A survey conducted by fintech specialist Monica Eaton-Cardone found that about 78 percent of retailers will have joined the blockchain revolution by 2023. The market value of blockchain in the retail sector could grow to more than $2.3 billion with a compound annual growth rate of 96.4 percent, the study suggests.

78 Percent of Retailers Will Adopt Blockchain in Next Five Years, Study Finds

Eaton-Cardone, who is COO of risk mitigation firm Chargebacks911, CIO of Global Risk Technologies, and member of Forbes Technology Council, has found that just 6 percent of companies are ready to embrace blockchain now. Another 9 percent are less than a year away and a further 43% will have joined in three years time. By 2023, 78 percent of retailers will integrated blockchain for payments.

Currently, the market value of blockchain in retail is about $80 million, but the next five years should entirely change the paradigm. With a compound annual growth rate of 96.4 percent, the distributed ledger economy will reach over $2.3 billion in retail only, said Eaton-Cardone.

“Bitcoin has suffered high-profile hacks and wildly fluctuating prices in recent years, so wariness of cryptocurrency has led some to be leery of blockchain by association. But the technology is starting to spread throughout the retail industry now that early adopters are proving its real-world potential”.

The fintech specialist noted that the retail sector will change significantly as it adopts different types of distributed ledger applications, including supply chain management (data trail that can trace a product from its source to retail shelves), inventory management (track the location of goods), authenticity verification (detect product diversion and trademark infringement), auto-renewal and subscription services, and customer data and loyalty programs.

Valuable distributed ledger technology applications in the retail industry include platforms such as Provenance, IBM Food Trust and TrustChain, which have capitalized on its capabilities and partnerships with industry giants such as Walmart, Carrefour, De Beers, Amazon and American Express leading the way.

“Today’s retail applications are proving that blockchain definitely lives up to its hype. Distributed ledger technology has moved from theoretical possibilities to practical uses, and the implementations we’re seeing now are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what blockchain can do for retailers. I believe blockchain has the capacity to completely reshape the retail landscape within the next five years.”

There are, on the other hand, a few challenges the blockchain space needs to overcome before being implemented on a mass scale. Eaton-Cardone pointed to the debate over the privacy of data stored on peer-to-peer networks and the need for a common platform to emerging legal and regulatory developments.

Eaton-Cardone expects the distributed ledger to reduce or eliminate the need for intermediaries while delivering near real-time processing, lower fees and infrastructure costs, and greater transparency, efficiency, and security. Distributed ledger technology has the capability to revolutionize virtually every modern industry worldwide.