Blockchain: A Solution for Positive Shopping Behaviours Amid Covid19

Presently the world is unified against Covid-19, which has ravaged markets worldwide and shaken the very foundations of the global financial system, healthcare, and social norms. Fortunately in this time, we have seen a collective approach to social responsibility, data sharing, and connectivity, which is proving to be a powerful force for good.

Common Goal 

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus has presented the modern world with perhaps its greatest challenge yet. What we thought previously impossible has proven to be possible – and we have largely been caught off guard. As a result, drastic measures have been quickly implemented by governments around the globe to beat this pandemic, establishing new social norms as a means of survival. In the corporate world, businesses and industries have been brought to a near standstill as we all begin to adapt and understand the circumstances that we may be facing for some time to come.

Both domestically and globally, businesses are showing that they are becoming increasingly more interconnected, with one driving factor being data – the vital weapon against the pandemic. In the instance of business, 

Action Where it Matters 

We are extremely fortunate to be living in a time where technological advances in data, communication, and infrastructure can aid the spread of vital information, goods, and services amongst the pandemic. In a time where we have to completely adjust our lives to survive, enterprises will also need to rethink almost every process – product acquisition, distribution, staffing, and more.

If companies can bind together on this front, then a more sustainable equilibrium can be reached – and many are stepping up to address areas of need wherever they can.the proliferation of open data will allow organisations to make reasonable and socially responsible decisions, with a global focus which harmonises and compounds efforts.

Production facilities worldwide are being transformed and scaled into action to aid the effort against coronavirus – Famous manufacturers like McLaren and Nissan, Dyson, Airbus, Vauxhall, Jaguar Land Rover, Renishaw and JCB are providing production space, staff, production expertise, and lending their supply-chain savvy to the efforts of governments worldwide. On the micro-scale, UK-based The British Honey Company have transformed their distillery which normally produces high-alcohol content of the consumable variety to produce hand sanitizer, which actually happens to be 70% ABV vodka or gin, just made from denatured alcohol – adaptiveness is welcomed wherever it is found in these times.

Blockchain – A Solution for the New Era?

Similarly in the realm of blockchain, efforts are being made to implement the tech into numerous sectors of society to aid the fight against coronavirus. A noble example of this is Dutch blockchain company called Tymlez, who are reportedly supplying the Dutch government with their technology in order to “model the medical goods ecosystem through a platform that matches supply and demand.” Providing a mechanism to balance the finely-tuned medical supply chain will surely prove instrumental to shoring up shortages in the areas where the world needs it – on the front line. 

In recent weeks and months we have read much of the dangers of close contact, and the importance placed on social distancing – and going to the shops has become one of the most risky activities those of us on lockdown are still permitted to undertake, and with thousands of new deaths per day, the importance of minimising the exposure to public situations grows ever-more pertinent. One solution which could have an impact on this is blockchain platform Reckoon – Their GLoWS shopping app has a nifty feature which allows users to check stock levels in shops before they even leave the house, meaning that long-winded trips interspersed with long periods of queueing to find essential items could soon be a thing of the past.

All users have to do is download the app (https://reckoon.com) and allow location services while using the app. (which are neatly made private in line with the platform’s privacy focus), and either select the shop they are currently in, and help others by marking what the shop has in stock, or select the nearby shops they want to check the stock for.

Even retailers can download this app to directly provide stock updates to local shoppers. Reckoon features works worldwide and caters for all sizes of retailers, from your local corner shop to the national supermarkets. The benefits of lower exposure time for key workers, like medical personnel, and at-risk parties, are great. In the UK alone, the National Health Service are already having to switch to “pop-up” hospitals. When we start to reduce contact opportunities, we can ease the strain on healthcare systems globally.

Reducing unnecessary journeys, protecting businesses, and encouraging social responsibility is possible if we work together, share data and pool resources. Blockchain platforms have the capacity to facilitate these new norms, and the time is ripe.