Creativity, exclusivity, branding, and consumer trust are the key factors in the global fashion business. Starting from high-end luxury handbags and clothes and ending up with fashion footwear, watches, accessories, and lifestyle products, fashion brands spend much effort on developing unique products. Yet, the development of global economy, marketplaces, and logistics chain brings in counterfeiters too.

Counterfeit products can hurt the brand image, revenues, consumer experience, and loyalty. Therefore, brands need technologies that will allow them to authenticate their products, control distribution channels, and ensure customers about the authenticity of their purchases. As noted by VCQRU, anti-counterfeit and product authentication solutions can provide such features as product identification, smart labels, track & trace, and consumer verification.

But the question arises, what are the top-rated anti-counterfeiting solutions for global fashion brands? In fact, there is no definite answer, since the most effective solution may lie in the integration of several technologies such as digital authentication, serialization, smart labels, track & trace, and tamper-proofing.

Why Counterfeiting Is a Major Challenge for Fashion Brands

Fashion products make attractive counterfeits as recognized brands have high recognition and consumers pay a premium price for their genuine products. Replication can be done using logos, packaging, labels, designs and other visual aspects in order to create a counterfeit that seems real.

The situation becomes more difficult to handle if the products pass through complex international supply chains where there are manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, marketplaces and end consumers.

Thus a contemporary approach to anti-counterfeiting must answer many questions including but not limited to:

• Is the product real?
• Where was it manufactured?
• Has the product entered a legitimate supply chain?
• Has the product been altered?
• Is the same product scanned multiple times?
• Is it easy for consumers to authenticate products?

Thus digital product authentication and traceability are especially beneficial for fashion brands.

Read Also: How Brands Can Prevent Counterfeiting and Protect Customers Online

1. QR Code-Based Product Authentication

QR code authentication is one of the most useful anti-counterfeiting technologies for fashion brands.

Each product, its packaging, label, or tag may be provided with a unique QR code which, when scanned, may be used by the platform for product authentication.

Fashion brand products may use QR authentication on:

• Labels on garments
• Hangtags
• Boxes of shoes
• Handbags
• Accessories
• Packaging
• Warranty cards

But merely printing an ordinary QR code is not sufficient since the QR code itself is susceptible to copying. That is why brands need solutions which will provide unique serialization, secure databases, fraud detection, as well as other security measures.

The track-and-trace ecosystem of VCQRU is a good example of how serialized QR/NFC/RFID identification and verification at each touchpoint of the supply chain can be implemented.

2. NFC and RFID-Based Authentication

NFC and RFID technologies could offer an additional level of security for fashion goods.

RFID will help the brand to track the product individually along all the stages of production, warehousing, distribution, and sales. NFC technology will allow for a close-range interaction between a product and the corresponding mobile device.

The following benefits could be provided by this technology:

• Product authentication
• Visibility of inventory
• Monitoring of the supply chain
• Identification of a product
• Protection from diversion
• Customer engagement

For instance, Avery Dennison apparel solutions integrate RFID, NFC, QR codes, and many others to link apparel products with digital data. For premium fashion brands, NFC and RFID technologies may be especially beneficial in case of product-level visibility.

3. Serialization and Unique Product IDs

Serialization is another critical element in modern brand protection.

Rather than considering thousands of products as one batch, serialization offers every single product a unique digital identity which may later be linked to manufacturing information, distribution, authentication, and customer interactions.

For instance, a fashion brand may give every handbag a unique identity. From the point of manufacture to distribution and finally to the retailer, various activities could be logged under the unique identity.

It becomes easier to discover:

• Duplicate product identities
• Unauthorized transportation
• Unusual scanning
• Distribution irregularities
• Fake products

VCQRU identifies unique serialization as an important aspect of its track-and-trace ecosystem.

4. Smart Labels and Tamper-Evident Packaging

However, physical security still plays its part when it comes to fashion connected through digitization.

Such means as smart labels, holograms, tamper-proofing, scratch codes, and security covert technology can complicate counterfeiting process and give a way for customers to check the product in a visual or digital form.

