Amid reports of e-commerce shutdowns and slowing store sales, the global retail climate has been a chilling one. With the modern consumer no longer interested in transactional purchases at the checkout counter, retail in the 21st century is all about the experience. Accordingly, the onus falls on retailers to deliver a cohesive journey, one that unifies different channels and platforms.

A retail marketing solution with over 700,000 application downloads so far, HotNow empowers consumers to gain exclusive access to discounts, deals, and promotions via the HOT Token. HotNow has partnered with reputable merchants such as McDonald's, Baskin-Robbins, and Dunkin’ Donuts to further build out its ecosystem, which includes a marketplace and a game, Evergleam Hill.

Nithinan Boonyawattanapisut, CEO and Co-Founder of HotNow, joins me on my daily tech podcast. As one of the leading tech innovators and entrepreneurs within the blockchain, retail, and digital advertising space, Nithinan provides greater clarity on why the 21st-century consumer is outgrowing existing models of engagement.

We also discuss the role of disruptive technologies in delivering out-of-the-box solutions. Now that we can all agree that the curation of the customer experience is a matter of right product, right time, and right channel, I ask how companies can leverage on the token economy to reconcile the differences?

As the retail industry becomes captained by the customer, Nithinan explores how experience-based differentiation will aid businesses and companies in capturing their loyalty. From offline-to-online and virtual-to-value, I learn how the retail industry is adapting to swift changes across the landscape.