The luxury industry fights against counterfeiting with blockchain
The luxury goods market can benefit from blockchain technology because it offers end-to-end transparency, traceability, and authenticity certification. Customers' trust and confidence are boosted by using blockchain to create an irreversible digital record of all of a product's transactional history, enabling them to buy expensive things with more assurance.
Counterfeiting has always been the number one enemy of luxury goods and is now spreading to new markets such as second hand, which is why the major luxury houses are choosing blockchain to protect their products as well as their customers. The blockchain is a decentralized technology based on several independent entities, whose data stored inside are unforgettable, unchangeable and non-erasable. Blockchain thus provides enhanced security for the storage of information and allows the creation of digital certificates of authenticity for luxury goods, for example. These certificates of authenticity are transmissible (if there is a resale, donation, gift, etc.) allowing to keep a link with the new owner and consequently, guarantee the value of the product.
Benefits of Blockchain for Luxury Goods:
A product's route from manufacture to sale may be tracked using blockchain, increasing transparency and guaranteeing the legitimacy of the product.
Increased Supply Chain Efficiency: The use of blockchain allows for the recording of all phases of the supply chain, from production to the point of sale, allowing for more accurate tracking of items and shipment updates while minimizing waste and inefficiencies.
Improved Security: Blockchain makes sure that product information and transaction records are saved as an irrefutable record, protecting against tampering and counterfeits as well as offering enhanced security measures for premium items.
Building relationships with customers: As customers expect greater transparency and insight into products, blockchain technology may foster trust between customers and brands by providing an unchangeable record of the product's lifecycle.
Blockchain, the new ally of luxury
Our society is moving more towards change: carrying different bags from various luxury brands, opting for rare products, buying and reselling as the seasons change. This is why the second hand market has been growing rapidly for several years. It is the perfect place for counterfeit specialists, many individuals buy counterfeit without knowing it, this is the case of 37% of French people in 2018 according to IFOP.
All luxury sectors are starting to have an interest in blockchain, such as watchmaking, jewelry, automotive, fashion, etc. The storage of product information on the blockchain can contain information that will enhance the trust between the customer and the brand.
Uses of blockchain for luxury goods:
Product Authentication & Traceability: By storing data about a product's image, description, barcode, provenance, and other pertinent information, blockchain enables products to be authenticated and tracked from production to sale. This generates an immutable and certified record of the product's origin and offers a clear and standardised means to confirm the authenticity of products.
Smart Contracts for Royalty Payments: The implementation of smart contracts is made possible by blockchain technology, giving high-end luxury businesses a way to automate the payment of royalties to approved resellers while preventing fraud and upholding intellectual property (IP) rights.
Chain-based loyalty point and reward systems let users accumulate and spend blockchain-based tokens that may be used to buy discounted goods and services, encouraging customer loyalty and repeat business.
Use cases of blockchain for luxury goods:
In 2019, the French fashion label Louis Vuitton teamed up with ConsenSys to create AURA, an Ethereum-based blockchain system that improves supply chain traceability and makes it possible to confirm the authenticity of products.
De Beers: De Beers teamed with blockchain service provider Everledger to trace the authenticity of diamond jewellery. They integrated blockchain into their technological solutions to authenticate and track each diamond from its discovery to its sale using a special digital dossier.
The luxury goods company Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH) has created and released the AURA system, a blockchain-based product tracking and tracking system designed to track luxury items throughout their lifecycle and thwart counterfeiting.
Kalima's Blockchain solution for Luxury Goods/ Brands
Kalima Blockchain enable developers and makers to develop Distributed applications (Dapps) in many areas. With Kalima Blockchain they are safer, provides more innovative business models than applications developed with traditional tools, and have lower development costs and delay.
By registering a product unique marking in blockchain, a luxury brand can track and permanently record every step in a product lifecycle. This includes location origin, repairs and characteristics.
Brands that implement such a process can increase the value of the product and make customers more willing to buy online.
Blockchain used to track goods in the supply chain, will show in a transparent way the ownership and the transfer of ownership of goods among peers in the same network.
Many advantages of blockchain technology for the luxury goods sector include higher efficiency, improved security, and transparency. Among its use cases are smart contracts, loyalty/rewards programmes, and product tracking. Brands will increase customer trust, improve security, and decrease luxury goods fraud as they prioritize and invest in blockchain technology's capabilities.
In order to provide more secure and transparent methods of validating the authenticity of their products and retaining brand value, more luxury businesses are anticipated to adopt blockchain technology solutions in the upcoming years.