Advancing technologies have made us both the benefitors and victims of innovation. The statement fits perfectly with the rising counterfeit problem in the e-commerce sector.

Though counterfeiting has been going on since the 1980s, in recent years it has broken all records. The counterfeit goods trade has gone from $30 billion in 1980 to $1.7 trillion in 2022.

One of the factors fuelling the growth of counterfeit is the rise of online marketplaces during COVID. 40% of the customers have come across counterfeit products online since COVID.

From luxury bags to electronics, skincare products, medicines and apparel counterfeit affects every industry.

For the brands counterfeit ruins their image, breaks customer’s trust and hampers their sales. While the customers face the dire consequences of low-quality products that could lead to serious injuries and other health risks.

Counterfeiting takes advantage of the inefficient supply chain in e-commerce. Therefore, for counterfeit prevention, we need to address the core problem – real time tracking.

While the conventional supply chain lacks technology to facilitate real time tracking of products. The supply chain solutions powered by blockchain and NFTs offer high-tech ways for product traceability and authentication.

NFTtrace is one such ground breaking supply chain solution. It leverages the power of tokenisation to enable real time tracking and verify product authenticity. Therefore, helping businesses decentralize their supply chain for more transparency and efficiency.

The rising threat of counterfeit products in the e-commerce industry

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) states that counterfeit products account for 3.3% of global trade.

Another report indicates that 60%-80% of products in medicine, skincare, makeup, bags and sneakers are counterfeit.

Counterfeit goods have been omnipresent since the emergence of global trade. However, in the recent years after the COVID, counterfeiting got a major boost.
During COVID, the explosion of online marketplaces gave counterfeiting a perfect spot to flourish.

In offline retail stores, customers can identify fake products to some extent. However, it is very difficult to verify the product’s authenticity online.
This is because the current supply chain system lacks the tools for product traceability. Retailers and customers have no medium for product verification. This is true in the case of both online and offline sales.

For retailers, they might be unintentionally selling counterfeit products. In the case of customers, they do not have a system in place to verify the products they are buying.

While physically, you can identify a knock off product by analysing its quality, packaging and unique brand identifiers. In online websites, customers lose that scope as well.

Customers cannot:
● Verify retailers or stores selling the product
● Accurately track the product origin or manufacturer
● Get correct product details

Most importantly, whatever information the retailer provides online is not trustworthy. It is because of the lack of evidence to support that data.
The explosion of social media and digital channels has blurred the lines between real and fake. It has put the brand’s reputation at risk by concentrating the market with low quality fake products.

IncoPro, an IP and brand protection company found that 52% of consumers lost their trust in the brand after purchasing a fake product.

It is the main reason why some brands are pulling their products from popular online marketplaces. For example, Nike decided not to put its products for sale on Amazon. It was purely to safeguard its reputation and ensure that customers are not cheated with fake products.

For companies, counterfeit products may lead to:
● Loss of reputation
● Sales loss
● Degraded product experience
● Broken customer trust
● Expensive lawsuits
● Non-adherence to regulatory compliance

For Customers buying counterfeit products can lead to:
● Severe health crisis
● Bad product experience

Counterfeit products pose a risk to business success, consumer safety and the global economy. We need a concrete solution to combat this threat.

Why there is a need for effective real-time tracking solutions in supply chains?

An advanced real time tracking supply chain solution ensures product authenticity. It does so by:
● Facilitating product verification
● Enhancing product traceability
● Enabling provenance tracking
● Establishes trust and transparency
● Ensuring product quality throughout manufacturing and transit
● Preventing counterfeit products
With NFTs integrated supply chain solutions like NFTtrace, businesses can build reliable systems for product verification and provenance tracking.

The Challenges in Real-time Tracking in E-commerce Supply Chains

Implementing real-time tracking solutions within supply chains presents substantial challenges, yet the advantages are noteworthy. Several hurdles associated with deploying real-time tracking solutions in supply chains include:

Integration: The integration of disparate systems within the supply chain can prove to be formidable, particularly when dealing with legacy systems that may not be compatible with newer technologies.

Data Sharing: The sharing of data with suppliers and other stakeholders can be arduous, necessitating trust and collaboration among diverse parties.

