At this time SigmaLedger introduced that its coupon anti-counterfeit answer CuBE (Coupon Enterprise Trade), which makes use of blockchain, has been adopted by P&G (Procter & Gamble) and Walgreens.
A few weeks in the past, a story hit the news a few Virginia couple that racked up $31.8 million in losses to retailers and producers by coupon fraud over a three-year interval. Lori Ann Talens, who created the counterfeit coupons that she usually bought to others, was sentenced to 12 years.
Talens manipulated the barcodes so that they scanned as reputable, generally giving a $24.99 low cost on a $25 merchandise. If the barcode doesn’t provide you with an error, the cashier will settle for it. It usually takes a number of weeks for the coupon to go to a clearinghouse, the place it may be flagged as fraudulent. Solely then will there be a block on it.
The answer is to confirm the coupons towards an inventory on the level of sale. SigmaLedger makes use of blockchain to securely share knowledge with retailers, which is finished by way of a partnership with EPAM Programs.
“The adoption of CuBE has outfitted our workforce members with the expertise to establish and reject counterfeit coupons, resulting in an general discount in losses related to coupon fraud,” mentioned Heather Vondrasek, Asset Safety, Walgreens.
Aside from being an anti-counterfeit answer, the coupon redemptions are additionally tracked, permitting real-time reporting. This form of digital answer utilizing a shared ledger reduces the reconciliation prices and means retailers get reimbursed quicker.
SigmaLedger makes use of an enterprise model of the Ethereum blockchain.
It’s not the primary blockchain answer to handle coupons and rewards. Hitachi demonstrated a blockchain coupon settlement system in 2018. Final 12 months The Coupon Bureau adopted Hedera Hashgraph for the same answer. There are a a lot bigger variety of firms utilizing blockchain to trace rewards and loyalty applications.