The popularity of crowdfunding platforms like Indiego and Kickstarter is an indication of how crowdfunding has taken root in the world of startups. While crowdfunding is a great idea to bring a great business idea to life, it is not without risks.
Threat of Counterfeiting in Crowdfunded Products
Crowdfunding sites are not just a great help to startups, but to counterfeiters and copycats as well (unfortunately). Copycats identify trending and wildly successful products and simply go ahead and make cheap imitations and sell them on the market.
Copycats and counterfeiters are able to steal a fledgling startup’s idea before their products ship out and sometimes even before they complete their crowdfunding campaign.
For example, a product-based concept like Mandy Haberman’s Anyway Cup had to face this problem which only got resolved via multiple court cases. She had patented the cup before hitting the market but that did not stop the attempt of would-be counterfeiters to profit from her idea.
Start up businesses looking to raise funds via crowdfunding don’t often realize that there are copycats and counterfeiters with deep pockets safely ensconced thousands of miles away who can sabotage their best laid business plans. The importance of safeguarding one’s ideas against this grave menace cannot be understated.
Secure Packaging to Protect Your Brand and Products
One of the most effective ways to fight against copycats is to use secure packaging on your product and to leverage technology to protect your brand and products throughout the supply chain.
It is possible these days to deploy brand security solutions that incorporate smart tracking and consumer engagement thereby protecting your brand integrity and protecting your customers against counterfeits.
With secure packaging, you will be sure your consumers would know how to differentiate your original product from cheap counterfeits. It will also thwart copycats as security features in packaging are difficult to replicate.
How TrackMatriX® Can Help
TrackMatriX® has an enviable record of providing foolproof product security across the supply chains of various industries.
Here’s how it can empower innovative entrepreneurs seeking to use crowdfunding to materialize their dreams while keeping counterfeiters at bay:
Secure Packaging with Product Authentication
The TrackMatriX® platform comes with a secure packaging builder enabling startups to customize their product packaging according to their brand image.
TrackMatriX® Secure Packaging is a smart packaging system that utilizes patented and unreplicable QR codes or NFC tags providing product authentication and consumer engagement. Consumers simply scan or tap a label on the product packaging to verify authenticity of a product and to access custom-branded engagement pages.
It also incorporates smart labels with advanced security features from holograms to invisible security inks and taggants. These solutions provide the next level of protection against supply chain pilferage and counterfeiting.
This patented QR code technology contains both overt and covert security features that makes it impossible for counterfeiters to copy and also authenticate the security seals.
Track and Trace
Nothing worries a startup more than the prospect of counterfeiters eating away a chunk of their market and sabotaging their brand image with their cheap and often unsafe knockoffs.
TrackMatriX® helps startups ship their products to the market faster with secure packaging complete with anti-counterfeiting and traceability features.
TrackMatriX® provides your brand with better supply chain visibility as you monitor the movement and distribution of your products with its Track and Trace technology.
Each of your products would be distinguished by a unique ID (UID) incorporated into the QR code/NFC tag enabling item-wise authentication of products across the supply chain as consumers scan or tap using their smartphones.
The dashboard is also full of insights from inventory, marketing campaigns, and consumer insights. These solutions can help startups not only effectively fight counterfeits and frauds, but also help manage inventory, get real time alerts, as well as insights on exactly where their products are sold, purchased, or delivered.
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