Blockchain technology for e-commerce 3.0

Intro

During the lockdown period, we witnessed a vertiginous growth of purchases on the different e-commerce platforms, which now populate the web extensively.

E-commerce, in fact, has proved to be a powerful tool for the benefit of consumers and businesses, allowing the former to buy the goods they needed in total safety, and the latter to continue to sell, reducing in whole or in part the losses caused by the lockdown.

However, digital commerce, in addition to being a great opportunity, also presents multiple criticalities, which do not always find adequate solutions today.

The complexities of e-commerce supply chain management and the solutions offered by blockchain

The great success of e-commerce is certainly derived from the simplicity of the purchasing experience that characterizes it.

However, if all the steps in the chain are accurately analyzed, it becomes apparent that behind the recipient/buyer’s “click,” there is a complex and sometimes very cumbersome process that involves multiple organizations and as many information systems.

In fact, purchasing, especially on platforms in the Far East, is mediated by a series of subjects who are shipping aggregators, who deal with the logistical part of the market place.

The exchange of data between the various information systems occurs with different technological protocols, and this generates problems with aligning data flows and poor transparency regarding data retention.

Blockchain would allow, among other things, more transparent control of data exchange between marketplaces, intermediaries, and logistics operators, allowing better data alignment in all steps, up to the delivery of the so-called “last mile.”

Not only the alignment of data related to shipments but also the security of data related to goods could be implemented through a peer-to-peer protocol, such as blockchain technology

Blockchain to safeguard the originality of transported goods

In this sense, an important experiment in combating the counterfeiting of drugs has already been carried out by the logistics multinational DHL, which has successfully tested a drug tracking protocol based on blockchain technology.

This solution has eliminated the problem of delivering counterfeit and expired drugs, which today represents a huge problem for the pharmaceutical sector and causes many victims among patients every year.

Product tracking through blockchain, therefore, guarantees their genuineness and originality.

The originality of the drug is vital in the pharmaceutical industry but would also help to ensure the authenticity of all products purchased through digital commerce, as blockchain, if used by all parties in the supply chain, can guarantee the genuineness of the product.

Investing in technological innovation to seize the new opportunities offered by digital commerce

The project started by the courier in the pharmaceutical sector is just one of the possible uses of this technology applied to the transport sector, and the hope is that digital innovation will increasingly acquire space in this sector too.

In this sense, it would be appropriate to make greater tools for funded research available to logistics companies, capable of ensuring the initial sustainability of costs related to this type of project.

Indeed, investing in innovation represents a tool to emerge in a competitive market like that of e-commerce-related services, which still offers great opportunities for growth.

Blockchain serving logistics and beyond

I believe that blockchain is an enabling tool for the logistics sector, as its intrinsic characteristics would help solve many issues currently related to the e-commerce supply chain: better traceability, GDPR compliance, and greater security in the transfer of data related to goods between various organizations in the industry.

There are already multiple projects in the transportation sector that see blockchain as a protagonist, and a new sensitivity is certainly developing, especially in the business world, towards the innovation brought by these technological solutions.

But not only in the transportation sector, increasingly both public and private organizations are investing in this technology, looking at the enormous benefits in terms of transparency and information security that blockchain can provide.

New technologies in the government’s development program

The hope is that institutions will give increasing importance to the role of blockchain technology in the country’s recovery and invest in launching new projects in every sector to allow the national economic system to restart, under the sign of innovation and sustainability.

An excellent step in this direction is the creation of a study group focused on these technological solutions and their possible applications within the Wellness Italy Steering Committee.

Given the strategic importance of blockchain in the country’s digital development landscape, the Wellness Italy Steering Committee decided to involve Affidaty S.p.A. in its work program.

The objective of the Wellness Italy Steering Committee is, of course, to align Italy with other partners on the development of blockchain technology, and this goal would certainly be an important step forward for the entire country’s system.