The market for counterfeit goods is colossal and it's worldwide. Caroline Scheufele, Co-President and Creative Director of Swiss luxury Maison Chopard, was not surprised to learn that its estimated worth is around $4.5 trillion - the production and selling of fake goods is big business for many. Luxury merchandise accounts for approximately 70% of this total - significantly more than the counterfeit markets for entertainment and pharmaceutical products.
Being a luxury jewellery brand, the family-run business of Chopard has long since been aware of this battle. Fake products damage a company's reputation not to mention offering a below par experience for the customer.
The battle against counterfeit goods
The luxury goods industry has been proactively and aggressively fighting a battle against counterfeiters for many years.
Investing heavily in the latest tech solutions to stay one step ahead of the fakes, their fight against counterfeiters even extends to lobbying governments to increase law enforcement's powers to seize and destroy fake products and prosecute those responsible for producing and selling them.
The impact of the digital marketplace
The digital marketplace is a large component of this industry - according to research, up to 40% of sales of luxury goods are sold online. The internet provides a potentially untraceable source - manufacturers can easily and quickly sell their wares on third-party platforms and ship products directly to the consumer bypassing established sales channels.
Those fighting this battle are only too aware of the seemingly unstoppable trend towards purchasing online. The fashion industry invests significant resources in time and money enlisting enforcement bodies to block websites selling counterfeit products. However, as one website is shut down, another opens.
What are tech companies are doing to combat it?
We live in a time of digital advances experienced never before. As the ability to counterfeit goods and take them to market becomes quicker and more sophisticated, so are the technologies helping to combatting them.
On the frontline of this battle is the development of wavelength signatures and microscopic data. Researchers are developing and testing techniques of viewing materials at such short range that they can determine authenticity.
A product's microscopic features and wavelength signatures are totally unique which means they cannot be faked. By analysing the molecular essence of a fabric or raw material, more becomes known about its origins.
Diamonds, for example, have long since been carefully and meticulously tagged, tracked and traced. From the use of radio-frequency identification tag (RFID) to laser etchings, the precious gem industry has worked for many years to prevent fraud.
However, RFID tags can be removed and etchings re-lasered. What cannot be changed is the diamond's unique microscopic data which is what new technology advances are able to scan.
American-based company Entrupy have begun to offer manufacturers a finger-print style solution to fake goods. Using advanced computer vision and microscopy, Entrupy are able to detect and record undetectable variations in a product - information which is stored in the Cloud and which can be easily retrieved as that object's 'fingerprint' for future reference. This information gives investigators the ability to tell the difference between real or fake goods almost instantly.
Already working with a number of high-end fashion houses, this technique keeps counterfeit goods from entering the supply chain and it allows manufacturers, retailers, and other stakeholders the ability to guarantee the authenticity of a luxury product at any required point of its life cycle.
Caroline Scheufele, amongst others in the fine jewellery industry, consistently stays up to date with advances such as these and are keen to assist in any way they can.
Fakes in fragrance
It is not just jewellery, clothes, and accessories which are counterfeited. Make-up and fragrance consumers are also duped and these fake products pose a greater threat to the consumer as they come into direct contact with the skin giving rise to potential health issues.
The approach the beauty industry has taken to combat this is simple but effective. Developing anti-counterfeiting packaging technology is the step many luxury brands have taken. Visual authentication by means of overt and covert holograms, alongside specially designed inks and dyes, allow tests to be undertaken to check the certification of the product.
Dr Liz Wilks, director of Sustainability and Stakeholder Engagement Europe at Asia Pulp and Paper, states 'substandard packaging materials are where the cracks really show.'
For example, customers return time and time again to indulge in Chopard's range of fine fragrances.
Scheufele has attested that this is because of the quality of the company's products and because it is sustainably sourced. For all high-end brands, fake goods are no substitute for genuine goods and consumers' experiences of fake products can severely damage the reputation of a company, particularly those with strong ethical values.
For this reason, amongst many others, Chopard appreciates the importance of brands fighting back against counterfeit goods.
What else can luxury brands like Chopard do to minimize the fake trade?
Alongside technology fighting the war against the counterfeiters, Chopard continues to honour its longstanding philosophy of staying connected to their roots and celebrating their Swiss heritage.
They operate a closed loop manufacturing process. By operating a transparent and traceable production process, Chopard's team not only control the quality of output but they also build in anti-counterfeiting technology into their products.
The Scheufele family are firm believers in communicating their commitments to ethical and environmentally friendly goods alongside employing local workers in their factories and mines around the world. This approach not only ensures positive social development in the areas they operate but it also assists them in the war against counterfeits.
Luxury goods can be crudely impersonated but the work of experienced and passionate craftspeople can't. Chopard knows that their appeal lies in producing quality products which are impossible to duplicate. Handmade components, techniques developed over centuries, and a continuous drive towards originality through creativity stand Chopard in excellent stead for years to come.
