PicoNext today launched new application programming interfaces (APIs) that allow the automation of public ledger programmes for Digital Product Passport and Loyalty programmes. The new APIs allow brands to integrate their existing systems – including supply chain management and e-commerce software – with PicoNext.
Companies using these APIs can enable greater transparency in their sustainability programmes using public ledgers, and drive lasting customer loyalty using blockchains. The APIs complement the no-code solution from PicoNext and allow brands greater flexibility in how they interact with public ledgers.
The new functionality includes the Token Creation API, Token Transfer API, and Token Events API. One key advantage customers gain by using these APIs is that they can bill “gas fees” – the digital currency amount required to complete the transaction – to an external digital wallet.
New APIs
Token Creation API
The new Token Creation API allows companies to automate the minting and issuance of tokens on a blockchain, including tokens that represent a Digital Product Passport or a customer loyalty experience.
For a Digital Product Passport, the API can be integrated with supply chain software or product information management solutions to automate the creation of a token that holds product-level sustainability information. The API allows brands to customise the media used in the token – including images and video – and supports both production and test blockchain networks.
Token Transfer API
The Token Transfer API is useful for automating Web3 loyalty programmes that give special offers, perks, and benefits to customers holding a brand’s specific token.
When a customer engages in a specific behaviour (like checking into a hotel, purchasing a retail product from an e-commerce system like Shopify, or attending a brand activation) the Token Transfer API can automatically grant them the token and send it to their digital wallet. In doing so, the API streamlines manual workflows to transfer tokens to customers, freeing up employee time and reducing errors.
Token Events API
The Token Event API helps brands attach sustainability and transparency information to their Digital Product Passports, helping end-customers understand the sourcing, production, and maintenance of their goods and services. Using the API, companies can automatically send data to a Digital Product Passport from an external system, helping to keep end-users up-to-date with product sustainability information and comply with new regulations.
For example, a clothing manufacturer can have an external audit certification automatically sent to its Digital Product Passport, helping to inform users of its compliance and certification. Alternatively, carbon capture vendors can update a public ledger automatically with order IDs, confirmation numbers, and certification links when carbon is removed from the atmosphere – helping end users track their positive impact on the environment.
Removing complexity for transaction costs
The PicoNext APIs include key simplifications to help brands more easily interact with blockchains. Executing a transaction on a public ledger – like the token creation, transfer, or event operations described above – requires the originator to spend a small amount of digital currency called a “gas fee” using a digital wallet.
Because external business tools like e-commerce software, supply chain systems, or product information management solutions can’t provide this digital currency, the PicoNext APIs allow these gas fees to be debited from a digital wallet provided by the brand. This external billing enables customers to use public ledgers in their Digital Product Passport and Web3 loyalty programmes easily, and streamlines how external programmes interact with blockchains.
Learn more
These APIs are now available for PicoNext customers. To learn more about how the APIs can streamline and automate your company’s interactions with public ledgers, see a demo of PicoNext. Read more about the requirements for Digital Product Passports in our guide to Digital Product Passports.
