Page 37 - Food & Drink Business August 2018

Consumer engagement meets cryptocurrency
A new blockchain-based platform called Shping has launched its own cryptocurrency that aims to drive deeper consumer engagement for food and beverage brands, writes Alison Leader.
AN $8.6 million tokensale effort has helped a blockchain tech company launch a new food brand engagement platform in Australia.
Called Shping, the platform links consumers with brand information, bridging the gap between pre-shop research and in-store purchase, according to head of sales Joel Stevenson.
He says the company has successfully tapped into blockchain technology to drive a new way of connecting consumers with detailed information about brands
– and rewarding them for their interest.
The company issued its own cryptocurrency, in March this year, and was able to launch the brand in Australia with the $8.6 million raised.
Consumers scan a standard barcode to find a wealth of information about products, read reviews, earn cryptocurrency rewards and share their own experiences.
“Its essentially pooling all available content on any particular product from offline and online and putting it in the palm of the consumer’s hand whilst they are in-store shopping,” Stevenson says.
“Users will be able to find all
the information they previously sought on disparate sites within one app.”
With Shping’s analytics, food companies can build a ‘Single Customer View’ for each member of their audience, which includes data on who they are, which brands they love, where and when they’re scanning products, and what else is in their consideration set.
“The Shping app allows brands to reward consumers directly for engaging with their product content through a simple barcode scan off their mobile device in-store – so companies
landscape 36 per cent of consumers are are open to receiving cryptocurrency rewards instead of points, especially in the millennials segment where this percentage rises to 56 per cent.
Brands have just started to come on board as foundation customers – there are 24 brand partners so far – and Stevenson’s pushing to drive downloads higher and higher. The number of users currently stands at close to 50,000.
THE STORY SO FAR
The brand’s parent company, AuthenticateIT, started eight
LABELLING, CODING & MARKING
“ They are buying engagement, but they are not paying a big media company like Facebook or Google for that engagement – they are paying the consumer directly.”
can influence the buying decision in the critical final buying phase, ” Stevenson says.
“It’s a permission-based approach that allows them to digest content and get rewarded for that directly, with cryptocurrency as the incentive.”
Stevenson says research shows in the Australian
years ago when founder Gennady Volchek launched its smartphone app and farm to fork traceability platform in partnership with GS1.
Not unlike Shping, AuthenticateIT offers specifics of ingredients and their origins; date and place of manufacture, date of delivery, and ‘best if used by’ date.
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