Walmart may soon get into the blockchain industry as it filed an official patent for the development of a marketplace aimed to resell purchased products built on blockchain technology. The filing for the patent happened on May 17.
According to the official application, the service that is developed by Walmart records the purchases of the customer in special blockchain ledgers. This allows that customer to then resell items through a specific sales platform, all through the record of the purchase.
This patent appeared because Walmart identified a trend with their customers, one that would be serviced. Customers will not use bought items for the entirety of the lifespan. When he/she decides to stop using, the subsequent resale is handled by the customer. Through the Walmart architecture created the company offers extra support that makes reselling bought items a lot simpler. There will simply be an interface that will be the point-of-sale. It is simple to resell through any device capable of running the application.
The patent filed by Walmart mentions that there is an increasing competition coming from shopping mechanisms that are non-traditional. The brick and mortar retailers, like Walmart, have to stay ahead of all the brand new technologies that now improve customer experience through the internet. Blockchain technology is seen as the solution for that.
Walmart also filed another patent in March for “Smart Package”, a new delivery system that would use blockchain technology in order to track package content, locations and environmental conditions. It was also announced that Walmart is officially ready to utilize blockchain technology in live food business so that contamination management is improved and transparency levels are increased.
Walmart is one of the largest retailers in USA and the fact that it is actively developing blockchain technology is something we do need to see as a sign that the tech is very useful in modern retail use.
