UPS Integrates Blockchain Platform to Improve Merchant Supply Chains

Major American postal carrier UPS and e-commerce technology company Inxeption have jointly rolled out a blockchain-powered platform to improve merchant supply chains. The development was announced in a press release published on March 21.

The new blockchain platform dubbed Inxeption Zippy is designed to help companies list, market and distribute their products to customers. The platform purportedly enables merchants to monitor the entire supply chain from product listing to delivery, ensuring that sensitive data like contract-specific pricing and rates are only accessible to the buyer and seller.

By using the platform, merchants will purportedly be able to upload product information, schedule orders, monitor returns, process transactions, and review sales and marketing analytics, among other services.

Farzad Dibachi, CEO of Inxeption, said that the platform “creates simplified pricing solutions for B2B merchants with limited digital marketing and IT resources to easily manage all aspects of selling and shipping from one secure place.”

In mid-January, UPS made an undisclosed equity investment in Inxeption. Dibachi said then that “business customers need secure platforms that protect their customer data and proprietary information, while making it easy for them to interact and even collaborate more effectively with their customers.”

Businesses in various industries have been widely exploring the ways blockchain can improve supply chain. Recently, the U.S. National Pork Board partnered with blockchain startup ripe.io to test out a blockchain platform for pork supply chains, which will purportedly enable it to monitor and evaluate sustainability practices, food safety standards, livestock health, and environmental protections.

Earlier this month, North America’s largest branded shelf-stable seafood firm Bumble Bee Foods launched a blockchain platform for seafood traceability. Customers will purportedly be able to observe the entire supply chain, and access information on products’ origins and shipping history by using a smart device to scan a QR code on the product package.