Amazon News: Brand Control Is Here

If you’ve shopped for big name brands in fashion or electronics on Amazon you might have run into it.

If you’ve looked at the reviews for those products, you’ve probably seen the concerned posts and negative feedback.

If you’re a brand with products on Amazon, you know the concern.

Counterfeit products are a big problem for Amazon.

Historically, there has been little actual action on Amazon's part to support brands and protecting the customer experience on their marketplace. However, in the last few years, the e-commerce giant has shifted it's focus from being the low cost leader, to being the trusted, go-to marketplace. This shift has led to more support and control for brands who sell and are sold on Amazon. Gone are the days of needing large teams of third-party retailers and service providers to act on behalf of your brand.

A new era of brand control is being ushered in by the leader in e-commerce innovation. With Brand Gating, Brand Registry, and Vendor Central support, Amazon's latest brand support program is using AI, machine learning, and algorithms to better defend your brand and your customers.

Amazon Project Zero

The Wall Street Journal writes that Amazon is "starting to let brand owners delete listings on its site for products they deem fake, marking a sharp shift in its struggle to fight counterfeiters that cedes some of its responsibility to other companies."

Amazon says in a blog post that it wants to tap the "sophisticated knowledge that brands have of their own intellectual property and how best to detect counterfeits of their products."

Here is how Amazon Project Zero will help protect your brand.

Automated protections

Powered by Amazon’s machine learning expertise, automated protections continuously scan Amazon "stores" and proactively remove suspected counterfeits. Brands provide their logos, trademarks, and other key data about their brand, and Amazon will scan over 5 billion product listing updates every day, looking for suspected counterfeits. They say they've been testing these automated protections with a number of brands, and on average, the automated protections proactively stop 100 times more suspected counterfeit products as compared to reactively removing based on reports from brands.

Self-service counterfeit removal tool

This tool provides brands with the ability to remove counterfeit listings themselves. Previously, brands would need to report a counterfeit to Amazon, and they would then investigate these reports and take action. With Project Zero, brands no longer need to contact support to remove a counterfeit listing. Instead, they can do so, quickly and easily, using the new self-service tool. This provides brands with an unprecedented ability to directly control and remove listings from the store. This information also feeds into automated protections so Amazon can better catch potential counterfeit listings proactively in the future. 

Product serialization

Product serialization is a service that allows Amazon to individually scan and confirm the authenticity of every one of a brand’s products that are purchased in Amazon’s stores. The product serialization service provides a unique code for every unit that is manufactured, and the brand puts these codes on its products as part of its manufacturing process. Every time a product using the serialization service is ordered in Amazon’s stores, they scan and verify the authenticity of the purchase. With this product serialization service, Amazon can now detect and stop counterfeiting for every product unit before it reaches a customer.

About 15 brands have been testing the program already, for everyone else, there's a waitlist.

Takeaways

Even being the leading e-commerce giant, Amazon has recognized the importance of brand authority and control of your brand experience. There are an infinite amount of brands and service providers in the marketplace, all contending for the same marketshare of customers and clients. To stand out, you have to take control of the thing that you've already poured so much of your heart and soul into. You have to be proactive about every aspect of how your brand is represented. Whether it's ensuring your branding and website are dialed in, your content and customer facing collateral are up-to-date and optimized, or that your customer journey is seamless and streamlined, your brand cannot afford to be reactive.

Be proactive in owning your brand.

Look, feel, and message.

Every aspect of your experience pushes it out of the noise and towards being revered.