NFT's - How retail is embracing this new currency
NFT has become standard terminology when talking about anything metaverse or crypto-related. What is an NFT, and how are brands using this new currency? We thought we’d look deeper into NFTs and how retail embraces this new currency.
Read the Snapshot blog post below to learn more about NFTs - How retail is embracing this new currency.
What is an NFT?
NFT, is the abbreviation for non-fungible tokens. NFTs, give digital items a unique digital identity assigned via blockchain. Technically they are Cryptographic assets on blockchain with unique identification codes and metadata that distinguish them from each other. By doing this, digital items take on properties once relegated to physical goods, such as rarity and unique ownership.
Why would retail delve into NFT's?
There has been an increase in various industries incorporating NFT projects into their web strategies. Doing so allows companies to harness the suggestive potential of creating a unique footprint and merging art, fashion, and creativity. In addition, NFT's can enable brands to differentiate themselves in the marketplace. By incorporating an NFT element into their online offering, brands can offer their community exclusive content that. In turn, this content helps to drive brand awareness and community expansion.
NFT's give brands incomparable opportunities to expand on their uniqueness, offering new and creative ways to tell stories. In addition, they have been designed to offer consumers an item that can't be copied. This gives the consumer sole ownership of the work. Moreover, the artist can still keep copyright & reproduction rights along with the physical artwork.
The main reason why NFT's could be so alluring to brands is that they offer exclusivity, and correspondingly digital scarcity comes with exclusivity. Not being editable means whatever brand launched the token will always be able to track the NFT. A few reasons would amplify the demand for these collectables.
NFT's are of great benefit to retail and can be used to :
1: Build brand communities and advocates
2: Creating new brand experiences
3: Increase brand awareness
4: Position your brand in the Metaverse
5: Create new revenue streams
NFT's - How retail is embracing this new currency
The metaverse has been deemed the next stage of how we use technology, “the successor of the internet age”. It’s been said that the metaverse can extend to digital fashion, social media, augmented reality, virtual stores, video games and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Brands began dipping their toes in the metaverse even before the term became more well-known. As fashion becomes increasingly entrenched in the metaverse and its core Gen Z customer base spends more time playing, socialising, and shopping there, understanding its full potential is crucial.
The first recorded sale of a fashion NFT was the iridescent dress created by The Fabricant and sold for the equivalent of £8,200 in May 2019. The first luxury brand entrant was Gucci’s Aria film, that was auctioned for roughly £21,600 in May 2021.
NFT brand partnership & collaboration examples from Queue-it
- Louis Vuitton collaborated with renowned NFT artist Beeple for their NFT video game
- Shopify worked with NFT project Doodles to promote it’s NFT selling platform
- Nike acquired large NFT sneaker brand RTFKT to tap into the NFT market
- Gucci worked with NFT artist Superplastic for their NFT release
- Visa announced its commitment to NFTs with the high-profile purchase of a CryptoPunk
- Puma partnered with four cat-themed NFT projects for their foray into NFTs
It's clear that NFT's are becoming a "hot commodity", and to keep relevant and maintain online status, retail brands have to start dabbling in this virtual currency. By embracing this new currency, retailers cannot only position themselves in the Metaverse but also gain awareness and revenue streams they didn't have.
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