The retail industry is more dynamic than ever. Malaysia retailers must evolve to succeed in the next decade.
The retail landscape looks quite different today than it did even ten years ago. The way that consumers make purchasing decisions has dramatically changed, they stand in stores, comparing prices and product reviews on the phone while family and friends instantly weigh in on shopping decisions via social media. These shifts are slowly ending the retail as we know it. And in fact, some researchers predict that retail will change more in the next five years than it has over the past century and that the extinction of brick-and-mortar stores isn’t far off. Consumers today are shifting their shopping experience online instead.
Our view is less dramatic, but we do believe that big changes are inevitable and that retailers must act now to win in the long term. With the booming of e-commerce , nearly anything can be counterfeited. Counterfeit goods can include fake designer clothes, bags, watches, accessories and perfumes as well as pirate DVDs, CDs, smartphones and computer games. They can also include medicines and components of automobiles and aircraft.
For instance, Pinduoduo, one of China’s third-largest ecommerce platforms, on its blacklist of notorious marketplaces that fail to curb the sale of counterfeit products. Alibaba Group’s Taobao platform, which dominates China’s online retail market, has also been on the list for years, having been found to sell counterfeit products such as watches, handbags, and other goods.
Apart from damaging businesses’ sales volumes and revenue, the counterfeiting life-cycle can also wreakhavoc on other aspects of business. Luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton know this all too well. Despitebeing the world’s most valuable luxury brand , Louis Vuitton’s products are also some of the most faked. The brand’s parent company has a team of 60 legal pros and spends US$17 million annually to fight the counterfeit market.
Even though requirements for sellers have become stricter, it is difficult to monitor all of them due to their sheer number. There are millions of merchants on each platform, each selling goods from all kinds of different distributors, wholesalers, and other channels.
The modernization of supply chains has provided counterfeiters ample opportunities to acquire designs of authentic goods, sell imperfect goods as originals, or outright steal original products and replace them with knockoffs. A common counterfeiting tactic is to copy the packaging of original products, right down to the holographic sticker used to verify their authenticity.
The future of anti-counterfeiting innovations in packaging.
In response to these problems, brands and manufacturers have turned to product authentication solutions to protect authentic products. For instance, UNICUBE, a leading global developer of label design software and label management systems in Malaysia that help companies of all sizes improve the quality, speed and efficiency of their labelling while reducing cost. Also one of the first security label manufacturers in Malaysia that provide customised solutions catered to best meet the needs of our customers.
The advantages of barcoding to business operators in the retail sector are well known, but their utility as an anti-counterfeiting measure in the war against fake pharmaceuticals is becoming more established. The protection offered by UNICUBE such as customized holographic labels. Using a laser rainbow hologram plate, the security measure is highly efficient and safe from duplication by unauthorized parties and against counterfeits. The use of holographic labels are the ideal solution for security seals for your products, packaging or documents. Use anywhere where you want to make it impossible for a counterfeit of your product to be made.
However, it is important to not rely purely on holographic labels. Tamper proof seal tape is an active approach to combating the availability of counterfeit consumables. For example, when removing the security seal tape, it will show tamper evidence by self-destructing that leaving words or symbols on the package and on the security seal tape itself. With tamper-proof sale tape, it helps to protect brand with security tapes that immediately indicate opening or manipulation attempts for securing individual packages, bundles or entire transport units without any efforts.
Furthermore, UNICUBE also created UNITAG to assist brands and products to identify the authenticity of their labels and to prevent counterfeits. Relying on authentication to provide control over counterfeits, parallel importing and illegal activities, we help the brand to enhance loyalty through our system such as collecting reward points, sales tracking and other functionality. UNITAG is a system that is efficient and easy in driving customer retention and also to enhance customer relations.
