Have you ever been to a website that keeps on posting advertisements of stuff you might need but doesn’t match your personal taste? There is an explanation for that. Currently, the web-based retail shops have little to no knowledge about your personal preferences. The only thing they are aware of is your search history. These retailers rely on big data sets accumulated without the consent of users to make predictions, however all these efforts have been in vain because only 7% of retailers recognize their customers across various devices and channels. The only solution to this problem is a platform solely created to hold the profile of shoppers across various retailers, which can help them provide a completely personalized shopping experience.

Shopin is blockchain based platform that integrates multiple retailers as well as profiles of shoppers on its blockchain to ensure that these retailers are well aware of the personal taste of their customers. It can induce a rather accurate product prediction for its customers and give them a more personalized shopping experience. The retailers can market intelligently to its potential customers and can save a lot of funds by keeping in view the profile of the shopper. The shoppers are granted control of their profiles which makes it easier for retailers to identify with their customers. Usually the data hoarding algorithms steal user information without their consent to upload it into a predictory data set. However, Shopin enables its users to receive incentives in exchange for provision of their profile data. This essentially means that users are paid to shop for themselves.

The prediction algorithms being used currently present a major dilemma. These are gained non-officially without the consent of users. The users do not willfully provide information and even if they do, filling surveys takes up a huge chunk of their time and serve no purpose. These cloud-based storage platforms are centralized and are used by organization to satisfy their own ends, where user have no right over their data. Shopin empowers the customers by giving each user the right to grant access to its data to specific retailers. It also incentivizes the contribution of each user by allocating them free Shopin Tokens, that can be utilized with any registered retailer. It also permits the establishment of trust between the shopper and the retailer. The CEO told,

We’re really just trying to help the brands and retailers do something really simple, which is to get to know their users better in order to offer them a more personalized experience, and as a result increase revenue. We aim to help retailers reward their users and empower them with their own data, and retailers like MCM have been very receptive to the Shopin business model. They understand that Amazon is eating the world. They understand the challenges and benefits of GDPR. When we meet with these fantastic potential partners, we basically say let’s co-create together.

Shopin plans to incorporate Proof-of-Stake algorithms with the help of built-in distributed database. This will allow running nodes in the blockchain with a minimum stake of tokens in the network. Shopin will run in a distributed cloud architecture using a three tiered dApp architecture. The first one being the ethereum blockchain, that will permit the exchange of tokens outside the Shopin economy. The tokens in the second layer, which is the federated permissioned blockchain, will only be tradable among shoppers, fellow shoppers, retailer and brands. Shopin chain entails that retail partners host nodes for the blockchain, making it an invite-only permissioned database-distributed blockchain. This architectural design supports swift and close access to a completely decentralized platform.

Shopin App and Wallet

The Shopin application is also a Wallet that holds the Shopin Token. The application also stores the profile of its user in an encrypted form, available for access to only those who these account holder may allow. By having this profile, the retailers are able to provide good recommendations for products you might purchase, also they keep track of history of purchases. The personalization takes into account your preferred size, color and style in addition to recommending adequate pricing deals. It also provides the feature to share your profile with friends and family, to make sure next time you are gifted something well suited to your taste.

Token Sale

Under the leadership of Eran Eyal, the CEO and founder of Shopin, the Platform has thrived and received numerous validations. The Token of Shopin is called Shopin Token. It is based on the ERC-20 and is used not on the ethereum chain, but on the blockchain constructed as the shopin blockchain. The Presale of Shopin concluded on January 27, raising $10 million and raised an additional $32.5 million in Public Presale on March 30. The company concluded its ICO on April 29 with a total of $42.5 million putting Shopin on the Map.

The Future

Shortly after the team for shopin was assembled, the white paper and other associated information was also published. The Shopin successfully conducted its ICO and exceeded all expectations. The platform has been busy with integrating multiple brands and retailers into their blockchain. Recently, an additional feature of recommending men apparel was successfully added as well as the first version of shoppers profile. By the end of this year, we can expect that the Shopin blockchain will be up and running with all the features it promises to provide.