The Digitalization of Online Business and the Struggle for Customers

The world of online business is actively developing and competition is growing, while the aspect of customer loyalty comes first – how to attract your audience and keep it. Such a tool as NFT (non-fungible token) helps companies reach a new level of interaction with their customers. After all, you provide the consumer with a unique digital asset with which to express appreciation or offer rewards.

Today, the use of NFT can already be found in the segment of online stores and social media platforms that develop loyalty programs for their customers. For example, NFTs allow you to get early access to products or services as well as enjoy exclusive discounts. Another successful option for using NFTs is to generate loyalty points, which can be exchanged for a valuable reward in the future.

Online business is still at the stage of exploring all the possibilities and advantages of using NFT, and you can also be among the first to use this tool to reach a new level of development and increase the loyalty of your customer audience.

And this is just the beginning. I am sure that soon, when the trend becomes global, we will be able to see a lot of innovative and creative approaches to non-fungible tokens being used.

NFT and Global Brands: Why Is Customer Loyalty Important?

Everybody knows the Italian fashion brand Prada. The company already uses WEB3 technologies in its business – it has created exclusive Prada Timecapsule drops in the form of NFTs. Thus, the owners of this object were able to take part in the drawing of invitations to the fashion show Prada Spring Summer Show'23.

It is known that one of the participants of the Discord platform became the winner and was able to go to the SS23 fashion show, where he was also able to privately see the entire collection of the brand and attend a special Prada dinner at a restaurant that received 3 Michelin stars.

Such privileges were made possible thanks to an initiative launched in 2019 called Prada Crypted. Every month, on the first Thursday, the company releases exclusive NFTs. Access to the purchase is valid for 24 hours. Since the beginning of 2022, the brand has launched NFT sales to support clothing and improve the quality of customer service.

Another global brand is the French company Balmain, which has launched the NFT membership program called “The Non-Fungible Thread” in collaboration with the Los Angeles-based mining platform MINTNFT. The first participants of the program have already managed to get their privilege – tokenized access to the 3rd annual Balmain festival. In the future, it is planned to provide access to products, the right to participate in virtual and real VIP-level events, as well as rewards and other privileges.

So what does this say?

First of all, the customer loyalty program is an effective marketing tool to build long-term relationships with customers and to turn a potential customer into a real one, and then into a permanent one.

This is one of the ways to encourage users to continue to make purchases or order services, and therefore increase sales and turnover.

As I wrote above, with the help of NFT, you can offer exclusive discounts or open early access to products and services, earn points and bonuses, which will later be exchanged for rewards.

NFT in terms of customer loyalty is a “fresh”, non-trivial approach to interacting with the audience and thereby increasing its loyalty. In addition, this method has its own undeniable advantages:

• It is nearly impossible to replicate or forge.

• High safety and reliability for clients.

• It is adaptable to individual business requirements and client requests.

• You can create entire loyalty programs that will be adapted to the brand or target audience.

However, an important point: I want to draw your attention to the fact that NFT is used to increase customer loyalty as an additional tool and doesn’t replace the main one. Also, if you want to implement a non-fungible token in your business, think about it in a way that is simple and understandable for your users.

Avatars and NFT: How to Strengthen Relationships with Customers in the Virtual Space

Our world is rapidly digitizing and various metaverses are already popular, while in the online space it is not so easy to build deep relationships and demonstrate your value. However, with the help of NFT and the use of avatars, this has become much faster and more efficient.

Let's go back to 2020, when almost all regions of the world were experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing had to be observed. And here the status of digital influencers becomes very significant. By the way, according to experts' forecasts, this type of marketing can be estimated at $15 billion by the end of this year. Riot Games Inc. created its own virtual blogger Seraphim with pink hair. Her popularity went viral and in the winter of 2020, her Instagram account had almost half a million subscribers. People forced to stay at home during quarantine were interested in watching cute dances and photos with cats of their favorite character from League of Legends.

Also in 2020, cyber model and virtual singer Lil Michela made $11.7 million. She has 2.8 million followers on Instagram and her haters (yes, you can imagine, even in this, she is not inferior to real stars!) They often criticize her for being perfect.

Here is another example for you – digital model Imma, created by the Japanese startup Aww Inc., which took part in the advertising of the Salvatore Ferragamo SpA brand and was broadcast to an audience of 300,000 on Instagram. After all, initially the developers only sought to learn the new possibilities of digital technologies, to look into the future. And what happened was something more global and phenomenal – the interaction of the real and virtual universes.

Virtual bloggers and models are convenient and much cheaper from an economic point of view, because you no longer need to think about hiring a stylist, makeup artist for her. There will be no problems with being late for shooting. A brand that partners with a digital blogger can tailor her character to its needs and create the face of the company.

Today, some companies are using avatars and NFTs in their business to stand out and express themselves, as well as form the right relationship with their target audience.

NFT Is an Effective Way to Build a Community

The formation of communities has long become mainstream. Remember the same Mickey Mouse from the Walt Disney studio, which still has its own fan club. And it's like that everywhere today. For example, Pearl Jam 10 actively uses not only analog but also digital methods of interaction with their fans and also provides them with access to unique content.

And this idea itself is valuable – every brand that seeks to develop and retain its audience is obliged to create a community. One of the most effective methods today is affiliate marketing, which allows a company to increase its sales thanks to the community of interested customers it creates. And these customers themselves promote and sell the company's products. A prime example is Amazon and its affiliate program, Amazon Associates. Users register and then can promote all products presented in the online store. You distribute your affiliate link among friends and acquaintances to invite you to the community or advertise a product, and after each activation of the link, you receive a commission as an affiliate.

The introduction of NFT technology, avatars, and virtual reality tools allows brands to create a unique community and provide all forms of interaction with its members. Some companies are already developing VR applications. For example, IKEA has created such a product so that customers can visit a virtual store and literally try on the furniture they like.

New NFT Features to Increase Customer Loyalty

Summing up, I can say that the use of non-fungible tokens that came to us from the worlds of ICO and DAO allows us to expand the boundaries of interaction between companies and their clients. And this can be done in the following ways:

• Providing NFT holders with discounts and rewards.

• Exclusive content access.

• Invitations to private meetings and events.

• Granting early access to products and services.

• Participation in drawings and competitions.

• The provision of additional benefits within the framework of loyalty programs.

• Using NFTs to pay for goods and services.

• NFT as collateral for lending.