In 2020, retail e-commerce sales worldwide topped $4.28 trillion, according to Statista, a 27.6% increase on the previous year. By 2022, e-retail revenue is projected to grow to an impressive $5.4 trillion as consumers move more of their shopping online. In addition, as of 2021, there are over 300 million crypto users worldwide and over 18,000 businesses that have already begun accepting cryptocurrencies as forms of payment. Though accepting crypto as a form of payment may still sound like an obscure concept to some, for almost two years Shopping.io has been doing just that. The platform, first launching in late 2020, was created with the goal of building a bridge between crypto and ecommerce. Users are able to use Shopping.io to add items for sale on Amazon, eBay, Walmart and Home Depot to their shopping cart, without the need to visit multiple websites, all while being able to check out with their favorite cryptocurrencies.  To date, Shopping.io has over 150 tokens to be used as forms of payment, by means of a variety of payment processors such as Binance Pay, Coinbase Commerce, Utrust and Crypto.com Pay. Shopping.io has also developed its own in-house payment processor called ShoppingPay, affording the company the flexibility to integrate new tokens on a whim. Merging Two Tokens into one - $SHOP and its utilities Can you even be considered a crypto company if you don't have your own token? Well, Shopping.io certainly does! But first a little background… Shopping.io has operated with the use of $SPI and $GSPI as its native tokens. $SPI, built on the Ethereum blockchain, functioned as an everyday use token for the average consumer, unlocking benefits for its use as a form of payment, and for its locking within Shopping.io’s membership platform. These benefits include free international shipping, discounts and more. $GSPI, sitting on the Binance Smart Chain, was introduced as a way for the Shopping.io community to vote on company proposals within a governance system. The token also catered towards businesses, unlocking the Shopping.io business membership plan as well as similar benefits to $SPI for its use as a form of payment. Towards late 2021, Shopping.io concluded that a token revamp was needed for the platform to be able to take its next developmental steps. The proposition was to merge the utilities of $SPI and $GSPI, into one token that later adopted the name, $SHOP. $SHOP was designed as a utility token for use within the Shopping.io ecosystem, offering not only the same benefits as its predecessors but the option for Shopping.io to develop its $SHOP Back system. This $SHOP Back system gives Shopping.io the ability to reward its customers with $SHOP tokens for every purchase made on the platform. Shopping.io also performed a full overhaul of its membership program, shifting to a five-tier system that allows both seasoned community members and newcomers to lock their $SHOP rewards in return for increased platform benefits. These benefits enhance the shopping experience by activating increased $SHOP Back rewards, airdrop rewards, and free shipping.  $SHOP Launch with a bang!  At the time of writing this article, the $SHOP token, its $SHOP Back system and Shopping.io’s membership program are on the verge of being publicly launched, with the official airdrop occuring on September 9th at 5PM CET. These product launches are also being paired with Shopping.io’s token launch events, the first of which, (lasting for 48 hours from September 10th 5PM CET) offers an additional 20% $SHOP back on purchases paid for with selected tokens. The Second of Shopping.io’s launch events is directed at the platform’s membership program, giving members the chance to win prizes in addition to their already present platform benefits. Prizes include gift cards, $SHOP credits, access to Shopping.io’s Galaxy membership tier, an iPhone 13 Pro, and the Golden Ape from the Villager of XOLO NFT set. Click here for more information about $SHOP’s launch The future of Shopping.io Shopping.io has expressed its desire to create a complete crypto e-commerce experience and has also detailed how it plans to do so. The company is currently developing a downloadable web extension that aims to adopt the website's current functionality as an ecommerce website. This shift will allow the company to not only expand its list of compatible retailers but to also transform its website into a central hub linking the rest of Shopping.io’s current and future products. Other network products and developments include a Metaverse shopping mall named ‘The Shopverse’, the creation of an internal exchange, and the growth of Shopping Pay from an in-house payment processor into a downloadable tool for use on any ecommerce store.  Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.