Gucci is the latest premium brand to accept cryptocurrency payments. Gucci, the iconic fashion company, will begin taking cryptocurrencies in some of its U.S. outlets later this month, with plans to expand the service to other North American locations this summer.
According to Vogue Business, in-store payments will be performed using a QR code that customers will get through email and scan with their crypto wallet. The stores will accept Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin, and Shiba Inu, among other digital currencies.
Wooster Street in New York, Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles, Miami Design District, Phipps Plaza in Atlanta, and The Shops at Crystals in Las Vegas were the first to take cryptocurrency.
Other high-end labels, most recently Off-White, have already begun to accept cryptocurrency. Gucci’s latest step into Web3 is accepting bitcoin payments in-store. Gucci entered the metaverse earlier this year by paying an undisclosed sum for virtual land in the decentralized blockchain game The Sandbox; it’s building a virtual “Gucci Vault” for Gucci-themed NFTs.
Gucci is just one of the many high-profile fashion and apparel brands that have entered Web3 in order to stake a place in the digital realm. Dolce & Gabbana, Adidas, Nike, Vans, and Balenciaga are among the brands that have joined Gucci in this new reality. These firms will also face competition from crypto-native fashion houses such as Digitalax, Blanksoles, DRESSX, and Red DAO, which have already begun to establish online communities around their brands.
Gucci states that in order to prepare for this new initiative, it will provide bitcoin and NFT education and training to its employees prior to the program’s start.
“Gucci is always looking to embrace new technologies when they can provide an enhanced experience for our customers,” Gucci president and CEO Marco Bizzarri told Vogue Business. “Now that we are able to integrate cryptocurrencies within our payment system, it is a natural evolution for those customers who would like to have this option available to them..”
