Discount coupons, gifts, and NFTs
본문
On the 1st, Hyundai Department Store opened an electronic wallet service called ‘H.NFT’ in a department store app. In line with the opening of the e-wallet, various customer benefits such as membership points, discount coupons, and lounge access began to be issued as NFTs. Customers can keep it in their electronic wallet and take it out at any time. To this end, Hyundai Department Store joined hands with Dunamu's blockchain subsidiary, Lambda 256.
Department stores, food companies, and convenience stores are introducing NFT (Non-Fungible Token) marketing one after another. The distribution industry, which used to market mainly through limited edition products, is replacing them with NFTs. Recently, it has evolved to a level where discount coupons or free gifts can be issued as NFTs and stored in electronic wallets. It is aimed at providing NFTs with monetary value so that customers can benefit from the process of issuing and trading them, and that companies can also enjoy the effect of enhancing their brand image.
◇NFT jumping into department store, convenience store, and food industry
On the 2nd, Shinsegae Food, a food company that operates No Brand Burger, issued 10,000 NFTs free of charge with illustrations of “Brand Coke” and “Brand Cider,” which were released as beverages exclusively for No Brand Burger. These NFTs, each made in 5,000 pieces, are decorated like pop art by applying various colors and patterns to the product package and background. On the 31st of last month, Shinsegae Food pre-disclosed this NFT in OpenSea, the world's largest NFT market, and received NFT applications on the 2nd in a first-come, first-served basis. It became so popular that 10,000 people applied in one day. Shinsegae Food said, "Customers who received the NFT can trade at Open Sea."
Convenience store 7-Eleven issued 'Seven NFT' that combines virtual currency at the end of April. It is a combination of virtual currency ‘Clay’ while issuing sand art works as NFT, and 7110 people received 3 to 2000 Klay each. At the time of issuance, 1 clay was traded at around 1,100 won. Also, starting this month, if a person with the NFT purchases over 7,000 won at 7-Eleven, 1 CLAY will be paid once a day. It combines NFT and virtual currency, which are of great interest among young people, and connects them to convenience store consumption.
WeMefO, a delivery app run by e-commerce company WeMakePrice, has created its own character NFT with Metagalaxia, an NFT platform company. It plans to issue its own characters, ‘CEO Oh’ and ‘Pomi’, as NFTs to the first 1,000 people who applied by the 8th. Lotte Home Shopping opened an NFT shop where NFTs can be purchased and held last month, and made a photo of Lucy, a virtual model, into NFTs.
◇Scarcity Marketing Can Be Toxic
The reason why the distribution industry jumps into NFT marketing is to target the younger generation who are enthusiastic about ‘scarcity’ such as limited editions. This is because NFT literally means one-of-a-kind, irreplaceable.
However, some point out that reckless NFT marketing can be poisonous. As with the recent sharp drop in cryptocurrency prices, a sharp drop in NFT trading volume or price could have a negative impact on corporate image. In fact, the recent NFT trading volume has plummeted. According to Nonfungible, an NFT data analysis site, the global NFT transaction volume, which was an average of 225,000 per day in September last year, decreased to 19,000 last month.
Hong Seong-tae, professor emeritus at Hanyang University, said, “If NFT prices fall while using NFTs as a one-off event, it will adversely affect corporate value.”
“We need to come up with a marketing strategy that includes long-term plans to utilize the NFTs issued by companies,” he said.
☞NFT(Non Fungible Token)
An abbreviation of Non Fungible Token, a digital certificate created with blockchain technology. It stores the owner and transaction history information of digital files such as digital photos, videos, characters, and game items in a blockchain that cannot be forged, tampered with, or hacked. Each NFT has a unique value and cannot be replaced with another NFT.
