Emaar to connect with customers through blockchain loyalty app
Emaar Properties, the biggest-listed developer in Dubai, will launch a blockchain-based referral and loyalty platform, EMR, this year, according to the company.
EMR will reward customers with tokens for their loyalty and business referrals, Emaar said on Thursday. “By launching the EMR utility token ecosystem, Emaar is expanding the concept of connection. We aren’t just looking into the future … we are building it,” said Mohamed Alabbar, Emaar’s chairman.
Customers can use their tokens at Emaar’s facilities, such as hotels, malls and e-commerce websites – or trade them with other users. EMR tokens can only be redeemed for goods and services with Emaar-owned entities but may be transferred between different users, the developer said.
An app for Android and iOS users will give users access to the referral and loyalty system to earn or redeem EMR tokens.
Blockchain is an open ledger of digital chain of transactions linked using cryptography for secure communication. The database is a real-time library that cannot easily be tampered with because each transaction creates a new record. Spending on blockchain in the Middle East and Africa has been growing at a compound rate of more than 70 per cent since 2016, and is set to reach $307 million by 2021, according to the International Data Corporation.
“Our blockchain token platform positions us to grow our user engagement with today’s digital-native, mobile-first generation,” said Hadi Kabalan, director of tokenisation at Emaar. The EMR platform is built on Quorum, the JP Morgan variant of Ethereum.
Consumers across all age groups are increasingly willing to make purchases with tokens, a recent study by KPMG found. This indicates a range of new opportunities for businesses to engage with their customers and transform commerce.
The UAE unveiled the Emirates Blockchain Strategy 2021 in April last year, which aims to switch almost 50 per cent of government transactions on to a blockchain platform within three years.