Cost: The implementation of real-time tracking solutions can be financially burdensome, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises lacking the resources to invest in cutting-edge technologies.

Complexity: Modern-day supply chains are intricate and extensive, encompassing diverse supplier networks and customers scattered across the globe. This complexity makes it challenging to implement real-time tracking solutions that offer comprehensive visibility throughout the supply chain.

Silos: Various stakeholders in the supply chain, including shippers, receivers, carriers, and logistics service providers, often operate within isolated silos, impeding efforts to connect them through collaborative systems and software.

Introducing NFTtrace: How It Works

Blockchain supply chain solutions resolves the above issues by decentralizing the entire system. It does so by creating a single shared immutable ledger that acts as a point of truth for all the supply chain parties. This tamper-proof ledger records all the product data and transactions throughout its supply chain cycle. Most importantly its secured with restricted access that gives permission to authorized parties to view only data that’s relevant to them.
Therefore blockchain supply chain solutions enables transparency, increases efficiency and boosts data security. Further with immutable data record, blockchain also enables product authentication and traceability.
One such Hyperledger Fabric blockchain powered solution is NFTtrace.
NFTtrace is a cost-effective solution that simplifies produ ct traceability and verification with immutable data ledger, authorized access and unique identifiers.
It is an innovative supply chain solution that leverages the power of tokenization to facilitate product authentication and real time traceability.

Here is how NFTtrace works.

NFTtrace harnesses state-of-the-art blockchain technology to establish a transparent, unchangeable system for tracing, validating, and securely accessing information related to assets, thereby enhancing trust and integrity within supply chains.

Asset Initialization:

NFTtrace initiates the traceability process by assigning unique identifiers, such as serial numbers or QR codes, to physical assets such as commodities, luxury goods, artwork, or pharmaceuticals. These identifiers act as digital fingerprints throughout the asset’s lifecycle.

Blockchain Integration:

NFTtrace adopts a framework rooted in transparency, immutability, and decentralized record-keeping. This is achieved by integrating appropriate blockchain technology, such as Hyperledger, and implementing smart contracts to govern the traceability process, defining rules and logic for asset tracking.

Traceability and Verification:

NFTtrace harnesses the power of blockchain technology to streamline asset traceability and verification. It meticulously records significant events and milestones, creating an unalterable trail that empowers stakeholders to track and authenticate the asset’s origins and authenticity throughout its journey within the supply chain.

Secure Access and Verification:

NFTtrace places a high premium on ensuring secure access to and verification of asset information stored on the blockchain. This is achieved through robust access control, user authentication, and encryption measures, guaranteeing the integrity and confidentiality of data while validating its authenticity.

Benefits of implementing NFTtrace in your business

NFTtrace’s cutting-edge technology is reshaping industries, ushering in a new era of trust, security, and various other advantages in the digital realm.
Some of these benefits include:

Enhanced Security:
NFTtrace employs advanced security measures to safeguard sensitive data, avoid unauthorized access, and uphold the confidentiality and integrity of information.

Increased Efficiency:
NFTtrace optimizes processes and eradicates manual tasks, resulting in heightened operational efficiency and reduced time and effort required for data management.

Immutable Traceability:
NFTtrace establishes an immutable ledger of events and transactions, delivering comprehensive traceability and accountability across the entire lifecycle of data and processes.

Simplified Verification:
NFTtrace simplifies the verification process by furnishing transparent and auditable records, making it easier to validate the authenticity and accuracy of data and transactions.

Privacy and Data Protection:
NFTtrace integrates privacy and data protection mechanisms, ensuring compliance with regulations and fortifying sensitive information against unauthorized access.

Conclusion

Counterfeiting is a threat to businesses, luxury brands and the overall global economy. Nowadays counterfeit goods are getting hard to identify and this is the main reason for the rising need for real time tracking solutions in the supply chain.

With NFTtrace, you have a cost-effective high-end technology solution at hand to transform your supply chain. It not only enhances transparency and efficiency through decentralization but also re-establishes customers’ trust in the brand. Most importantly, the platform enables product traceability and authentication through an immutable data ledger, restricted data access & sharing, easy verification process and premium privacy protocols.

Get your hands on the most phenomenal supply chain solution of the era powered by NFT and Hyperledger Fabric blockchain network.