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Business organisations are constantly developing new strategies to bolster their sales and growth. As per the ever-changing dynamics of the market, they are working to find ways through which they can expand their consumer base and retain the current one. Among the many new marketing concepts, loyalty management has shown astounding results across different industries. According to Frederick Reichheld, “The greater the loyalty a company engenders among its customers, employees, suppliers, and shareholders, the greater the profits it reaps.”

What is loyalty management?

Loyalty management involves a set of activities for properly serving its customers. It helps organizations to acquire, engage and retain their customers. Loyalty management also helps in better understanding of the relationship between customers and the company’s business. The management system also helps to fairly reward people by developing and implementing strategies and policies which act rightfully and consistently in accordance with their value to the company. An efficient loyalty management system should clearly define the loyalties and the customers should be well acquainted with them.

Loyalty management system from Holostik

Holostik is not just one of the leaders in anti-counterfeiting technologies but also provides a range of IT-enabled solutions. Holostik provides a unique QR code printed with a smart holographic label or a smart hologram to its clients. The digital solution helps in keeping a track of all the loyal customers and rewards to be given but will lead to increased customer satisfaction and fair distribution of rewards.

The simple loyalty management process

• The products are secured with a smart holographic label/smart hologram printed with a unique QR code.
• On purchasing the product, the consumer authenticates the product by scanning the QR code.
• On authentication, the user gets alerts for various rewards and other important notifications.
• The database is updated regularly, and the customer gets regular updates pertaining to rewards.

The global market for all counterfeit items is booming. According to the Global Brand and Counterfeiting Report, “The worldwide value of counterfeiting stood at a massive 1.2 Trillion dollars.” It is not just the consumer who faces the brunt of counterfeiting, but manufacturers also have to face the negative impact of counterfeiting.

There are many reasons which are responsible for the growth of counterfeiting in the manufacturing sector. According to a market, expert counterfeiting is becoming a bigger issue in the manufacturing sector for two reasons: The global marketplace is bringing in more players every day, and purchasing departments are pressured to continually lower the cost for what they pay for goods and services.

Another growing threat of counterfeiting in the manufacturing sector is the rise of counterfeit aftermarket parts and spare parts. Of late, particularly, in the auto industry there has been a rise of fake auto components.

According to the magazine Business World, “The fake auto parts such as a clutch, lamps, steering arm, bearings, filters, and brake linings for two-wheelers, cars, and buses labelled under the name of genuine auto component manufacturers are supplied to the dealers and marketers all over the country.” The article also mentions that fake parts are available at 30-40% lower costs.

Industry experts also warn that it is not just the product which is being mimicked but counterfeiters try their level best to copy the packaging and branding of the product. Many times, they also have nice websites with photos of warehouses and workshops to make them look trustworthy.

In these testing times when counterfeiters have access to advance technology, it has become important to check the growth and sale of counterfeits in different industries. Moreover, there should be constant monitoring of the supply chains and the regular use of cutting-edge anti-counterfeiting technologies. A proper combination of physical and digital anti-counterfeiting technologies can check and monitor the growth of counterfeiting. The use of anti-tampering and scratch solutions will further add up to the anti-duplication game.

At the start of this year, two ill-fated hooch tragedies in the states of Uttarakhand, UP and Assam took more than 200 lives and shocked the entire nation. A big question was raised on the regulatory framework of the states’ excise departments and the government machinery. However, hooch tragedies have been happening in India for the past so many years.

Here are the number of people who died due to counterfeit and adulterated liquor in the last 10 years.

The disturbing figures

According to Illicit Markets- A threat to our National Interests published by FICCI and Thought Arbitrage Research Institute in 2015, the grey market loss to the alcoholic beverage industry stood at INR 14,140 crore in 2014 which had increased from INR 5,626 crore in 2012.  This resulted in a huge tax loss to the government with an estimated revenue of INR 6,309 crore.

The figures are quite disturbing and have a direct impact on the alcohol and beverages industry in many ways. Let’s discuss them one by one.

Effects of counterfeiting on the alcohol and beverage industry

1. Loss of tax revenue: Counterfeiters or forgers use different channels or means to sell illicit liquor which leads to evasion of taxes meant to collected by state and central governments.
2. Promotes criminal activities: No wonder, the sale of counterfeit alcohol directly or indirectly benefits criminals and crime syndicates who use the profits incurred from it on other crimes.
3. Loss of brand image: The sale of counterfeit or spurious alcohol tarnishes the image of the company and its products.
4. Loss of consumers: One of the biggest threats of counterfeit alcohol is its effect on the health of the consumers. Besides serious conditions like liver or kidney failure, counterfeit alcohol can also take away their precious life.

