We are a long way away, but yes blockchain does have the potential to make the supply chain a transparent process for retailers and consumers. Consumers are increasingly concerned with where products are coming from, the conditions they are being made in, and that the claims made on packaging match reality. Alleviating these concerns will boost consumer confidence in retailers who make their supply chains transparent, ultimately making them a top choice for many shoppers.

I have been looking at blockchain for a while and wondering when and how retail might embrace the concept. The beauty is in its simplicity. Bottom line, every movement of the item is recorded and can never be altered.

I spoke with Mojix and Microsoft about what they are doing and it is very cool. The concept eliminates intermediaries and creates viability to all players across the supply chain. Cryptography is used to create each transaction.

All eyes are on the diamond business to see how blockchain will play out but it’s the right time for retail to take action too.

And that’s my 2 cents.

Blockchain would allow for secure, immutable, traceability throughout the supply-chain — it’s just the ledger. A retailer’s supply chain would still require all of the many enabling technologies and integrations to provide the required visibility, in addition to enforced partner agreements, in order to ensure the capture and posting to the chain. The article alludes to a database, as if there were a single clearinghouse per implementation. However, what makes blockchain secure and immutable is that it is actually a number of distributed individually-owned servers, called miners, which coordinate in the validation of a transaction “block” and then write it to the ledger “chain” with a unique hash or key value. You could see a manufacturer, transportation company and retailer having their own miner servers. If you tried to alter a transaction by changing a block’s contents, which has already been stored in the distributed blockchain, that block’s hash would change, invalidating it. Blockchain will also have applications for eliminating counterfeit items from trusted markets. You would be able to verify chain of custody from… Read more »

As a globally-distributed, decentralized digital ledger of all the information pertaining to a transaction, blockchain has a very real potential to transform the retail supply chain.

The most impactful feature of blockchain is the ability to create trust around a transaction. Retail and CPG supply chains are ideally suited for blockchain technology. The possibility to accurately trace movement from farm to fork or sea to plate (and freshness), or ensure the authenticity of a high-value item or ownership attribution of created content.

Retail may not see a big push in 2017 with blockchain, but the ongoing adoption within financial services will begin to bleed over to retail in 2018 and beyond. While current discussion is focused on the supply chain, the most valued benefits of blockchain in retail and CPG will be the impact it has on engendering consumer trust in the product and the brand and by extension the value they place on their engagement and experience with your brand.

I think businesses of all types can more closely manage the flow of goods and related payments with greater speed and less risk than in previous business models. Pieces of this technology can enable retailers and CPG brands to remove costs and enhance product visibility in the near term. We are seeing huge potential long term. I believe, ultimately that blockchain can have the same impact on transactions that the Internet has had on information.