The next evolution in online sales has finally arrived. Merchants great and small, from the occasional eBay seller or storefront dealer on Amazon, to large-scale vendors across dozens of international online markets, will all now have a swift, secure, and efficient way to connect to the blockchain and list items for sale through an innovative new smart contract-based protocol called Spl.yt.

Every online vendor today is well aware of the problems that plague the e-commerce industry. Aggregate marketplaces like Amazon regularly charge 25–50% of a final sale price — a charge ultimately felt by consumers — while providing less than fair customer service to vendors who are completely defenseless against the threat of an unfair ban. Affiliate Brokers, like Commission Junction (CJ Affiliate), facilitate intermediate collaborative marketing between marketplaces, sellers, and influencers. Unfortunately, affiliate brokers often unfairly charge for false positives caused by web-crawlers and data siloing while selling unwitting consumer data.

Additionally, the industry suffers from rampant fraud and waste caused by technical misalignment between dropshippers and marketplaces, resulting in costly double sales, an issue seen of high-demand products during periods of high traffic like the Holidays.

Failure to provide adequate customer service can critically damage a seller’s good rating and reputation, while the root of these problems continues to go unaddressed. Sellers in this complicated environment are left with two choices:

Charge more to consumers who aren’t even aware of how much these problems make them overpay for the items they need, or Go out of business.

Thankfully, we’ve simplified e-commerce with Spl.yt.

Spl.yt is a blockchain-powered “public social utility,” meaning anyone with an internet connection can use it at no cost besides the gas needed to secure the blockchain. The power of decentralized cryptocurrencies and smart contracts makes this possible because users themselves can define the growth of the system while directly reaping the benefit of their contributions. What’s more, Spl.yt is run by the Spl.yt Core Foundation, a non-profit designed to work itself out of existence, leaving a system that runs itself (similar to the internet) without any controller-middleman susceptible to bias or corruption.

Spl.yt’s smart contract protocol enables the formation of a global inventory and universalized reputation scores as well as the automation of such costly processes as dispute resolution and affiliate marketing management.

Global Inventory

Once connected to Spl.yt, buyers can view the global inventory of individual listings automatically populated from all e-commerce websites integrated with the protocol. Shoppers only need to visit one e-commerce site to search for and purchase their desired item securely, and at the lowest price. Since all information from these various online retailers is integrated, once a buyer purchases an item, it will automatically de-list from every other marketplace, avoiding double-purchasing the same item.

Reputation

Today, a vendor’s reputation is probably the most important selling point to any shopper. A great product at a great price means nothing if the source of the product has a tarnished reputation for quality, service, or delivery. Buyers also have valuable reputations to guard, though reports are often listed on certain sites, and not on others. In addition, most marketplaces manage their reputational systems internally, meaning buyers and sellers must build and manage their reputations across multiple marketplaces from scratch over and over. Spl.yt syncs reputation scores across e-commerce sites, resulting in the strongest ratings and review system possible.

Dispute Resolution

Dispute resolutions with customers can be especially challenging for vendors since different platforms might have very different policies. This lack of consistency calls for more time and energy on the part of both buyers and sellers in reaching a solution. Spl.yt employs a dispute resolution protocol using Spl.yt Access Tokens (SATs) that will facilitate the dispute resolution process.

The process is designed to facilitate a fair and efficient resolutions using a poker-like staking mechanism. Let’s say a buyer claims never to have received a purchase. To make a dispute claim, the buyer deposits a set amount of SATs into escrow. This escrow process is designed to deter fraudulent dispute claims. If the seller confirms the buyer’s claim, the tokens are returned to the buyer, the payment for the the item is refunded and the dispute is resolved. However, if the buyer and seller disagree, the seller will then deposit tokens into escrow to make an opposing claim, triggering the dispute resolution protocol. This is where the Spl.yt community and self regulating aspect of the system come into play. Qualified anonymous arbiters who participate in the Spl.yt ecosystem are assigned to random cases in which they are presented evidence from both sides in order to resolve the dispute. When the resolution is reached, the smart contract will automatically dispense the escrowed tokens to the winner. The arbiter will also receive a small percentage of the escrowed tokens as a fee for their efforts. We see the combination of transparency via the blockchain, smart contract resolutions, and Spl.yt token mechanics as a way for the ecommerce to run in a smooth and fair manner that does not require parties to transact with blind trust.

Automated Affiliate Marketing Management

Working with affiliate marketers has proven an extremely effective way for merchants to grow their businesses. Currently, however, the process of compensating these valuable affiliate partners is convoluted and inefficient, costing vendors time and energy, and even leading to disputes with affiliates that can be costly and time-consuming to resolve. These important and lucrative relationships can be protected by rewarding these partners fairly, consistently and quickly with minimal processing and accounting. Spl.yt enables vendors to set the amount they pay to affiliate marketers across all e-commerce platforms when a listing is added. Payments are then distributed automatically through smart contracts, which are pre-agreed upon programs that smoothly and seamlessly facilitate transactions without the need for any intermediary service or invoicing systems.

E-commerce on the blockchain

At Spl.yt, our mission is to empower people with tools and awareness to achieve their goals while participating in a fair and secure e-commerce system. We do this by virtue of blockchain technology, which ensures accuracy and immutability of information and removes the need to rely on costly intermediary applications and services . Since all pertinent information is viewable by all parties on our decentralized blockchain, Spl.yt offers a level of transparency never before available on platforms for e-commerce.

We believe the biggest industry in the world should be owned and operated by people, not centralized corporations. Spl.yt will help buyers and sellers save time and money by removing middlemen functions and create better opportunities for e-commerce participants to achieve their dreams.

See how you can benefit from Spl.yt today at https://www.spl.yt/