It is possible to implement such measures in a way that does not undermine the luxury look of the package for the high-end fashion industry.

A layered strategy will work well in this case. The product may contain:

Security label + unique QR code + database record + consumer verification

5. Track and Trace Technology

The authentication process resolves the issue "Is this a genuine product?"

The tracking and tracing process is one that takes it a step further to answer the question, "Where has this product come from?"

Supply chain visibility can be very critical for fashion brands that are global in nature because of the movement that the products might experience from several countries and partners during the distribution process.

A new generation of track and trace system could allow fashion brands to track their products all the way from manufacture to delivery to the customers. VCQRU’s track and solution supports the processes of product serialization, smart labels, scanning of the supply chain, current status reporting and analytics to identify any diversion."

Read Also: How Track & Trace Technology is Transforming Supply Chain Transparency in India

6. Digital Product Authentication for Consumers

For an anti-counterfeit system, making consumers part of the authentication process makes it much more efficient.

There should be no special equipment or complex processes required for checking the authenticity of the fashion product by the consumer.

A scan-based authentication process can enable consumers to verify the genuineness of the product via scanning a product identifier and getting a verification.

There are two important advantages to this approach:

• The consumer gets assured about the product before buying or using it.
• The brand gets useful insights regarding the authentication process.

7. AI and Data Analytics for Counterfeit Detection

AI and analytics could be used to provide another dimension to anti-counterfeiting initiatives.

Beyond logging the authentication event, the system could be designed to analyze patterns through thousands or millions of authentications, and anomalies could signal counterfeit, diversion, or illicit distribution activity.

Some scenarios a brand could explore might include:

• Repeated scanning of one product identity
• A sudden spike in authentication activity in an anomalous area
• Distribution of products outside approved geographic boundaries
• Several suspicious scans within close proximity to one another

Authentication data becomes brand protection intelligence.

How Should Global Fashion Brands Choose an Anti-Counterfeiting Solution?

Not all technologies can operate in exactly the same manner for all fashion brands. There could be a difference between a big luxury brand worldwide and a small clothing producer.

A brand should consider:

Scalability

The system must be capable of dealing with large volumes of products and international markets.

Security

Product identities, authentication histories, and customer data must be appropriately secured.

Verification Convenience

The consumer should easily verify the product using convenient methods.

Supply Chain Integration

The system should integrate into manufacturing, ERP, warehousing, and distribution systems when needed.

Analytics

Brands should be provided with relevant information about authentication transactions and suspicious actions.

Multi-technology Protection

Usually, a combination of both digital and physical protection measures gives better results than reliance on only one type of technology.

Why VCQRU Can Be Considered for Fashion Brand Protection

VCQRU offers anti-counterfeiting solution, authentication, smart label, and traceability solutions that enable brands to protect their products and earn the trust of consumers. Some of the technology-based solutions offered by VCQRU include secure QR code, hologram, serialization, NFC/RFID, and supply chain tracking technologies.

In the fashion industry, it is the tools of authentication and traceability that are particularly valuable for dealing with counterfeit apparel, accessories, footwear, and luxury goods.

Hence, a fashion brand can create its own protection strategy based on the characteristics of the offered products and customer journey.

Read Also: How Digital + Physical Security Layers Improve Product Authentication

Conclusion

Counterfeiting is no longer simply a packaging problem for global fashion brands. It is a brand protection, supply-chain, customer trust, and revenue challenge.

The best counterfeiting technologies employ multiple technologies in tandem such as QR authentication, NFC, RFID, serialization, smart labels, tampering security, track and trace, and analytics. RFID and digital identities are becoming more commonly used in fashion for increasing visibility and authentication of products, whereas serialized QR/NFC/RFID solutions can deliver traceability on the product level.

Fashion brands that want to enhance authenticity of their products should consider adopting multiple solutions rather than relying solely on one security feature.

VCQRU helps brands move toward a more connected approach to product protection - where every product can have a unique identity, every verification can provide useful data, and every customer can become part of the authentication journey.