Q&A: Delving into ecommerce service and technology

© AFP Kazuhiro NOGI

Ecommerce is a growing area, popular with a cross-range of demographics. Many advocates of ecommerce see digital payments as offering a path towards greater financial inclusion.

To gain an insight into the workings of an ecommerce venture, the challenges and the benefits, Digital Journal caught up with Adrian Jones, Co-Founder of Evvio.

Digital Journal: Can you provide a brief background on Evvio?

Adrian Jones: Evvio is an emerging fintech company focused on next generation ecommerce technology. Our company is headquartered in New York and run by a global team based in the U.S., Switzerland and Asia-Pacific. We developed a family of patents that can transform current ecommerce by expanding opportunities to earn and spend, while eliminating the need for credit cards, bank accounts and traditional payment processors. The patents underpin Evvio’s Fluid Commerce, which expands ecommerce opportunities, while removing the inefficiencies of third-party fees as well as cumbersome transaction consummation processes that curtail ecommerce activity.

DJ: What is Fluid Commerce and what are its key benefits?

Jones: For ecommerce transactions, Fluid Commerce’s patented technology eliminates the need for credit cards, bank accounts and third-party processors. It allows anyone to earn and spend those earnings in ecommerce in a fast and secure way, irrespective of their banking status.

For a Fluid Commerce licensee, the key benefit is an expansion of revenue, by creating fluid (aka “frictionless”) transactions, that are immediate, cost less and are open to a greater number of market participants. For the customer and service provider, Fluid Commerce offers a user experience that is quicker, safer and minimizes value leakage.

In general, we categorize the benefits of Fluid Commerce as:

• Expansive: Expands ecommerce revenue by increasing the number of participating buyers and sellers. Broad applicability across a range of marketplace types (e.g., the metaverse, digital games ecosystems, the sharing economy and super apps, etc.)

• Inclusive: Gives the unbanked and underbanked greater ability to earn and spend, which leads to greater market participation and transaction volumes

• Seamless: No additional third-party payment steps, financial transaction fees or time delays. Automatic non-intrusive anti-fraud verifications.

DJ: What do you see as the biggest flaws with current ecommerce payment systems?

Jones: Nearly all earned value from ecommerce transactions has to cross back and forth into the banking system with each transaction, creating time and process bottlenecks, placing constraints on the types of payments possible and interposing a tollbooth in the way of every transaction.

Most current ecommerce is based around the use of credit cards, causing the following issues:

• Customers don’t trust websites with their credit card details (up to 18 percent of US adults have abandoned making a purchase for this reason, according to Baymard Institute).
• The multi-step transaction processes that involve credit cards, third-party processors, etc. result in a checkout process that is either too long or too complicated. Up to 17% of US adults abandon their transactions because of this, according to Baymard Institute.
• A requirement for credit cards or bank accounts, means a significant number of the adult population are excluded from active participation in the online economy. A 2019 Federal Reserve report found that 22 percent of U.S. adults (over 60 million) are either unbanked or underbanked.

Current ecommerce, based on credit cards and fiat currencies, largely excludes digital value in the form of cryptocurrency, token and rewards, among others, that could be spent in ecommerce. Fluid Commerce facilitates the fungibility of value.

DJ: How does Fluid Commerce support financial inclusion?

Jones: By eliminating the need for earners and spenders to have credit cards or bank accounts. It allows for greater inclusion of populations that have been traditionally locked out of ecommerce networks.

DJ: How do you address customer reluctance to use ecommerce?

Jones: By making commerce fluid: eliminate the need for credit cards and cumbersome checkout processes and also reduce the risk of fraud. This creates a more seamless and secure process.

DJ: What safeguards are in place to prevent fraud?

Jones: Our patent for ‘verifying network resource usage records’ allows for metered services to be cryptographically validated automatically, thereby eliminating fraud and potential dispute. Additionally, the patents ensure that buyers have enough currency for a product or service prior to making any purchase.

DJ: Where do you expect ecommerce technology to go in the next five years?

Jones: COVID-19 lockdowns accelerated new usage and the pace of adoption of ecommerce in recent years. The market will continue to grow, and Fluid Commerce will catalyse this heightened appeal by allowing for greater market participation and greater efficiency.