In what is a common chain of events for new technology to follow, Web3 has gone from perceived scam to perceived get rich quick scheme to massive opportunity for brands and entrepreneurs. But for traditional brands looking to grab a slice of the web3 pie, the options for entering the world of blockchain and crypto are growing by the day.

Here are some of the most popular ways big companies are stepping into web3.

Payment:

One of the simplest ways a company can embrace the world of crypto and blockchain is by simply accepting cryptocurrency as a form of payment.

While it’s not common practice, it’s also not unheard of for brands to accept crypto. However, the majority of major companies accepting crypto have only trialled, or are trialling this in smaller nations. One example being Burger King accepting crypto in Venezuela. Last year, Ferrari announced plans to accept crypto payments in the US, a tactic popular with brands in the luxury sector who look to attract the interest of crypto millionaires looking to spend their new-found wealth without interacting with banks. 

Logistics:

Blockchain and logistics have been part of each other’s lives for longer than people may think. What some might see as the more boring side of web3 is definitely one of the most useful and most prominent use cases. The terms blockchain, crypto and web3 have seemingly become interlinked in the past few years, but one made it to the mainstream far earlier than the other two. That’s because major companies have been using blockchain technology to improve the efficiency of their logistics for a long time.

Walmart, for instance, have been using blockchain since 2016 – a time where crypto was reserved for early adopters and the web3 term had not long been coined. Instead of using blockchain for tokens and collectibles, Walmart and IBM developed a solution for tracing grocery products using blockchain technology. Since the web3 boom, more companies have turned to blockchain-shaped solutions to supply chain issues. Often choosing to combine solutions with ways to improve their customers’ experience.

One of the best examples comes from De Beers Group, who recently rolled out their Tracr platform to the diamond industry. Tracr allows brands and consumers to track their diamond’s journey throughout the whole supply chain, tackling issues around authenticity while also giving the end user a richer understanding of their possession’s origin and route.

Digital Collectibles:

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) can take the shape of pretty much anything, but replacing traditional collectibles with NFT versions seems to be one of the most common ways for traditional brands to introduce web3 to their strategy. An NFT is a digital asset stored on the blockchain that can’t be recreated. In other words, each one is unique and therefore of a different value, similar to the way physical collectibles, such as playing cards, vary in value based on age, serial number, condition, rarity, etc.

What differentiates non-fungible tokens from non-fungible physical items is their attachment to the decentralised blockchain. Its history, owner and similar information is subsequently there for all to see which helps to eliminate black market fakes and bank scams. 

For brands introducing digital collectibles into their offering, the intended use is similar to that of physical collectibles and is often combined with collecting, trading and swapping. However this new era of collectibles can operate a lot more autonomously with the potential for a lot more future innovation once initially distributed.

As you’d expect, many sports franchises have jumped on the digital collectibles opportunity. Manchester United launched one of the more successful digital collectibles collections, with a digital collectible launched for every home game of the 2023/24 season.

Fans could collect each NFT for free, with each one openly verified on the blockchain. In the future, this proof of ownership could be used to redeem prizes or access exclusive events, opening up a whole new world of possibilities for the Club to interact with their fans.

Digital Wearables:

Another way NFTs can be used is taking the shape of digital wearables – an innovation that has attracted the attention of almost every major fashion brand. An NFT wearable or digital wearable can be redeemed and worn on the owner’s avatar within a virtual world such as Decentraland.

While it’s uncommon for a fashion brand to not have experimented in this new market, the variation in strategies has been interesting.

Nike chose to instil the help of a web3-native fashion brand when they acquired RTFKT in December, 2021. RTFKT creates virtual footwear that consumers can own as NFTs before sporting them in virtual worlds.

Other fashion brands chose to go it alone, using their established brand to create physical products that double as NFT wearables. One of the most notable ‘phygital’ collections came from Dolce & Gabbana who brought in almost $6 million from a 9-piece collection.

4 of the 9 digital pieces had physical counterparts including the highest-selling item of the collection, The Doge Crown, which sold for 423.5ETH (approximately $1.25 million at the time of the auction).

User experience:

While wearable NFTs and digital collectibles are seen as a new revenue stream, NFTs are also being used to simply enhance the user’s experience.

As previously mentioned, NFTs can take the form of just about anything: a ticket, a loyalty card, a song; the list is endless. This ability for NFTs to take the shape of everyday items and real-world assets has offered brands the chance to completely overhaul the user’s experience.

Ticketing is a particularly promising use case for NFTs and the amount of NFT ticketing startups popping up is possibly a sign of the threat to current ticketing platforms not taking their business from online to onchain. 

In terms of the benefits to the end user, NFT ticketing has the potential to tackle issues around ticket authenticity through proof of ownership; control the secondary market and ticket scalping due to smart contracts; and offer a fairer royalty process to artists because of the autonomous nature of sales.