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“Botting” is one of the biggest problems in retail and e-commerce today, and one that is often overlooked. However, the consequences cannot be ignored. CAPTCHA and other increasingly difficult methods of human verification prove that there is a rampant problem many of us are unaware of. Worse than CAPTCHA is the exorbitant price consumers pay for a product they want very much.
What does “bottom” mean?
In the context of retail and e-commerce, bots are people creating programs or robots (robots) that buy inventory of products before real people can buy them. You may have heard the term “automated checkout bot”. The main targets of the bot are popular product launches and stock replenishment. When those popular products hit the market, these people would use bots to buy them first and then resell them for a profit. This process is quite complicated. Several different types of bots are used to ensure inventory does not reach consumers until bad actors take action.
according to a Report According to Imperva, “bad bots” will account for about 25% of online traffic in 2020.From this point of view, approximately 4.5 billion People use the internet in the same year. That’s the bot value of a billion users. Clearly, this is not a fringe issue. This is one of the main points of discussion between brands and retailers that deal directly with its impact.
according to this Report, some bots are used to create new user accounts, some are used to steal user accounts. Some are used to simply buy stock when it is available. The more complicated thing is to put the inventory in the shopping cart to prevent others from buying it, and then when others go to the secondary market to buy, they will buy the products in the shopping cart and send them to the buyer. They should call it “Devil’s Direct Selling”.
Related: How to Identify, Report, and Manage Ad Fraud (And Why It Matters)
There are existing methods to identify and fix this, but it all boils down to noticing traffic spikes and setting captchas when they happen. It’s a bit like saying if it rains, use an umbrella. How can I tell if it’s raining? Look outside. This is not very helpful. The problem here is that brands and retailers already know bots are a problem and have used these solutions to try and stop them.
But they still get wet.
Knowing it’s raining won’t help without a practical solution to staying dry. Fortunately, new technologies are emerging that could help end robotics forever.
What does “token gating” mean?
“Token gated” means that you need a “token” to pass the “gate”. It’s like a secret password or key. Many new communities are using token gates to prevent unwanted guests from entering their spaces. These tokens are created and stored using blockchain technology. This prevents the creation of fakes or duplicates. It also increases the transparency of the token and the actions taken by token holders. Asking for tokens to enter is the best way to protect and build your community as well. Unique tokens stored on the blockchain are also known as “NFTs” or non-fungible (unique) tokens.
shopA suite of tools for enhancing online shopping, recently introduced a new concept, token-gated products. So what exactly does this mean?
If a brand distributes tokens to its customers, it creates a community of token holders. Then, when they release their product, only their community members can make purchases. Thousands of hungry robots waiting at the door will be powerless to snatch any inventory unless they each hold their own tokens and are allowed in. For example, SHOPX does this by integrating tokens into Shopify. At checkout, the user cannot click the “buy” button unless they have the token.
Related: Why Chatbots Fail and the Future of Conversational AI
What are the benefits of token gating?
There are some obvious benefits.
- Prevent fights. Tokens are an easy, no-nonsense way to stop bots from buying inventory. This is the main benefit, and this alone is enough to incentivize the use of the token.
- Reward customer loyalty. The token can be thought of as a customer loyalty program. Loyal customers not only get priority access to popular product launches, but tokens can also be programmed to offer other special perks. This includes discounts and member-only access to certain types of products.
- Build community. Tokens are already a great way to build a community. Distributing tokens to customers automatically creates a community that can interact in a number of ways. Members can access secret content, members-only chat rooms, and even real-life events.
- Marketing. The very act of issuing tokens to customers can be turned into a promotion. Certain products can be released with tokens, and new tokens can be released over time to create more promotions and keep customers engaged.
Related: Forget Fake News — All You Need to Worry About is Fake Traffic
Do I even need tokens?
Chances are, your business doesn’t need tokens. If you don’t run out of stock, or if demand is low, you may not be attacked by bots. Tokens protect your inventory from scammers who want to buy and resell before others have a chance. This creates a barrier between you and your customers. This is disappointing and prevents true fans from enjoying the product they love – the extra money they buy from the secondary market could be used to buy more of your product.
But even if your business doesn’t necessarily need bot protection to protect your inventory, the other three benefits listed above are still handy utilities that tokens provide. Start building a community now that will last through every stage of your business growth.
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