Counterfeit is a serious issue for brands for many reasons; however, ‘bad reputation’ ranks at the top of the list. Why? A consumer places trust in the brand to receive products described and shown in the ecommerce stores. However, when the customer receives a duplicate or counterfeit product, the brand ‘trust’ is lost forever.
Also, fraudulent product sellers target brands that have built their market reputation over time, and such consumer grievances create long-lasting bad publicity. Brands would try to recover their trust and the lost consumer base due to this issue; however, the customer would remain unsure of the brand/product and may not even engage even after rigorous marketing and advertising efforts.
In 2020, counterfeit goods caused a loss of 26.3, 10.3, and 4.7 billion euros for the clothing, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics & personal care industries. Besides the loss of sales, counterfeit product sellers could engage in MAP violations, further damaging the brand’s reputation, creating legal issues, and hampering price perception.
Knock-offs could also cause health issues, and customers often complain, blame, or sue the brand for their problems, which could further escalate legal problems. Given these facts, brands need a solution to detect counterfeit or fake product sellers across e-commerce platforms like Amazon, Big Basket, BlinkIt, Snapdeal, etc., in real time. eCom Competitive Analytics offers data supported with snapshots of counterfeit products for countering and diminishing consumer problems. Let’s find out how.
How Does mScanIt Resolve the Counterfeit Product Distress of the Brands?
Tracing Online Seller Activities in Real-Time
Reputable brands often enlist the approved sellers on their websites, make mentions on e-commerce platforms, take measures to avoid fakes in their packages, etc. For example, MuscleBlaze Whey Protein comes with authorized seller mentions on their product pages across Amazon, Healthkart, Healthgenie, and other supplement e-commerce stores. Their genuine products also consist of packaging with QR scans through their app, ensuring trust in the brand.
However, many reputable e-commerce platforms don’t have a real-time monitoring system for detecting approved third and first-party sellers. mScanIt offers the capability of sighting all types of sellers across e-commerce platforms and gives a chance to brands to revoke unapproved or counterfeit sellers through deep-diving results.
Tracking Reviews and Ratings
The biggest solutions for detecting counterfeit or fake product sellers on e-commerce platforms are reviews and ratings. Monitoring mScanIt’s word clouds of your brand, which includes the commonly used words/phrases such as fake, duplicate, copy, etc., by users, can help to sight counterfeit or unauthorized sellers. A sudden upsurge in the negative sentiment intensity also becomes a reason to check out the reviews and ratings and the associated negative or neutral word clouds.
mScanIt deciphers all forms of sentiment intensity and helps brands set alerts in case of sudden spikes so that the brand can take action in real time. Moreover, the solution detects all types of listings across e-commerce platforms for the said products so that brands can easily see the products sold by authorized and unauthorized e-commerce sellers.
Reviewing MAP Violations
Counterfeit product sellers often don’t worry about the lowest price of their product on e-commerce platforms, as they might not even deliver it. Also, if they deliver the product, it would be fake, likely costing less than the original manufacturer’s cost. As a result, they often engage in MAP violations.
mScanIt offers relief to brands for tracking their MAP violations across e-commerce platforms. Upon deep-diving, brands can review screenshots of the products, e-commerce marketplaces, and types of products sold at an undervalued price.
Keeping an Eye on Discounting Analysis
As stated earlier, counterfeit product sellers often tend to sell products at lower than the market value. Their offers, discounts, cashback, and other promotions can cause MAP violations and require continuous monitoring. mScanIt’s discounting analysis tracks seller-wise discounts across e-commerce platforms and enables brands to review the highest discounting percentages.
Discounting analysis through mScanIt is another solution for finding sellers exceeding the maximum promotional percentages and taking action against them. Simultaneously, the solutions help brands to know the maximum discount competitors are offering for similar product listings com platform-wise and get a summary of the average discount.
Bottom Line
Not resolving counterfeit product problems on e-commerce platforms is no longer an option for brands, as it has long-lasting and damaging repercussions. Brands need eCom Competitive Analytics, a.k.a. mScanIt, to fight the war against fake or duplicate products every day.
Today, mScanIt has become a necessity for brands that want to keep their market reputation intact, enhance their sales/revenue, and track the online activity of sellers/re-sellers while managing their marketing efforts.
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