Do you know that counterfeit goods cost the wines and spirits industry over $2 billion in revenue annually? And that’s not all. FCMG, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and even oil and gas companies suffer heavy revenue losses due to competition from counterfeit products.

One factor contributing strongly to these losses is that customers do not always have clear markers to differentiate top-line fakes from authentic products. Hence, they are left to play guessing games, leading them to purchase counterfeit versions unknowingly.

Typically customers try to look out for clear markers that a product is genuine, such as flimsy packaging, grammatical and spelling mistakes, omissions and mismatches, missing accessories, or flawed fonts and logos. While these may have helped a couple of years ago, the growth of technology has made it possible for counterfeiters to almost completely replicate genuine products without any of the slip-ups listed above, placing them in direct competition with genuine products. 

However, technology has also contributed to the fight against counterfeiting with the introduction of mobile authentication solutions (MAS). 

MAS providers such as Sproxil help brands deploy a point-of-sale product verification solution that protects consumers from counterfeit goods and pinpoints the location of fakes. This technology relies heavily on consumers as they are the ones who authenticate these products in-store before buying.

Importance of involving consumers in stopping counterfeiting

While government action and private-sector intelligence are integral to the fight against counterfeit goods, the consumers are also an important final piece of the puzzle.

Counterfeiting is a criminal act because of the harm that it causes to the public. Counterfeits include many goods, from foods that can make people sick, electronics that can malfunction, and drugs that directly endanger lives. 

However, many consumers are uninformed of these dangers, and demand for counterfeits is surging as shoppers look for the best deals without understanding how to differentiate when the deal is only good because the product is substandard, from when the manufacturer is offering a price slash.

How difficult is it for the everyday consumer to differentiate counterfeit products from genuine ones? We created this short quiz to simulate the buyer’s experience, so you can answer the question for yourself.

Click here to take the quiz now and find out.