Enabling Product Authentication & Re-ordering by Consumers using Programmable QR Codes
Team o4s
on
August 31, 2022
The global perfume market opportunity is huge (USD 33.5 billion in 2021, expected to reach USD 47.6 billion by 2027) [1], and makes up about 10% of the overall cosmetics market (USD 380.2 billion). The traction owes itself to multiple factors: rising personal grooming trend “influenced” by social media; increasing demand for both youth-oriented, exotic perfumes, and product diversification by manufacturers trying to attract a larger consumer base. Aggressive advertising by brands adds fuel to the fire. The smoke from this fire attracts a lot of attention from counterfeiters, who want a piece of the pie for themselves.
In 2016, the cosmetics counterfeit market was valued at USD 5.4 billion which has since increased manifolds due to e-commerce trade exacerbated by the COVID-19 lockdown. According to L’Oréal, the consumption of beauty and personal care products, including fragrance and perfume, was strongly impacted by the closure of millions of points of sale (specialty stores, perfumeries, department stores, airport stores, etc.) [2]. This caused a supply shortage in the offline market, and “genuine” consumers turned to online marketplaces to fulfill their needs. These online marketplaces are full of fake cosmetics, and unsuspecting consumers fall prey in the absence of awareness and tools to authenticate products.
The problem becomes serious because the loss to consumers and businesses is not just monetary. Chemicals in fake perfumes have been proven to cause skin inflammation (best case) and liver cancer (worst case). These chemicals enter the body through the skin, where high levels of methanol (present in fake perfumes) convert to formalin which causes liver cancer, dizziness, headache, nausea, stomach pain, and vision problems. Direct contact with the eyes is even dangerous, causing blindness in a lot of cases. [3]
QR Codes To The Rescue
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Gaurav Bangar
Gaurav Bangar is a Director at O4S. He is passionate about customer experience & has been working with consumer brands for 10+ years advising them on issues at the intersection of business and technology (ERP, CRM, E-commerce, Analytics). Before O4S, Gaurav worked with Microsoft, SAP, and Deloitte.