Serve: A broad-based decentralised logistics and e-commerce platform
One of the most pervasive ways in which the Internet has changed our daily lives is through the proliferation of e-commerce. Even the less online-savvy consumers have started to rely on online shopping sites for various needs, from food delivery to ordering high-end electronics. The sharing economy is a closely connected phenomenon that has a great deal of synergy. However, the way interactions between consumers and online merchants work now is far from ideal. The shipping industry is notoriously wasteful and error-prone, and buying things online can be unreasonably expensive as well due to the presence of various intermediaries.
Hold Serve, Inc. hopes to put e-commerce and the closely connected area of logistics on a new footing by implementing a cutting edge blockchain solution. Through its Serve Platform, it intends to cater to a large variety of businesses and customers, bringing them and transportation service providers together in one place. The platform will also include a token economy and a reputation system that should encourage efficiency and good behaviour on the part of all of its stakeholders.
How will the Serve Platform handle shipping?
Serve will be a blockchain platform using Ethereum's smart contract and IPFS' data storage functionality together with a dedicated software solution. It will provide different portals for three different types of clients: Users (that is, consumers), Enterprises (merchant businesses) and Providers (shippers), though there is nothing preventing one individual or organisation from playing all three roles. Companies of either type would need to stake Serve tokens to establish their profiles and create initial reputations. They would then be able to set up their own marketplaces on the platform, complete with menus or catalogues of their products and services. Businesses would also be able to carry out targeted advertising through their marketplace community.
All payments on the platform will be made by placing Serve tokens in an escrow smart contract. Once purchase and shipping arrangements are made, both Enterprises and Providers will need to stake their own tokens as a sign of good faith. Any transaction can be disputed at any point by one party staking additional tokens. If the parties fail to resolve their conflict after using this option twice, a binding arbitration will be carried out by a randomly selected verified arbitrator User. If the shipment is resolved successfully, the businesses will receive the agreed-upon payment and their own tokens back. Each shipment will receive a review that will affect the reputations of the businesses involved. Consumers will be able to consider public information related to shipping before accepting a Provider's service. In addition to reviews, Users will receive Serve token rewards in exchange for community participation and the creation of content. Businesses would be able to receive referral payments for bringing other Enterprises and Providers to the platform.
What gives Serve an advantage?
Serve is an open source project with an emphasis on ease of integration, which will be central to the design of its APIs, SDKs and platform-agnostic software-as-a-service technology. This should help enhance the platform with third-party services. Its enterprise software, licensed from an affiliate firm, has been in development for 4 years and has already seen use by other businesses. The company will carry out pilot programs to spread awareness of its product and the blockchain sector. Its team includes seasoned professionals with qualifications in various fields.
ICO information
Most Serve ICO details and the date itself have not yet been revealed, but they are planned for the last quarter of 2018.
A comprehensive logistics solution
Many entrepreneurs and experts have already acknowledged the potential of blockchain technology in general and smart contracts in particular for reinventing logistics. It would not only save costs by cutting out the middleman but also vastly reduce the inefficiency and unreliability that plague the field today. As such, Serve is facing a very crowded field indeed. It may struggle to make much headway against its rivals, though this will depend on the market conditions. Still, does it have what it takes to compete?
For the moment, the answer remains unclear. Some of the details concerning the Serve platform's operations (for instance, the selection process for arbitrators) have yet to be worked out completely, and the paid reputation system appears potentially open to abuse. It will be difficult to assess its value proposition fully before such matters are settled. Beside that, the ultimate worth of a logistics platform depends on how many people, and even more so how many businesses, would be willing to use it. On paper, at least, Serve looks like it should be able to accommodate a large selection of users and streamline transactions in the sphere of transport, which would allow it to become a major player.
Links:
Website: https://serve.io/
WhitePaper: https://bit.ly/2ObToR3
Telegram: https://t.me/servetoken
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ServeToken/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/servetoken
Medium: https://medium.com/@servetoken
ANN: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2085434
Author: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=980049
Bounty0x username : the1arty
This article was created in exchange for a potential token reward through Bounty0x
Disclaimer
This review by Bonanza Kreep is all opinion and analysis, not investment advice.