Blockchain is a new technology that allows for the decentralized and transactional sharing of data across a large network of untrusted participants. It allows for new types of distributed software architectures. Although the technology was initially used primarily in digital currency, it is a promising technology in other areas as well. This chapter provides a simplified introduction to blockchain technology. It also discusses how blockchain technology can be used in some business processes in the retail sector to greatly benefit both customers and retailers. This chapter specifically discusses issues of retail supply chain management (SCM) and how blockchain technology is transitioning the retail supply chain management. The chapter discusses the market trend in blockchain adoption as well as some of the challenges.
TopIntroduction
Blockchain is a digital system of transaction and data recording. It serves as a public ledger of shared digital events or transactions over a sizable network of unreliable individuals, or as a distributed database of records. Any industry that has previously depended on third-party verification is now disrupted by its removal. The majority of system members are supposed to confirm each transaction in the public ledger. Because information entered is immutable, it can never be erased.
Blockchain has drawn interest from a variety of sectors besides the financial one and has applications in the manufacturing, healthcare, consumer products, public sector, food business, and many more. Blockchain might have revolutionary uses in the retail supply chain.
Blockchain has been characterised, even in its infancy, as a shared ledger in which all financial transactions are recorded, so avoiding the inaccuracies that might happen when each party taking part in a transaction maintains its own data set for the transaction. Blocks, including timestamped blocks, serve as the blockchain's data structure by listing aggregated data on transactions that have taken place inside the network. With both financial and non-financial applications effectively applied, blockchain technology is undisputed and has operated without a hitch for years. To learn how retail businesses regard blockchain, we polled a large number of retail professionals as part of this research. The findings are shared and discussed in the parts that follow.
Permissioned and unpermissioned blockchains make up the majority of the market. When using open distributed ledger technology without authorization, the data is shared across a number of machines in the network rather than being owned by a single person or database. Those transaction records are viewable by anyone with network access. The information is timestamped once a transaction is recorded and cannot be changed or removed again. New records or later additions to the ledger are monitored and updated in real-time for all users. Due to its distributed nature, where each copy is present in a distinct location, blockchain is challenging to hack.
Similar to permissioned ones, they can restrict who in the network can authorise transactions. By creating a cryptographic key pair in conjunction with wallet software, a blockchain makes it possible for transactions to be made securely online.
Simple contracts can be created using distributed ledger technology and will be carried out when specific requirements are met. A blockchain project called Ethereum was created with this objective in mind. Although it is still in its infancy, it has the potential to fully use the benefits of blockchain on a worldwide scale.
The retail sector is now driven by data. In order to grow their clientele and enhance customer service, retailers are seeking to concentrate more on personalised retailing.
As an enabler, blockchain technology will help retailers more effectively accomplish their goals. A few of these procedures are mentioned here. In the retail industry, blockchain can assist merchants in enhancing their current business processes, which will spur business growth.
This chapter focuses on a few retail-related situations where blockchain technology can be employed to the advantage of both consumers and retailers. Several components make up the document. The general definitions of Blockchain technology are provided in Section 2, while the evolution of retail supply chain management is covered in Section 3. The main problems with retail supply chain management are covered in Section 3, along with solutions that leverage Blockchain. Section 4 looks into how it might be used in the retail industry, and Section 5 identifies potential difficulties. The paper's sixth and final section is Section 6.