Storiqa: The Marketplace for new digital economy

This is the 21st century and the way we shop has completely changed from the way our parents or grandparents used to shop. Online shopping has gained popularity in recent times and we rarely go out to buy from retail shop owners or local businesses. Almost 95% said that they had shopped online at least once in the previous year. And, admit it, we prefer shopping online because of the comforts it provides. Online shopping has almost made us to forget about small businesses and it has become difficult for them to sustain their livelihoods. Storiqa is a blockchain based marketplace that opens the global market for small and local businesses and gives them a chance to grow. Storiqa realized the plight of small businesses after the boom of online shopping in early 2010s. There was no way that small businesses could compete with the likes of Amazon and need a place to develop and launch their products in the international market. Storiqa provides you with all the tools to create your own online store with features like customer feedback, bookkeeping, analysis of sales, advertising and what not. All these come at a very low cost making it an ideal platform for small businesses to operate. It combines e-commerce with technologies like smart contracts and cryptocurrency payments making it safe and hazard-free.

HOW IT HELPS SMALL/LOCAL BUSINESSES

It is designed exclusively for small business like small-scale manufacturers, handicrafts, etc. to provide them with an opportunity to grow and compete with the big guns. This is a really good initiative and solves various issues related to small businesses who try to go online, like:

• 24 Hour Multilingual Customer Support

To assist in selling goods internationally, it helps by keeping the buyer-seller line open at all times so that there is no lack of customer support.

• Localization and Automatization

It also helps you in translating product descriptions so that your product can be sold internationally. Small businesses might feel inferior dude to the fact that they are not ready to go completely automatic. Storiqa helps in solving this issue.

• Cost

The investment cost one requires to go online is quite high and it is often a great risk for small businesses to go digital given the amount of initial investment. There are a lot of expenses like blanket fees of platform, sale charges, registration and establishment of enterprise and other marketing and advertising costs. Storiqa provides all these facilities at reasonable rates. For instance, cost of online shop establishment on Amazon is $11,000, whereas it is around $1,500 at Storiqa.

WHY STORIQA (https://ico.storiqa.com)

I have mentioned above how Storiqa can help small businesses to grow. Now, there are certain ways how Storiqa helps sellers in general to set up their online business.

Use of Blockchain

Storiqa uses implementation of smart contracts for all transactions making all the transactions safe and fast. This also ensures that there is hundred percent transparency and fraud can take place. This also helps in receiving honest reviews from customers who actually bought a particular product. This ensures that one product doesn't gain more popularity by getting fake reviews written in its favor. Every smart contract also comes with the condition that every customer is eligible for a refund within 30 days for a low-quality product.

Tools

Storiqa offers more than 8 ready-to-use tools which are Advanced Customer Analysis, Customer Feedback, Integrated Marketing, Constant Support form Storiqa, Payment via cryptocurrency or any fiat currency, Storiqa community rewards, Loyalty program, and Store Rating. It also allows you to buy anything with its STQ tokens. You also get cashbacks and discounts if you pay with STQ tokens.

ICO

The symbol for their token is STQ. These tokens are integrated into the system to ensure maximum flow of trade. ICO will start at 00:00 UTC on 25 October, 2017, and go on till 21:00 UTC December 25, 2017. 1 STQ = 0,0001 ETH. Soft Cap is 30 000 ETH and the Hard Cap is set at 90 000 eth. Total supply of tokens will not exceed the Hard Cap.

The main part of the tokens, i.e. 60% is distributed through the ICO. 15% of emission is reserved for the team and partners, 10% for development fund, 10% for early-bird investors, 3% for bounty rewards and 2% for advisory board.

Special bonuses will also be given. The details are as follows:

REVIEW

I think it is a really good initiative to help small businesses and give them a chance to grow and expand. However, there are certain challenges like educating sellers about cryptocurrency and blockchain before they are able to finally sell their products. Also, Storiqa must be ready to face competition from current online marketplaces. Giants like Amazon are ruthless when it comes to competition. It's highly probable that Amazon or other online markets like Flipkart or Snapdeal come up with their own ideas to help local businesses. Storiqa must be aware of these challenges or it will be difficult for it to sustain itself.

For more information visit : https://ico.storiqa.com/

Written By; Kishan748