How Blockchain technology will Transform the Luxury Industry

Elitium provides a luxury lifestyle platform using a sustainable cryptocurrency solution. The aim is to deliver a new customer experience in the luxury industry by offering consumers an all-inclusive lifestyle platform with access to a wide range of luxury goods and services. Participants of the platform will be able to purchase their preferred luxury brands through a secure, fast and easy to use payment service on the blockchain.

Besides, Elitium focuses on innovating other businesses on the platform through smart contract applications with the support of their main technology partner Rootstock (RSK). The unique smart contract technology of Rootstock enables Elitium to include their lifestyle partners in the innovation journey and introduce highly automated business processes, e.g. execution of contracts, customer requests, rentals, or refunding.

A quick look at the industry

With the expansion of the luxury market and the growing demand for luxury goods, it has become evident that the industry has currently several issues (from operational inefficiencies to risks of malicious attacks on transactions) that are quite difficult, if not impossible, to solve within the industry’s traditional frameworks and structure.

If we look at the data, we see that in 2017, the market for luxury goods reached a whopping value of 248 billion euros in Western Europe alone, while, according to Deloitte’s latest report, the US market closed 2017 at 1 trillion dollars in annual sales. For such a booming market, however, there is a lack of integrated solutions across different luxury brands. That is to say: as a customer, I have no way of accessing luxury services on a single platform. Blockchain could be the one solution that solves all these problems.

Why Blockchain?

Blockchain is a decentralized database consisting of a chain of blocks containing data, encrypted with strong layers of security, and distributed throughout a network. As such, it offers high standards of security and transparency because, once content has been stored in it, it becomes virtually impossible to change without permission. This makes the system tamper-proof.

Blockchain technology also allows the creation of smart contracts — programs that enable the automation of processes and operations according to predetermined sets of instructions. This creates a “trust less” system, i.e. a system where trust is not necessary, because it’s guaranteed by the technology itself.

Enters Elitium

With this in mind, Elitium is launching an all-inclusive, blockchain-based luxury platform in which customers and luxury brands are connected together in a network.

Consumers will have access to a wide range of luxury goods and services, which they will be able to purchase through a single, secure platform. In this way, they won’t need to resort to different types of booking and travel websites, but will be able to manage transactions, memberships, and services in a safe, user-friendly environment — with just one single login.

Luxury brands that join the platform, on the other hand, not only will gain visibility within the network, but will also reap the benefits of Elitium’s partnership with technology company Rootstock (RSK), which makes possible the use of smart contracts to introduce highly-automated business processes (for example execution of contracts, customer requests, rentals, or refunding) that will improve their efficiency tenfold.

The luxury platform will be launched in the form of a lifestyle app and will be available on all platforms (Web, Android, iOS, Smart TV…). Some of the services offered through the platform will be:

• • Yacht charters

• • Private jets and helicopters

• • Luxury hotels and resorts

• • Premium and sports cars, luxury automotive

• • Fine dining restaurants

• • Exclusive (world famous) festivals and events

• • Limousine and private chauffeur service

• • Private security and protection

• • Butler service, personal staff and chefs

• • Watches, gold and jewelry

• • Fashion and haute couture, designer clothing
  • Luxury real estate, residences and villas

All customers will be part of a loyalty program where they can “earn” back a percentage of what they have spent on the platform. People who join as members will also have access to exclusive services, such as concierge services powered by AI technology, making for an even easier and more personalized service.

How do transactions on Elitium work?

All transactions make use of Elitium’s own native cryptocurrency, EUM. This not only guarantees a stable economy within the platform, but also mitigates all potential risks associated with external cryptocurrencies, including price manipulation and volatility.

What’s important, however, is that with Elitium there’s no need to have knowledge of blockchain and cryptocurrencies; yet, customers and businesses will still enjoy the full package of benefits, from lower transaction fees (less than 1% thanks to blockchain technology, which allows to bypass the fees charged by traditional financial institutions), to faster and safer transactions.

The platform comes with an Online ATM service where users will be able to use fiat to buy EUM within the platform itself, with no need to purchase cryptocurrencies on external exchange websites.

Protection guaranteed

As if all this wasn’t enough to guarantee a secure environment, Elitium also offers another layer of protection: Elitium-i, the insurance token of Elitium (EUMI). EUMI will be used to reimburse any lost funds in case of malicious transactions from a compromised or hacked account (which is highly unlikely to happen in a blockchain environment to begin with).

Elitium Diamond Members will also enjoy an additional level of protection, Elitium-i+, an extension of the concept of EUMI. With Elitium-i+ the transaction recovery process is not only limited to malicious transactions, but also to accidental mistakes made by users. Therefore, Elitium Diamond Members will be protected against human errors at all times, guaranteeing complete safety.

This feature makes Elitium the first to take such a step towards improving user security.

Elitium’s mission

Elitium aims to remove any barrier for mass adoption of blockchain-based solutions in the luxury industry. The pace of innovation has been exceptional in the past few years with the surge of new disruptive technologies. Among all these new technologies, the most promising one available today is blockchain technology. Elitium stands at the centre of this technological revolution and introduces a global platform where consumers in the luxury industry can purchase goods and services using a cryptocurrency solution. Their purpose is to connect supply and demand in a frictionless way on a secure platform — fast and easy to use.

For more information check out https://elitium.io/
Read the Whitepaper here