Give E-Commerce the Makeover It Deserves

Don’t be naive when it comes to our current e-commerce system. There are many inefficiencies that you should be aware of that are mainly driven by the prominence of middlemen intervention. These third party intermediaries favor profits over the needs of buyers and sellers. Spl.yt believes we have found a way to turn the tables.

As e-commerce evolved, so did all supporting systems, including inventory management, affiliate marketing, delivery and fulfillment, and buyer and seller reviews. But what we’re seeing now is a stagnation in this natural development caused by the formation of oligopolies of the prevailing legacy marketplaces. In other words, the top ten e-commerce companies in the US leverage their data reach and operational infrastructures to prevent newcomers from gaining traction.

Who does that screw over?

Maybe you. Are you a brand or seller?

As the e-commerce system stands today, sellers must switch between different marketplaces in order to update their inventory, which consumes precious time and resources. Spl.yt powers a revamped e-commerce system that enables inventory to be updated automatically across different marketplaces — no more accidental double-selling items that can jeopardize your reputation.

“Affiliate Marketers” Is this you?

Affiliate marketing describes the system of cross-marketing and cross-promotion that occurs throughout the sale of a product in e-commerce. (This is a highly influential market currently contributing 16% of all US e-commerce sales with an estimated growth rate of 10% annually to $6.8B in 2020.) Affiliate marketing commissions are paid on a “per-click,” “per-signup,” or “per-sale” basis, but keeping track of these payments are often problematic without a trustworthy tracking mechanism.

The Spl.yt protocol uses “smart contracts” to automate payments to affiliate marketers. This data is then recorded on the permanent blockchain ledger so that if a disagreement between parties were to arise, an automated resolution pact would be triggered. The requirement of economic investment deters potential scammers and rewards honest behavior. When disputes are settled swiftly, it saves all sides time and resources.

Dropshippers: The unsung heroes of retail.

An estimated $93B of sales are lost each year due to hiccups in “dropshipping.” While that might not be a term you’re familiar with, it’s almost certainly a service you’ve used. A dropshipper is a third party used by a retailer to stock, process, and ship orders directly to the customer. Most retailers never set eyes on your online purchases — it’s the dropshippers who get you your purchases.

The most common problem for dropshippers is managing their inventory across several marketplaces. They must ensure that, if an item is out of stock, every marketplace they list on reflects this, again wasting time and money. Thanks to the automated inventory updates enabled by the Spl.yt protocol, Spl.yt is able to neutralize inventory inefficiencies for dropshippers potentially saving our economy the $93B of sales lost each year.

Is your online reputation important to you?

Shoppers are only comfortable purchasing products from unknown vendors when the seller proves to have a solid reputation score from other buyers. Review systems establishes “trust” in otherwise anonymous entities in the online universe, but require additional time and resources. When sellers maintain separate reputation scores across different marketplaces, the information is not only unreliable, but also consumes additional time and money.

Spl.yt’s smart contract-based protocol can be leveraged to sync reputation scores across multiple marketplaces. Simply put, when a seller is connected to Spl.yt, their inventories and reputations will be available and visible across marketplaces with no extra time or money required.

So what does e-commerce revamped look like?

Spl.yt’s protocol renders the processes for inventory updates, affiliate marketing, dropshipping, reputation, and other e-commerce systems more efficient by automating functions now performed by middlemen. Look to Spl.yt if you would prefer the future of e-commerce should provide the market reach of Alibaba, with the assurance of Amazon, at the prices of Craigslist.