As businesses (brands) begin to realise the strategic importance of Web3, it is crucial for architects and business analysts to systematically evaluate the friction in user experience.

Non Fungible Tokens, NFTs are everywhere. From Metaverse to Marketplaces to Social Media- your land parcel in the Metaverse is a NFT, your access pass to a live concert is a NFT, what your Avatar wears is a NFT, even your profile picture is a NFT. You buy NFTs, you are airdropped NFTs, sometimes your friends transfer you NFTs. Whether there is a business problem or not, there is a NFT solution for it. Right? Hold on.

Even if NFT is the solution, not everyone has Metamask browser extension in their Crome and not everyone uses Brave.

So how does a brand reward loyal customer a NFT, without negatively impacting experience? I am afraid there are many questions to considers.

Non-custodial Wallet strategy: Force customers to share public blockchain wallet id. Considerations: Does the customer pay transaction fee for transferring the NFT or for other transactions? What happens if the customer mismanages the private key (due to inexperience)? Will forcing such shift in online navigation cause churn?

Custodial Wallet strategy: manage the NFT's on behalf of your customers.. Considerations: What features/benefits will the customers unlock with this NFT that they can't from your brand's other online channels? have you considered the infrastructure requirements of handling custodial wallets?

Lazy Mint strategy: mint the tokens only when the customer fulfils wallet requirements or have the need use an NFT.                                                                   Considerations: Can the customer fulfil the digital goals without an NFT? why should a customer want to mint an NFT? how do you nudge your customer to trigger a minting action? what benefit it brings to you?

Buy from Marketplace strategy: list branded NFTs on marketplaces or own digital channel for purchase.                                                                                                                Considerations: How will the customers discover your NFT from 3rd party marketplaces (that aren’t very ubiquitous yet)? what are the costs of listing your NFTs on these marketplaces? what payment options will your customers have for buying these NFTs?

Conclusion: Plan your NFT investments that can be viable in the long term, and aligns with your current customer strategy.