Coupons and loyalty points can seem out of place in the 21st century, a reason why Japanese IT giant Fujitsu is using blockchain to create a rewards system for the domestic market.
The system, known as the Fujitsu Intelligent Society Solution Blockchain Asset Service, is operated via a cloud platform and targeted at retail operators, particularly for food markets, tourist attractions and shopping centers. It will be exhibited at Interop Tokyo 2018 from 13 to 15 June.
In a press release last week, the Japanese IT giant said consumer habit data would be used for analysis and stored and verified on a blockchain distributed ledger.
“By connecting events and promotions held in tourist areas or shopping centers with this service, users can improve the rate at which they attract customers and increase their willingness to buy. At the same time, they can also more effectively set strategies for regional revitalization, based on the activity patterns of users seen in the analysis results, and on such factors as the use of the coupons and other benefits,” the company said in the release.
“The use of blockchain technology, with its potential in public ledger and voting ID, and its capacity to automate processes and auditing in smart contracts, will doubtlessly play an important role in this changing ecosystem,” said Frederik De Breuck, presales and business assurance director at Fujitsu Benelux.
With Japan leveraging growing tourist numbers and looking at revitalizing rural areas at the same time, Fujitsu has also been leveraging its contacts to trial digital promotions with the likes of Taiwan FamilyMart, and the city of Chiba in partnership with Chiba Bank.
In Taiwan in March, Fujitsu and FamilyMart trialled robot-run content delivery, along with stamp promotions using a blockchain-based platform. It has also partnered IOTA and set up a Blockchain Innovation Center in Belgium, indicating the company intends to use blockchain to address wider societal issues and ‘smart city’ challenges.
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