Privacy-focused blockchain software project Particl has announced a market management option that allows vendors to create and manage stores for specific audiences. Particl revealed the development in a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Sept. 12. With the new feature for its Open Marketplace product, Particl will enable vendors to set up an unlimited number of marketplaces within the ecosystem and share them with a specific group of customers. Such marketplaces will be available to only those users who have a market’s Market ID. Creation of personalized stores As such, merchants can create personalized stores on the Particl Open Marketplace …

Bitcoin (BTC) rewards shopping app Lolli has partnered with major American grocery chain Safeway to give customers 3.5% back in Bitcoin on all their purchases. Making Bitcoin ‘part of everyday life’ According to a blog post announcing the new partnership on July 25, Safeway – and Albertsons Companies’ subsidiary – operates 894 locations across 17 American states. The system will reward customers in Satoshis (sats) — the name given to one hundred millionth of one Bitcoin — the smallest unit of the cryptocurrency. In an interview with Yahoo! Finance, Lolli CEO & co-founder Alex Adelman said that teaming up with …

Bitcoin (BTC) rewards shopping app Lolli has expanded its business by adding major booking service Hotels.com to its partners, the company announced in a blog post on June 25. With the new partnership, the New York-based firm now has two of the world’s top three travel websites including Booking.com and Hotels.com, Lolli said in the announcement, citing data from traffic analytics service SimilarWeb. Founded in March 2018, Lolli allows users to earn Satoshis (sats), the smallest unit of bitcoin currency worth of 0.00000001 BTC, while shopping online. The firm claims to be the first bitcoin rewards application with over 500 …

A decentralized platform offering “e-commerce on demand” is launching, and says it has the ambition of enabling shoppers to have online orders delivered in less than two hours — with food shopping arriving at their door in 30 minutes. Buying.com says its service will initially be available across six zip codes in New Jersey, providing customers with a choice of more than 50,000 items. A center in the town of Mahwah is going to monitor the platform’s progress, and the startup has bold ambitions to roll out across the state and nationwide in the months that follow. Customers can make …

The team behind a mobile application enabling shoppers to pay with crypto at online and brick-and-mortar stores has unveiled new features and a redesign — enabling consumers to shop as post-New Year sales are in full swing. Eligma, a startup dedicated to smart commerce and blockchain advocacy, says the latest version of its Elipay app has been built with simplicity in mind. As well as offering immediate payments with selected cryptocurrencies, free transfers between users worldwide, balance and transaction history, and loyalty rewards, the app also now enables enhanced store navigation and discovery. More than 240 locations now accept Elipay …

Where do loyalty programs fit in? This marketing tool has been suffering issues for years. In the non-crypto world, consumers are overwhelmed by the number of schemes offered by retailers and are disappointed by the rewards. Blockchain projects are hoping to inject some innovation into this sector by offering schemes which are meaningful to shoppers. The startup behind Elipay — Eligma — says its approach involves a universal loyalty scheme. Instead of carrying around a wallet full of cash and credit cards, consumers will be able to shop and receive rewards from a plethora of merchants in one place. The …

Be honest: shopping with cryptocurrency isn’t always the easiest experience. Even if price volatility is on your side, spending funds can be nightmarish. Crypto is gaining in popularity but many merchants still don’t accept it – meaning you are stuck with those age-old, boring options of paying by card or cash. A “technology enabler” startup known as Cyclebit is aiming to simplify things by enabling stores to serve as “cryptocurrency gateways” – enticing crypto enthusiasts to come and spend their coins with them and inject some new funds into the economy. The idea has already started to gain traction – …

A startup e-commerce ecosystem is turning to blockchain to help businesses become more operationally efficient, while enabling billions of users on social media “to generate income with ease.” TIPO says it has identified three major problems facing the e-commerce market today. According to the company, many of the platforms currently dominating the industry are too focused on buying and selling when there are many other services that can benefit merchants and their loyal customers. Plus, while online payments have continued to rise, market share is yet to reach its true potential. Lastly, businesses are wasting time and money through “suboptimal …

A platform is combining “cutting edge” artificial intelligence (AI) with the “immutable reliability” of blockchain to create a system where retailers and manufacturers can predict whether they are overstocking or understocking products – an issue estimated to cost the industry $500 bln a year. OSA DC, which stands for Optimal Shelf Availability Decentralized, says its system allows major brands and smaller chains to track product stock, inventories and orders with “pinpoint accuracy.” Shoppers also stand to gain from the platform, as its digital assistant would provide reliable information on a product’s origin, ingredients, traceability, and price through a tamperproof ledger. …