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NFTs have been the talk of the town since last year! But only a few people know what they are and how do they work? That’s the reason we are here with this blog. Here we are going to discuss what NFTs are and their impact on the fashion industry.
What are NFTs?
NFT is an acronym for Non Fungible Tokens. They are the cryptographic assets which are generated by making use of blockchain technology. This doesn’t make the concept clear, right?
Non-Fungible means that NFTs are unique and can not be replaced with some other thing. Fungibility means they have their separate unique identity. Just like the physical art, you can also sell NFTs, but here you (the artist) can retain the copyright. Or they can provide it to the purchaser.
What is an NFT in fashion?
NFTs in the fashion industry come in various forms and shapes. Like, the online content that owners can interact with or digital copy of the physical creation, online or virtual garments that buyers can try or wear within the virtual world only.
From famous brands like Louis Vuitton, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, and Burberry, to all the other popular brands. These all have been constantly trying to introduce non-fungible tokens to their marketing effort.
How Do NFTs Work?
Okay, coming over to the most asked question i.e, How exactly does the NFTs work?
So NFTs are stored using a technology called Ethereum blockchain, which is second in terms of popularity followed by Bitcoin. Ethereum was set up as a ledger system to authorise the smart contracts. This lets you transfer the ownership of a non-fungible token from one individual to the other.
To put it in simple words, blockchain is a decentralised way of keeping the data that makes use of an extensive peer-to-peer network to do so. The data is generally kept in the blocks in chronological order. Also, it contains time stamps to ensure its validity.
NFTs have now become the most demanded commodity because of their undisputed ownership. And they are going to be in trend in future.
Are NFTs The Future Of eCommerce?
Adoption of the NFTs in eCommerce was quite challenging for obvious reasons. Since only a few people owned any form of cryptocurrency then. Moreover, the NFTs are now becoming the trend and people are trying to understand what they are. Also, they are trying to develop trust in the blockchain system as well.
But still, there’s so much left. There are still some developments left in the area of application of NFTs in eCommerce. The elimination of the hindrances in blockchain can be very beneficial for the use of non-fungible tokens, not only in the eCommerce world but also in other industries as well.
To uplift the growth of eCommerce and the customer base, we need to bring NFTs into our eCommerce website development platforms. So yes! NFTs are the future of eCommerce. They would be adopted by every eCommerce platform sooner or later.
To know more about eCommerce you can read our eCommerce seo guide.
What Are The Benefits Of NFTs In eCommerce?
As we have understood what NFTs are and are they the future of eCommerce. Let’s now dive into knowing the benefits of NFTs in the eCommerce world.
Here they are:
- NFTs add value to the loyalty programs and they build trust as well.
- They provide instant gratification for digital commerce merchants.
- Make use of AR or augmented reality to add some value to NFTs and the eCommerce sector as well.
- The design and the verification of the products have become very easy and simple.
- Lastly, the blockchain non-fungible tokens provide a way to boost the customer base.
How The eCommerce Fashion Industry Is Capitalising Through NFTs?
From Augmented Reality to Virtual Stores, fashion brands are bringing the NFTs and fashion together in various creative ways. Some of them we are going to discuss further in this blog.
Augmented Reality In Clothing
An NFT may be a virtual asset, but so many customers still wish to wear the cloth they purchase. This becomes possible using augmented reality, which overlaps the online images over the camera footage of the real world.
Popular fashion brands like Burberry, Gucci, ASOS and GAP have been using the virtual try-on feature. Moreover, brands are combining AR with non-fungible tokens technology. And designing the garments that customers can wear, collect and trade.
Virtual stores
Most fashion brands are purchasing a few NFTs on their own, in the form of online land where they can create showrooms and stores to market to young consumers.
Online worlds such as The Sandbox let users buy land in the form of non-fungible tokens. Also, luxury brands like Gucci have not wasted a single minute in setting up their virtual shop.
And you know what? Gucci is not the only brand in the metaverse. Nike, Balenciaga, Louis Vuitton and many more brands have also set up their shop in the metaverse.
What Are The Benefits Of NFTs in The Fashion Industry?
Why are NFTs so profitable for fashion brands? Why are businesses continually moving towards the adoption of NFTs? Why is there so much craze about the NFTs? C’mon, let’s know about it!
Being prepared for the metaverse
According to a report, by the end of 2026, a quarter of people will be spending at least an hour a day in the metaverse for shopping, work, social, education and entertainment. The most famous fashion brand, Zara has also collaborated with a South Korean label to launch their very first NFT project.
As we all know, day by day the metaverse is developing and VR platforms can enter into everyone’s life. On this platform, we can participate in funny events, become socialised, deal with brilliant digital artwork, play games, go shopping and so on.
Moreover, if our main focus is on shopping events on metaverse, then we should consider the fashion industry. The fashion industry must learn about the metaverse as traditional shopping will be replaced by virtual shopping. For understanding online shopping, the NFT-based products of fashion can be utilised. To say it in other words, the basic understanding of fashion in the world of NFT can prepare individuals for the metaverse.
Gain Extra Revenue
You can gain extra revenue through NFTs. For instance, you can sell different products and digital art based on the logo of your brand. At the time of selling such non-fungible tokens, some businesses offer the buyers with free products or discounts to encourage sales. Also, you can sell the brand-related non-fungible tokens as tickets to the meetings of special communities.
Uniqueness
A non-fungible token can make the online fashion items as unique and designer as tangible products, reducing the problem of reproducibility of digital clothing. With non-fungible tokens, the catalogue of special and unique products broadens.
Moreover, a fashion brand can also sell its backstage pictures or show videos as NFT. In the case of online copies, the NFT makes it attainable to trace the real copy that could be bought by a collector.
Make Unique Loyalty Programs
The unique tailored loyalty programs using the NFTs can give them a competitive edge in the future of eCommerce. With non-fungible tokens, the fashion brands can provide tokens to the customers for early access to the new products, admission to exclusive events, discounts and private communities and a lot more.
One such instance of this is by a well-known brand Dolce & Gabbana. The customers get two-year access to Alta Sartoria, Alta Moda & Alta Gioielleria. By doing so, non-fungible tokens motivate the purchasers to engage with the brand for at least two years. Sounds great, right?
Conclusion
Okay, so this is it! We believe you are now familiar with NFTs and their impact on the fashion industry. NFTs are still in the infant stage but they are going to cause major shifts in the fashion industry. So, if you are planning to adopt NFTs, then hurry up, do it now.
In case you need any help, any knowledge or if you have any queries, then feel free to contact us.