Almost all businesses today have at least one thing in common: they are particularly interested in digital technologies available. However, companies that are having a hard time adjusting to technological developments often fall behind, making their competitors take the first spot.


In today’s industries, staying ahead of the times should be a priority. It’s too easy for consumers to take their business elsewhere, especially with the sudden increase of online retailers. Small retailers are competing with giants in the industry, like Amazon and eBay; however, this doesn’t have to be the end of the road for smaller businesses. In fact, the latest trends in technology – including the much talked about world of Blockchain – aims to provide a more efficient platform for lesser-known retailers to scale and see success.

Introducing a Level Playing Field

If you automatically think of cryptocurrency when you hear the word Blockchain, you’re probably on the right track. However, this transparent and self-reliant data infrastructure is useful for far more than just digital currency. Blockchain functions by allowing remote and autonomous consensus between users — making new products readily available to the market quickly and cost-effectively.

Blockchain keeps it low despite the previous high costs of security and data storage, which helps businesses have a more equal chance of joining the big names at the top.

The Introduction of Smart Contracts

According to research, 40% of small businesses reported cash flow issues within the last year, making it a huge struggle for smaller vendors who rely on sellers and merchants to keep their business afloat.


But with Blockchain comes “smart contracts”, which  keeps track of all automate transactions like never before. They essentially use Blockchain to create, monitor, and enforce contracts between retailers and their customers and merchants, whether that’s in the form of invoicing, handling fulfillment of inventory, or other transactional activities.


Not only does this mean that smaller businesses will no longer have to pay huge fees to third-party companies to sort this out, but it means that the saved costs can be passed on to customer-facing aspects of the business which makes prices more competitive overall.

The Future of Blockchain

Over time, we can expect to see Blockchain gain momentum and stability, which in turn will kickstart new ways of doing business for small and savvy retailers.


But, for this to happen, businesses need to start building on the Blockchain in the first place – without that, none of the benefits we’ve highlighted in this article are up for grabs.


For a long time, a limited number of major brands have dominated the retail world, and will probably continue to do so for a little while still.
However, the future is bright for smaller retailers who have been struggling in the shadows of their larger competitors.


Smart contracts that cut third-party costs and improve cash flow, increased transparency in online transactions, and more secure data storage – these key features are all positives for the retail world.


By bringing these things to the forefront, Blockchain has the power to eliminate any hierarchies in the retail world and create a much more level playing field that has room to accommodate everyone, however big or small.

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