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High Level Design
This document describes a proof of concept for a low cost autonomous IOT and blockchain based retail experience.
The concept is that the retail client should be able to have a totally autonomous buying experience into the retail store.
The project should be implemented using high accuracy but inexpensive cameras to track the customer during his experience inside the retail store or other means of recognition of his activities (RFID?). The user should be identified as soon as he approaches the store.
In an initial version of this POC we’d probably focus on only one store department and few products that have been previously identified and places in the software inventory. These products are constantly monitored together with the customer. Whenever the customer approaches these products and place them in his/her shopper the action should be tracked.
Unless the customer places the products outside his shopper again the product should be considered bought at the moment the client leaves the retail store.
One initial idea regarding the blockchain should be the implementation of a blockchain based fidelity card system.
Each time the client enters the retail store and leaves while having bought certain products that are valid for the fidelity points (or tokens) these points should be automatically be added to his fidelity account (or wallet).
How the blockchain based fidelity concept should work:
Txlab.it will initially make a based POA Ethereum blockchain system available. Furthermore each new subscribing merchant should be incentivized to join the network with a new node.
The fact that our solution uses a permissioned blockchain as a mean of storing transactions is evident for example: Either retailers and end customers can see it as a safer option compared to a private, business or cloud based database. Even though txlab.it will keep providing support and/or development over the entire project, in theory, in the long term the network could work by its own because it will be distributed. The larger the network the safer it will be but in the same time the overhead due to an increase in traffic and transactions will be distributed and thus lower than a centralized, database based, solution. This has to be further investigated but if we manage to take the maximum possible advantage by the usage of smart contracts even the software, application layer, could be distributed and then not centralized, safer and less exposed to attacks like DDOS or hacking. The blockchain can allow a better compliance with the GDPR and the privacy laws in general because the information that are stored into it can be better controlled and certain data not even belong to the blockchain itself but could be stored into the end customer platform like the private keys stored into the mobile phone browsers cookies.
Our current idea is to use one single points based system based on a ERC20 Ethereum token with zero transaction costs. Every end user will have access to PWA based application which will be the wallet that will contain the tokens.
Each merchant will decide its own policies related to the use of the fidelity but basically the idea is that whenever a customer will buy a product a certain amount of tokens depending on the current conditions will be accrued by the customer.
We are investigating the idea to even allow the end user not to have his mobile phone with him/her while having the buying experience because he could actually be recognized when approaching the retail store by the usage of facial recognition or fingerprint.
Another important functionality could be that the application could have a tracking and geolocalisation functionality that could allow a merchant to notify a end user while he’s approaching the store with new offers available.
A little bit like now it works with the italian competitor “doveconviene.it” that collects offer brochures from various merchants and shows them in a PDF version on its website or app. We could do something a lot more sophisticated: We could implement a set of API’s that would allow a merchant to automatically upload offers on our platform and show them to the end user while he’s passing by his store or in other occasions.
Furthermore the blockchain and business logic based concept can extend the current version of multi merchant based fidelity cards like the italian “payback” allowing a more complex set of new marketing ideas and collaboration between adhering partners. One partner could for example decide to make a join effort with another partner to have a “happy hour” offer together. Or a “value chain” of offers could be implemented in which two or more different partners agree on how to use the points in a win-win situation. For example a supermarket could partner with a travel agency and allow a special agreement between the two companies when the point are used.
We are investigating the idea of creating a set of rules that merchants can use to create their own offers. There can be “tags” or “markers” or other identifiers together with boolean and logical connectors that can allow merchant to create rules or set or rules. It could even support a workflow engine so that the combinations could be created visually. For example a merchant could want to give some free points if the customers will subscribe to a newsletter or submit information into a survey and this could be associated with a set of other actions. This should be freely created using a tool that allows multiple actions to be set together in a programmable context.
We could include the ability from the end customer point of view to know the availability on his wallet of tokens using alexa or google home together with other features like the shops that currently have offers or are adhering to the network.
If a final customer allows social integration (follow the merchant page), put likes on instagram etc… we should allow further integration with that.