3 of the Top 5 Hong Kong Traditional Mooncake Brands Fend off Fraud with REAL QR Anti-Counterfeit Solution
Background
Taking advantage of festive seasons, dishonest merchants would scam unsuspecting consumers with pirated festive treats, threatening not only food safety and public health but also wrecking consumers’ confidence. Besides, with increased customers’ concern on food quality and safety, it is paramount for brand owners to minimize risk and offer trust in order to differentiate in the market.
Famous for their festive delicacies, the 3 established traditional mooncake brands which always take up the top 5 traditional mooncake production volume, often sparked off major shopping frenzy when their products are launched. To fight against fakes, they tried using registered trademark, hologram label and changing packaging or stickers every year, but the counterfeits always manage to replicate their products, confusing and swindling the consumers. It had been a major headache for the brands as customers repeatedly got tricked every year.
The Solution
The traditional mooncake brands (the brands) adopted GS1 HK’s REAL QR authentication solution to protect customers from counterfeits, bust the pirated activities, safeguard reputation and profits, and ultimately secure food safety(one of which even started deployment since 2018). The solution uses patented micro-printing technology, where each code is composed of numerous shapes and nano-sized dots that makes it unique & inimitable in the market. With this, consumers can easily use mobile app or web browser to scan the QR code and distinguish genuine products from the fakes.
Unrivalled in market, the one-of-a-kind solution can be used around the world, protecting global consumers from fraud. In the meantime, it helps brand owners to capture scan activities and data like the time of scan, scan location, scan device / system, etc., and be alerted of the counterfeit goods.
Learning the suspected mooncakes syndicate sales channels based on the scan activities, 2 of the traditional mooncake brands reported to Hong Kong Customs and successfully combated the online sale of counterfeit mooncakes and its infringing activities. The scan data can also support users’ consumption pattern analysis: for example, one of them have identified new market opportunities in the foreign country from the scan activities by the overseas Chinese and strived to expand business there.
The widespread reputation of the companies has drawn some imposters’ efforts to build phishing website or unauthorised e-store, for personal data or identity theft and money fraud. As such, 2 of the traditional mooncake brands employed GS1 HK’s anti-phishing service and detected many unathourised channels on e-marketplaces like Tmall and Taobao, as well as phishing sites, defending consumers from scam.
The 3 traditional mooncake brands are planning to enhance channel management with the solution: If the goods from certain distributor are sold in unintended markets, the manufacturers will be alarmed to investigate whether parallel imports or other misconducts take place.
Applicable to various packaging materials inclduing cards, fabrics, aluminum cans etc., the solution has been adopted by a few million items, covering consumer electronics, food, health & personal care, luxury, FMCG products, and more.
Benefits
- Successfully combated the sale of counterfeit mooncakes to protect brand image and build consumer trust
- Obtained scan data to develop future market strategy and expand business to new market
- Detected many unauthourised channels on e-marketplaces like Tmall and Taobao, as well as phishing sites with the anti-phishing service, defending consumers from scam
About the companies
The 3 HK traditional mooncake brands are known for their appetizing pastries and bakeries, locally-made heritage and top-notch quality. Their award-winning mooncakes not only charm the local market claiming the top 5 traditional mooncake production volume, but also draw many food enthusiasts around the world.
GS1 standards used or solution (s) / service (s) applied
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