The problem of counterfeit products in the supply chain is an ever-growing threat. Logistics Management reported that counterfeiting is a trillion dollar issue and it is becoming increasingly harder to differentiate the fakes from the real thing.
“Counterfeiting is a year-round occurrence and a growing problem,” says Roei Ganzarski, CEO at Alitheon. “The holidays magnify this issue as there is more shopping activity that happens in a short period of time. On top of that, many shoppers are now shopping online only, making it much easier for fake items to infiltrate the supply chain and put consumers at risk.”
Ganzarski also mentions that even right after the holidays are over, returns become a huge activity — and return fraud is another growing problem.
Using Technology to Fight the Fakes
To combat the issue of counterfeits in the supply chain, Alitheon created FeaturePrint. This machine vision technology provides for items what fingerprints are to people — a unique and persistent identifier for the one in millions, according to Ganzarski.
“FeaturePrint serializes items. As such, it enables track and trace, eliminates counterfeits and gray markets and reduces human error all with just a photo using a standard camera. FeaturePrint provides brands and marketplaces with the ability to identify the individual item out of millions without having to use any tags, markers, stickers or engravings,” Ganzarski explains.
If a brand FeaturePrints its products and can then identify a specific individual item as one of their originals, then Ganzarski says those items are therefore not fake.
Covering All the Gray Areas
But FeaturePrint doesn’t just help with identifying counterfeit goods. Gray market goods are on the rise as well. These could be diverted illegally from one country to another, they could be faulty products that were supposed to be destroyed or even stolen products being resold, according to Ganzarski.
“When a brand can identify each item, they can immediately know if a product has been stolen or moved to another place. By eliminating gray market activities, brands are removing activities that can hurt consumers as well. And all of this is done without any stickers, tags, markers or codes, all of which can be damaged, removed, moved or even faked themselves.”
The good news is that FeaturePrint is affordable for smaller retailers who may not have a large budget to invest in technology. At any rate, investing in technologies like this that combat counterfeit products helps to protect your reputation as a brand and ensures that customers are getting the real deal.
FeaturePrint was also just included in TIME’s 2023 Best Inventions list, proving just how helpful it can be.
