Data privacy laws like the European Union (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) are complicating business for retailers. While these regulations improve consumer privacy, they also present significant risk for retailers who handle an increasing amount of personal data.
And the impact of these new rules goes beyond e-commerce. The legislation also has important implications for in-person transactions, requiring an effective data protection and management system integrated into all company point-of-sale (POS) systems.
To address these issues, retailers are turning to blockchain technology. Vendors of consumer goods and services are now installing it on physical and online POS systems to ensure proper data handling, from initial transaction throughout the information lifecycle.
Blockchain Rescues Retail Transaction Data
For retailers who want to retain valuable customer information while securing it from tampering or misuse, blockchain is enormously valuable. The technology is based on a distributed ledger, which provides a decentralized system for sharing and synchronizing data across multiple nodes within a network.
As its name suggests, a blockchain is a series of encrypted data elements (blocks) that contains information about a given interaction. Every block is “chained” to the previous entries by applying a cryptographic hash to the entire chain.
Blockchain for Retail POS
Modern retail environments engage customers in multiple ways over the course of time. Common touchpoints include social media check-ins, online and in-person advertising, POS transactions, and loyalty payments.
To bring all of these interactions in compliance with regulations, Azmsol offers a blockchain-based solution. Built in partnership with OpenERP which is designed to help retailers integrate data management, protection, and compliance into their business systems. It addresses POS, e-commerce platforms, call centers, mobile apps, kiosks, or any Internet-based interaction mechanism.
With the solution in place, retailers can map data use, track consent agreements, maintain version control, and view service orders down to the individual user.
Ourtechnology components include a blockchain ledger, centralized data lake, API workflow engine, and custom user portal, each of which can be tailored to deployments of any size