NFTs and eCommerce: Everything You Need to Know + 7 Ideas That Work

What is an NFT?

NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token Development Services, and it represents a digital asset recorded on the blockchain. Unlike dollar bills, gold, or cryptocurrencies, NFTs are interchangeable because each token has a unique value (hence the non-fungible part.) In economics, fungibility refers to the property of a good or a commodity whose individual parts and units are interchangeable and indistinguishable.

NFTs can be anything digital: a photo, a video, a GIF, etc. And while anyone can copy or download that file, buying an NFT gives you proof of ownership of the digital asset.

The NFT craze made digital art extremely popular. Names like CryptoPunks, Art Blocks, and Bored Apes are everywhere. However, brands and eCommerce retailers are also dipping their toes into the NFT space. But these aren’t just for legacy brands. Ecommerce retailers of all sizes can get creative and use NFTs in new, interesting ways.

7 ideas for using NFTs in your eCommerce business

To get a peek inside the world of NFTs and understand how eCommerce businesses can unlock the potential of digital assets to provide value for their customers, we talked to several experts in this space.

Despite all the hype around NFTs, eCommerce businesses have barely scratched the surface of the potential of ways to use them. Let’s take a look at a few of them.

1. Research and development

Getting insights into what customers think in the R&D process is priceless. Businesses can use NFTs to reward customers for participating in surveys and beta-testing or give specific NFT holders exclusive rights to get a vote in a brand’s product development roadmap. NFTs can provide participants with early access to product releases and even potential profit sharing.

 2. Pre-launch products

Building hype before launching a new product remains one of the top priorities for every brand. Giving early access to NFT tokens could help generate buzz and get great exposure before a new product launch. As a result, you could build a solid base of early-bird customers. Unlike in the past when merchants would have to mint and sell NFTs through a third-party marketplace, Shopify now makes it possible for merchants to sell NFTs directly through their storefronts.

3. Selling digital goods

NFTs as an additional revenue stream? Sounds good, right? Whether you’re selling purely digital goods or leveraging them as a complement to a physical offering, NFTs can help eCommerce brands deliver unique and exclusive brand experiences. That’s exactly what streetwear brand The Hundreds did with its Adam Bomb Squad NFTs, which sold out just four days after they were made available.

4. Loyalty programs

One of the most obvious use cases of the NFT Development Platform for eCommerce businesses is loyalty programs.

These rewards might be things like:

• Discounts and offers
• Access to events
• Early access to new products
• Private community access (discord, telegram, whichever platform makes the most sense for the brand)
• On this note, NFTs can also provide a competitive edge to brands through loyalty-focused efforts.

5. Education and unparalleled customer experience

Having great customer support is table stakes in 2021, but having customers who know your product so well they can onboard new members should be the ultimate goal for every business.

6. Community-building

Humans crave belonging. It’s hard-wired into our brains. It’s no wonder businesses invest a lot into building a community around their brand. The good news: NFTs can help with these efforts.

Seeing people use NFTs as avatars across the internet is just another proof point that the sense of belonging and exclusivity are appealing, which makes NFTs a great marketing strategy.

At the end of the day, brands can use these NFTs to help their community feel like a tight-knit club, an exclusive opportunity, and a point of pride by allowing them to signal that they hold that token.

7. Special Access to drops

“Drop culture” has become increasingly popular in the last couple of years. The sense of scarcity they create leads to long lines in front of stores. Using NFTs to give customers exclusive access to special drops can help an eCommerce brand share its story in a unique way while further promoting the scarcity angle.

Bonus idea: Your products in the metaverse

The internet is flooded with headlines about the metaverse. A simple explanation of the term is that it’s a virtual space within digital environments such as online games, social media, and virtual reality that you can explore with other people who aren’t in the same physical space as you.

  

“NFTs are fascinating because they represent objects in the metaverse. Today NFTs are just rows in the database, but what is coming next is the 'game' that makes it so you can interact with everything and they can interact with each other.

  

While many perceive it as the future iteration of the internet, one thing's for sure with NFTs, it’s slowly becoming a reality.

  

NFTs and eCommerce

 

It’s never been a more exciting time to be in eCommerce. NFTs hold significant potential, and it’s up to businesses to find creative ways to leverage them and take customer experience to the next level.

 

To know more, contact us at: https://www.codezeros.com/contact