True random: random number generators and e-commerce

When running an e-commerce store, you may find yourself needing some random input.

This might be when you’re announcing a giveaway or another kind of reward-based incentive that relies on somebody out there getting picked. Consumers place trust in randomness, without bias. It means anybody could win, including them.

Since the first Random Number Generators were created by geniuses like Alan Turing and John von Neumann, we have adopted them into the digital economies we use to thrive.

They are more important and prevalent than you may realise, which is why we have explained RNGs and their potential role in e-commerce below.

Randomness outside of e-commerce

RNGs are valuable assets to so many industries. Whenever a random outcome is needed, there is an RNG working behind the scenes to make that happen.

Yes, that means every auto-generated password, every lottery machine, and online bingo games too. If it weren’t truly random, then it’s a pattern that could get cracked. The randomness of a bingo game acts as its own security and gives players their best chances at winning.

While RNGs have historically been made from hardware, the most advanced and convenient ones are fully software based. The dice is a great example of a very limited physical random generator. Software isn’t limited to the sides of a cube, so can achieve more unpredictable results.

That said, the existence of an algorithm, no matter how unpredictable, still means that there is a method behind its madness. That’s why software is often called pseudorandom. Fortunately, it’s random enough to confuse humans and pre-empt any security threats. 

Computers, by nature of computing, cannot be totally random. Without getting philosophical, we also have no way of measuring if any outcome is truly random or its degree of randomness in real life.

How RNGs benefit e-commerce

Now that we know a bit more about randomness, let’s discuss how RNG tech dovetails with e-commerce and other retail technologies.

First, the main benefit of using RNGs is found in giveaways. That’s how the average person, both business owner and customer, interacts with RNGs in their day to day. If you run an e-commerce store, then you should learn how to do a giveaway and make it successful.

When giveaways and other competitions drive sales, the benefits speak for themselves. They also help build a community, ensuring you have a long-term consumer base.

On the backend,  an RNG is also needed for sophisticated encryption. This means messages sent to and from business contacts can be better protected, including financial documents and invoices.

There is a whole burgeoning field of cryptographically secure pseudorandom number generators, or CSPRNG, for this purpose.

On the more theoretical side of retail technology, augmented reality and other trends like the metaverse will need an RNG.

A big part of these technologies is the personalisation of experience. Event-based businesses could organise a digital tour or a scavenger hunt but some elements are randomly generated, so each person’s experience is different.

Those are the main benefits to using an RNG in the retail tech space. No doubt as these technologies develop, even more advantages and challenges will make themselves known.