There is no doubt the e-commerce has changed the way people shop, and in fact, changed the way some of the biggest companies in the world conduct their business. In this regard, it needs to be remembered that one company which is responsible for this revolution is Amazon. However, once an industry grows at such a pace, there are certain problems that creep into the whole thing, and one of the biggest problems for Amazon is the sale of counterfeit products on its platform. Since, at end of the day, Amazon earns from the sale of those products as well, it is their responsibility to help stop such malpractices.
In a new development, it has now emerged that the company’s anti-counterfeit tool known as Transparency, which was only ever used in some markets, is not going to be expanded substantially and will be made available in Europe, Indi, and Canada. Those are some of the biggest markets for the company, and it is not a surprise that Amazon is ready to take steps to tackle the problem head-on. The tool in question helps in serializing all products on the Amazon platform and then a QR- code type scanning needs to be performed in order to figure out whether the product is genuine or not. It is a sound step, considering the fact that there are plenty of third-party sellers who ply their trade on the platform and over the years, many of them have been caught selling counterfeit items at the price of the genuine ones.
The VP of Customer Trust and Partner Support at Amazon, Dharmesh Shah, spoke about the ways in which the availability of Transparency might help everyone. He said,
“We created Transparency to provide brands with a simple, scalable solution that empowers brands and Amazon to authenticate products within the supply chain, stopping counterfeit before it reaches a customer.”
Although the tool has not yet grown at the pace at which Amazon may have desired, the expansion into the new markets might help it a lot.
