As of December 2021, Croatia’s largest supermarket chain Konzum is now accepting crypto for groceries and other items sold. Many are seeing this as the way of the future with many other supermarkets and shops to follow suit.
Konzum and Cryptocurrency Payments
The biggest retail giant in the Western Balkan region – Konzum has recently become the first supermarket chain in Croatia to accept cryptocurrencies from customers to pay for their groceries and other items. The retail giant serves over 650,000 customers each day across its more than 700 stores. Currently, these crypto payments are only available via their online store, but there are plans to introduce the service to their physical stores in the near future which will no doubt attract more traction from both their existing shoppers and new shoppers along with support from crypto enthusiasts.
Uroš Kalinić a Member of the Management Board of Konzum for Finance and IT has come out and said, “As the largest retail chain in Croatia, which in its almost 65-year history is a continuous leader in the domestic market in terms of business results and technological achievements, we are proud to be leaders in another area that is rapidly developing and dictating the future.”
Crypto Payment Options at the Supermarket
Customers of Konzum are currently offered nine payment options when it comes to paying in crypto. These are: Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), EOS, DAI, XRP, Stellar Lumen (XLM), Tether (USDT), and USDC. Konzum wants to make these crypto payments as easy and seamless as your normal card payments. All shoppers have to do is simply select one of the various crypto payment options and scan the barcode to complete a transaction. Payment is built with user experience in mind.
How Crypto Payments will be Facilitated at the Supermarket
The crypto payments on Konzum’s online store will be facilitated in association with the fintech company Electrocoin also Croatia-based. Electrocoin has come up with a new crypto payment processor-PayCeck. The PayCeck system works also to prevent and remove any crypto volatility risks. It will offer fixed exchange rates to customers at the time of payment. They are in the process of further developing and refining their systems to offer the best possible experience for customers.
Other Retailers Accepting Crypto as Payment
Aside from Konzum, there are in fact many other retailers now starting to accept cryptocurrency as a valid form of payment and this will only increase. Crypto payments are the way of the future when it comes to shopping for many goods and services. It’s all part of the new digital economy. Two examples of other retailers accepting crypto as payment are Newegg and Nothing. Newegg is a leading tech-based American e-commerce who accepts Shiba Inu (SHIB) as payment on its platform during the Christmas holidays. Nothing is a London-based consumer tech company that is accepting various crypto payments for their black edition wireless earbuds.
Australian Retailers Accepting Crypto Payments
Aside from international retailers, it should also be mentioned that various Australian retailers have started to accept crypto payments from customers. One of these is IGA supermarkets who are now accepting Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC), and Binance Coin (BNB) across more than 1,400 of their stores access Australia. It will be interesting to see the impact this will have on the Australian supermarket sector. There are talks currently underway of the big supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths possibly following in IGA’s footsteps and allowing shoppers to pay for groceries in cryptocurrency.