Blockchain tech to change face of online shopping, Nuggets

Blockchain technology may be the saving grace that the online retail sector needs, according to Alastair Johnson, Founder & CEO, Nuggets.

In a comment piece for RTIH, he argues that e-tailers are facing a handful of hurdles, most stemming from the payment process. “From the ‘abandoned shopping cart’ issue (it’s been estimated that almost 70% of shoppers leave their purchase at checkout) to individuals losing faith in the retailer’s ability to keep their details safe, there’s a range of issues that demand a remedy as the e-commerce sector continues to grow,” he states.

Blockchain technology can change the face of the online shopping process, he adds. “Consumers using a platform based on a decentralised ledger are privy to a more seamless experience that doesn’t sacrifice their privacy. With zero-knowledge storage, an individual can simply upload their payment details (or identification, for verification purposes), encrypt these, and store them in a container visible only to themselves,” says Johnson.

He adds: “This ensures that they retain full ownership over their own data, but at the same time allows them to reveal it at checkout. It’s a stretch to say anything is ‘unhackable’, but blockchain technology comes close: to compromise the network, a malicious actor would need to control over half of the nodes validating transactions (considering these are spread across the globe, such a feat is technically impossible). On the convenience front, it means that, when it comes to payment, there’s no fiddling with a plastic card, squinting to read the various bits of information as you type them in. The user can authorise a payment without any of the traditional hassle.”

Read the full comment piece here.

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