This company is changing the future of luxury ownership with blockchain technology
The ‘appreciate app’ transforms the relationship between people and their goods by creating a new data structure that improves the post-purchase experience and enables Web3 interoperability.
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Through the new imaginative, blockchain-utilizing concept, appreciate’s co-founder and growth manager Allys Ton hopes to shift the narrative around luxury purchases to more conscious ownership that reduces waste by encouraging use.
In an exclusive interview with Blockster, Allys reveals how her company aims to improve the luxury ownership experience while reducing the problem of mindless consumerism. Allys explains how the appreciate concept was born, the platform’s web3-centric ‘verifiable credentials’, how valued it is to put users into web3, and more.
Ally’s inspiration behind appreciate stems from her own personal love and appreciation for her designer handbags which represent much more than accessories. For Allys, they are pieces of art that symbolize pivotal moments in her life and long-term investments that she values consistently over time rather than constantly looking for her next big purchase.
“When we value our stuff, owning can feel like buying,” the CEO shared with Blockster.
Allys Ton, co-founder and CEO of appreciate
Such a philosophy was also born from research that Allys conducted with her co-founder Justin Connor, where they found that by building a relationship with objects we own, it can offset the brain’s dopamine response and replace it with sustainable serotonin. Countering the urge shoppers feel to constantly buy a new luxury item is what Allys believes will lead to consumers buying fewer items and reducing global waste.
With plans to implement web3 technology on the platform, appreciate is getting users used to the idea that physical objects can be extended with digital attributes. Its fashion-centric premise, along with its user-friendly interface, also acts as a natural solution for bringing users into web3, with Allys explaining: “the familiar and accessible web2 interface is what’s going to draw people into our application, but we build it on the rails of web3”.
Traditional paper or electronic receipts are static and used to show proof of purchase, while appreciate’s ‘verifiable credentials’ are something that can capture what happens after the point of sale, which Allys claims is “really interesting for everyone in the ecosystem. For a consumer, it shows me who has had their hands on this item – what has been the paper trail of this item – and for brands it’s very interesting because what it can do is actually show [them] who are their most loyal customers.”
Through the platform’s curated “explore” feature, appreciate makes it possible to see the origin and purpose of items in their entirety, meaning transactions can be made with complete transparency. For example, if a user were to discover that their existing item had a hidden utility or a story behind it (like a celebrity owner), this feature reveals more value to the luxury items listed on the platform. In keeping with appreciate’s sustainable mission, Allys tells Blockster that a feature that will inform users about eco-friendly brands will be added in the near future.
Visit appreciate’s website for more information here, and see Blockster’s full interview with Allys Ton here.
