The world of eCommerce is in a constant flux of new technologies with a lot of challenges that emerge constantly. With all of these changes, brands are now exploring new ways to stay closer to their customers.
Centralized eCommerce platforms have the ability to provide a level of service and reliability that mainstream users have come to expect. But on the other hand, they may also lack transparency, charge high fees, and impose rules that users may not agree but have to put up with. That’s where decentralized eCommerce comes in.
Decentralization is imperative if digital commerce businesses are to remain fast, agile, and resilient in a landscape that’s constantly undergoing rapid change.
What is a decentralized eCommerce platform?
Decentralized eCommerce platforms allow brands to replicate online the “in-person” ability to buy and sell things to customers directly. This removes the middlemen (the third party), resulting in better deals for customers and no fees for brands.
Although centralized platforms offer more traffic and easier ways for brands to reach different markets, decentralized platforms create a unique brand voice and have the freedom to gain traffic in various creative ways. For instance, newer methods of advertising strategies and social media have developed, allowing decentralized platforms to gain traffic from different sources.
With decentralized eCommerce, or ‘private traffic,’ brands create distinct, closed virtual environments to organize and connect with their customers.
More broadly, decentralized eCommerce gives brands the ability to break free from uniform marketplace formats to virtualize the shopping experience, further bridging together the experience of shopping at home.
The decentralized eCommerce model is poised to democratize the digital economy and provide a new level of transparency for its users. Decentralization gives users control over how their information is used, provides an opportunity for new entrants, and enables merchants to reach consumers directly.
What are the benefits of decentralized eCommerce platforms for brands?
Decentralized platforms have fewer fees because they lack the middlemen of traditional marketplaces. They are also more transparent and cannot be easily manipulated by their operators, since the data can be viewed in near real-time by anyone on a network. The following are some of the most notable advantages of these platforms:
- Brand, image, distribution, and supply chain control – When a brand is able to sell straight to consumers without a third party, it has complete power over its branding and how the product is distributed.
- Customer data control – Brands find a lot of uses for customer data, like improving the products they offer to their customers by providing them with better, more flexible services and making ordering easier overall.
- Customer experience control – Brands that sell directly to customers manage every aspect of their customer experience. They can carefully curate and manage a positive experience for customers.
What’s the best way to go about starting your own decentralized eCommerce business?
If you’re not interested in letting customers throw virtual tomatoes at you, consider using first-rate eCommerce platforms to power your online store. For the best customer experience possible, you should:
- Start with a fast, flexible solution that lets you create and modify your website from anywhere, anytime — without IT involvement
- Sell anywhere from any device that delivers a rich, online shopping experience
- Sell smart by personalizing product offerings while optimizing for sales and profits
- Ensure a seamless shopping experience, so your customers have the option to buy and receive orders the way they want
Conclusion
The eCommerce industry will continue to adjust and reinvent itself in the coming years, as more customers become accustomed to purchasing goods online while having the “in-person” experience of shopping. As technology advances, it will be exciting to see what new innovations and improvements are on the horizon for eCommerce decentralized markets.
The revolution is here, and your customers are waiting. Why don’t you get on this bandwagon of new opportunities?
Get started with the UCX Platform.