As business costs continue to soar each day, the question of how to increase competitiveness has not ceased. Especially now that customers have become more discerning, finding answers to this question has never been as apparent. Surprisingly, studies show that you may need at least five times more resources to attract new customers than retain existing ones.
Plus, according to Flair HR, 90% of startups do not succeed within the first five years partly because they cannot survive the stiff competition. As such, you may want to know whether blockchain can be one of the most valuable tools in your company’s toolkit.
For a long time, conversations around it mostly revolved around crypto speculation – people watching the Solana price in USD fluctuate or debating the next big coin – but today, it’s doing something far more impactful. It’s helping businesses streamline operations, build trust and stay ahead of the curve.
Building Trust and Transparency
Agreeably, trust is like a currency, without which a business may not survive long-term success. Customers have become more sensitive about where their products come from, how their data is handled and whether companies are walking the talk. In fact, Zendesk cites lack of trust as the reason 83% won’t do business with a brand.
A reliable brand would want to use the human experience to create an emotional connection with shoppers by showcasing dependability, honesty and transparency. This can really improve customer loyalty. How customers feel about your brand matters more than how they think, as it can have 1.5 times more impact, which may lead to more organic growth.
Customers who feel your company constantly prioritizes customer experience may become champions for your products and talk about you to their friends. And now that we tend to trust word-of-mouth suggestions more, this may lead to more conversions.
Thankfully, with blockchain, you can share in these benefits. It offers verifiable transparency, which businesses have struggled with for years. Let’s say you’re in retail or supply chain., for instance.
With this technology, you can track every step of your product’s journey and make necessary adjustments according to the need. Plus, even if you want to show your customers that your coffee is ethically sourced, blockchain can back it up with real-time, tamper-proof data.
A good example is how, a few years ago, Walmart partnered with IBM to create a blockchain ledger to improve tracking of its Chinese supply chain. What would take the company up to 7 days to trace now takes 2.2 seconds, which can be advantageous during crises like food recalls.
Cutting Costs and Improving Efficiency
According to Vorecol HRMS, about three-quarters of organizations anticipate implementing blockchain by the end of this year (2025). As if that’s not enough, the IMB Institute for Business Value noted that about six in ten executives consider blockchain one of their companies’ top five priorities. This comes when sectors like supply chains are losing up to $1.5 trillion yearly to inefficiencies.
Given its decentralization, blockchain reduces the need for intermediaries, manual checks and reconciliations. Consider the financial industry, for example. Processing cross-border payments can be a headache with fees, delays and currency conversions. Blockchain gets ahead of all these challenges by allowing transactions to happen in minutes with far lower fees.
Good enough, even small and mid-sized companies can get in on the action. There are several blockchain-based platforms available ‘as-a-service,’ so you don’t need a team of coders to get started. These tools can help you automate invoice approvals, supply orders and even employee certification while reducing paperwork and human errors.
Future-proofing your Business
We have already hinted at how 75% of executives intend to implement this technology within this year alone. This means more competition for companies that won’t, which may cause them to be out of the market soon. Remember, one key to improving your edge is aligning with shifting trends.
Unfortunately, studies show that out of one million companies, only forty thousand will last more than ten years. Plus, only about 6% of executives are content with their organization’s innovation. Forward-thinking companies can take advantage of such statistics to distinguish themselves from the crowd.
Another aspect is that customers are increasingly becoming aware of online security. Especially now that Exploding Topics has noted over 940,000 cyberattacks happen daily, no one wants to become a victim. This is why many consumers will inspect a brand’s security before transacting. If you turn out to be insecure, you risk losing a significant number of them.
Thankfully, blockchain is more secure than traditional methods and can help improve your appeal to security-conscious buyers. Its decentralized nature eliminates the possibility of single-point failure, which is common in traditional systems. Plus, no one can alter or manipulate data once stored, improving transparency.
In summary, blockchain can actually set you ahead of competitors. For example, there are those who are usually slow to align with current trends. Implementing recent technologies like blockchain puts you ahead of them, making you more appealing to tech-savvy consumers.
Plus, blockchain is more secure. At a time when cyberattacks are increasing, more such secure infrastructures are usually welcome. Blockchain also helps to make operations in industries like supply chains more efficient.
No one wants their goods delayed, and by eliminating intermediaries, you can improve delivery, which may lead to more customer satisfaction and, thus, better business performance.