How retail marketers can use blockchain

Blockchain is best known as the secure technology driving crytocurrencies such as bitcoin. Because of its security and the speed/accuracy of exchanging data, blockchain is increasingly being considered by retail marketers worldwide.

One key function of blockchain is to identify the supply-chain provenance of a product and track its movement through the distribution network. This is extremely important as retailers source products from around the world.

Carrefour, the French hypermarket retailer, is planning to implement blockchain for fresh foods such as tomatoes and chickens. This will enable the retailer to trace back to the source any possible problems.

Consumers will be reassured that Carrefour can quickly and accurately identify where fresh foods come from--and have confidence about the source. With 33,000 stores in 12 nations, blockchain will be a plus for Carrefour's ability to manage its fresh foods supply chain.

'The key thing for us as Carrefour is to be able to say when there is a crisis that we have the blockchain technology, so we are able to trace products and tell the story of the products', says the retailer's Secretary General.