space, a platform that allows users to create content and consumer goods and services from the platform’s other users, using virtual reality and blockchain technology. Another partner is AdHive, the world’s first AI-controlled influencer marketing platform, which improves the networks of social influencers by facilitating the creation and scaling of marketing strategies. The number of BIT tokens will be limited to 2 billion. BitRewards recently closed a soft cap of $3 million.
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