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Retail giant Walmart has made several maneuvers to get itself establish within the blockchain market. It’s most recent one is the filing for a blockchain-centered marketplace patent geared towards the reselling of purchased goods. The filing was made on May 17 and was confirmed by the US Patent and Trademark Office.
The idea behind the patent is that customers will be able to resell a particular product given that most items aren't used to its full lifespan. When the customer initially buys the product, the purchase is recorded in the blockchain ledger. Users are then able to put a price on the resell value of the item.
The application aims to help ease the transaction between buyers and sellers when the primary owner of an item decides to resell a certain product. It’s a great way for buyers to know the lifespan of an item to know exactly how long it was in the hands of the owner. The app’s interface could be point-of-purchase, mobile, or browser.
This is all just the company continuing to improve their user experience, which is expected for a retail juggernaut like Walmart. It can be remembered that the company has also filed for another patent on March 1 that outlines a blockchain-based delivery system. It’s clear that both patents are intended to be used to augment each other. When an item is delivered to a buyer, the blockchain-based market can automatically record the product as soon as the transfer from the courier to the buyer is verified.
The delivery system, or “Smart Package,” use blockchain to track package contents, monitor environmental conditions, and pinpoint the precise location as the product travel from retailer to courier to the delivery location. Moreover, the application is designed to be used by autonomous drones and vehicles, making human intervention less and less.
The popularity of blockchain tech is continuing to expand within the shipping industry. FedEx is currently working on logistic applications of the blockchain. UPS has shaken hands with Blockchain in Trucking Alliance (BiTA) in November 2017. And even SMEs are on their drawing board trying to leverage blockchain technology and how it can improve their shipping operations.
