Authenticating Luxury Products in the Age of Web3
The landscape of brands and retail is undergoing a seismic shift, propelled by a whirlwind of disruptive forces. From the transformative impact of COVID-19 to the dazzling array of cutting-edge technologies emerging on the horizon, businesses must navigate a dynamic environment that demands constant innovation and adaptation.
As the era of Web3, blockchain, and the metaverse dawns, a new frontier of possibilities is opening up for forward-thinking luxury brands. These visionary companies recognize that these emerging technologies offer unprecedented opportunities to forge deeper connections with their customers, cultivate exclusivity, and drive brand growth.
The luxury industry is constantly battling to maintain its integrity and reputation.
Yet old challenges remain. From the pervasive issue of counterfeiting and supply chain fraud, the luxury industry is constantly battling to maintain its integrity and reputation. The complexity is further heightened by the difficulty in verifying the authenticity of used or resold items, which is particularly critical for the most high-end and exclusive luxury brands as well as rare art or priceless antiques.
Determining the scale of counterfeit luxury goods is incredibly difficult due to its sheer size and scope. Some estimates suggest it could be worth nearly $600 billion annually, making it considerably larger than the legitimate luxury goods industry. There are no indications that its growth will slow down in the foreseeable future. To make matters worse, the threat of gray markets looms large over the luxury goods industry, siphoning off up to 8% of the $257 billion market value in 2021 alone.
Fortunately, the emergence of Web3 promises to revolutionize the fight against counterfeit products, ushering in an era of innovative solutions to detect and prevent their circulation. The key advantage of Web3 technology is its decentralized platform for data storage and transactions, creating secure and tamper-proof supply chains for luxury goods.
Web3 platforms can create an immutable record of a product’s history, from its manufacture to its sale, ensuring transparency and verification of authenticity.
By harnessing the power of blockchain technology, Web3 platforms can create an immutable record of a product’s history, from its manufacture to its sale, ensuring transparency and verification of authenticity. But, this will eliminate the possibility of counterfeiters passing off fake products as genuine only if an immutable link between the physical object and its digital record/passport can be made. This is the only way to safeguard the reputation of luxury brands and provide a trusted solution to consumers around the world.
Innovative Solutions for Ensuring Authenticity in the Luxury Goods Industry
Veracity Protocol is an innovative solution that can transform how luxury brands address this issue, providing an unbreakable link between physical assets and the digital world through tokenization.
By utilizing advanced computer vision and machine learning technologies, Veracity Protocol creates a unique “fingerprint” for each physical item based on the product’s unique microstructure. This fingerprint is recorded on a tamper-proof blockchain, eliminating any possibility of counterfeiting or fraud. Each object is assigned a Physical Code™, representing its distinct material structure, ensuring the highest possible level of authenticity.
Traditional tagging and barcoding methods can be tampered with, and NFC or RFID tags can be removed or hacked, but Veracity Protocol’s solution is impervious to alteration or manipulation, making it superior to other blockchain provenance methods. The solution provides a unique identifier or “fingerprint” for each luxury product during the manufacturing process, which enables easy identification throughout the distribution channel, and enables trusted transactions throughout the product’s lifetime.
This is why Fobe selected Veracity Protocol
Fobe’s mission is to change the way fashion is consumed. Through its rental platform for luxury items, Fobe makes consumption sustainable without limiting consumers with choices and variety. A monthly subscription allows Fobe’s members to rent for a few weeks the latest luxury bags or simply the one they need for a special occasion and swap bags as much as they want.
In November 2021, Fobe contacted Veracity Protocol to help them protect their luxury bags against return fraud risk and reassure their credit providers and insurance partners. They were exploring various technology options, such as RFID & NFC chips. Beyond the supply chain shortage and costs associated with such options, they realized that chips could be cloned or removed, and their deployment would have to “implant” them onto luxury bags, e.g., altering the original design and integrity of the product itself. They naturally selected Veracity Protocol’s non-invasive authentication service just before Christmas and were up and running with the service in production just after New Year’s Day.
Today, Veracity Protocol’s solution is deployed at Fobe across more than 70 different luxury bags models from various well-known brands such as YSL, Celine, Dior, Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Valentino, Prada or Balenciaga, to name a few.
As Dominique El Bez, VP’s Chief Commercial Officer, said: “Fobe’s use case illustrates how Veracity Protocol can act as a Web3 DeFi / InsurTech enabler, prevent return fraud, and the crucial role it can play in growing the circular and sustainable economy.”
With Veracity Protocol, consumers can confidently invest in luxury goods, knowing they are purchasing legitimate items.
Veracity Protocol provides an added layer of assurance for consumers who are increasingly savvy and cautious when making high-end luxury product purchases online. With Veracity Protocol, consumers can confidently invest in luxury goods, knowing they are purchasing legitimate items. Veracity Protocol’s solution represents a significant step forward in protecting the reputation of luxury brands and offering consumers the assurance they need to invest in high-end products.
For example, Veracity Protocol’s optical standard is an integral component of The Ordre Group’s new Web3 authentication and verification product. Known as ‘Authentique,’ this new service was developed by The Ordre Group in cooperation with Veracity Protocol and is now being applied to the fashion industry.
“Simply by scanning a product with your phone, consumers can not only establish authenticity but can also receive digital ownership in the form of value add NFT. The app represents the best use of Web3 applications, and Veracity Protocol’s technology has been an integral component of this. It made sense for us to secure a long-term partnership with them through this strategic investment.” (Source: The Fashion Network).
Veracity Protocol’s innovative technology enables a new level of transparency and traceability, creating opportunities for value creation while ensuring peace of mind for consumers. The solution is at the forefront of technological innovation, and the company is confident that it represents the future of physical object verification and authentication.
The Future of Luxury Goods Verification and Authentication
The emergence of Web3 marks a new era for the luxury goods industry, providing cutting-edge solutions that can prevent the circulation of counterfeit products and protect the integrity of luxury brands. The impact of Web3 technology will undoubtedly transform the industry, making it more secure, transparent, and trustworthy.
Veracity Protocol offers a trustworthy intermediary for luxury goods in both primary and secondary markets.
As the boundaries of the Web3 universe continue to expand, Veracity Protocol offers a trustworthy intermediary for luxury goods in both primary and secondary markets.
To learn more about Veracity Protocol, connect with us on LinkedIn or visit our website. If you have any questions or inquiries, please do not hesitate to contact us. Our dedicated team, led by Dominique, is always happy to assist you. You can reach us at hello@veracityprotocol.org or contact Dominique directly at Dominique@veracityprotocol.org. We look forward to hearing from you!
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Veracity Protocol is an award-winning startup that builds a Vision AI Standard to protect people and products in the digital world. The standard guarantees the highest level of trust and security for verifying the identity, authenticity, and integrity of physical objects using a smartphone.