The solution

One of the best solutions against illicit liquor is the use of tax stamps which include both physical and digital security features. For example, tax stamps must include bar codes or QR codes along with a hologram for enhanced two-step security. This helps in checking the counterfeiting of liquor to a large extent as fraudulent are not able to copy the holographic features with ease. Moreover, the digital security feature also helps in tracking the product in the supply chain along with a host of other IT-enabled supply chain management features.

Counterfeiters have found new ways to make duplicate products. The easy availability of advanced manufacturing technologies has made it possible for forgers to create visually identical copies of different products. Many times, these copies are so exact that it becomes difficult to differentiate them from original products.

The widespread sale of fake goods across the world is not just due to the easy availability of manufacturing technologies but also due to weak regulations and the involvement of organized crime networks which further push the counterfeiting business manifolds.

However, it’s not just the counterfeiters who are at an advantage due to new technologies, but anti-counterfeiting experts have also made new innovations to counter the threat of duplicate products. Among the many anti-counterfeiting companies Holostik is one of the pioneers in the field of anti-duplication technologies in India. Since 1991, the company has been providing a range of anti-duplication and packaging solutions. It also provides a range of IT-enabled solutions which not just secure your product but also manage the entire supply chain.

Holostik is also one of the largest manufacturers of security holograms in the world. Its 3D security holograms provide an easy and affordable solution for product authentication. The light diffraction property of the holograms and the potential to incorporate different overt, covert and forensic features makes security holograms one of the most popular choices of companies to secure their products and brands.

Riding high on the wave of a digital revolution, Holostik has combined the power of security holograms and QR code in a single security instrument. In this anti-counterfeiting solution, the hologram serves the purpose of physical authentication and a QR code is meant for digital authentication along with a host of other IT-enabled supply chain management services. The combination provides double layered protection against any kind of possible counterfeiting, tampering and adulteration.

Holostik believes that in today’s market different anti-counterfeiting technologies are not competing but are complementary to each other. Taking a cue from this the company offers a combination of holographic security and digital security which together serves as the best anti-counterfeiting solution against the menace of duplication.

Robust packaging plays an important role in making the product visible and securing them against counterfeiting. The packaging industry keeps on innovating and introducing new packaging products in the market. These films not just highlight the brand’s looks but also secure them from counterfeiting.

Holographic wide web films are basically designed and manufactured using the best quality raw materials and are extensively used for flexible packaging. Holographic wide web films helps in preventing tampering and adulteration. The films are basically designed using best quality raw materials and widely used for packaging.

Besides providing brand protection, holographic wide web films leverage the brand value by making the end product completely holographic. The films are available in PET and BOPP forms. Besides providing brand protection these films leverage the brand value.

Some features of Holostik’s holographic wide web films:

• Shiny and glossy with high brightness & high gloss holographic effects.
• Superior bonding strength heat resistant and waterproof.
• Available in different colours and patterns, plain, light beam and patterns. Many designs available for selection and customer’s designs.
• Used for toiletries, tobacco, flexible packaging, printing, wine boxes, gift boxes, books, magazines, boxes, printed products and other paper products laminating.
• Suitable for high-grade imitation and pseudo carton laminating.

Without packaging, the product and the brand cannot sustain in the market. A robust packaging not only protects the product from any kind of physical damage but also add a visual appeal which makes it saleable.

Today, almost all the products in the market come in packaged form, leaving aside the ones which are usually sold loose. Different kinds of packaging solutions are required for different kinds of products. Among the many packaging products and solutions shrink sleeves have become an ideal choice for packaging products in industries like beverages, food, dairy, paint, cosmetics, detergents etc. Holostik is a pioneer in providing state-of-the-art customised holographic shrink sleeves to different industries.

As their name suggests, shrink sleeve shrink down or conform tightly according to the shape of the container or the bottle thus serving the purpose of a sleeve label and packaging product. Holographic shrink sleeves have holographic properties which make them highly secure against any kind of counterfeiting, adulteration and tampering.

One of the biggest advantages of shrink sleeves is that they offer 360-degree branding and offer comprehensive visibility to the product. This kind of exposure is not possible in other forms of packaging products like labels. The most difficult tasks for product packagers is to apply labelling on bottles with odd shapes. This is where shrink sleeves conform tightly to the shape of the container and adhere according to any kind of shapes. If the design is planned well, the shrink sleeves can add life to the product making it stand out from the rest.

Inventory management is the management of stock and inventory. It is an important part of supply chain management and includes different aspects such as controlling and supervising inventory, storage of inventory and controlling the amount of product for sale.

Inventory management is important for the success of a company. It helps the organization to effectively manage its cash flows, monitor its production, manage its raw materials and assess the quantity of the end product to be supplied for the end-consumer.

Today, Holostik is not just known as a leader in providing cutting-edge anti-counterfeiting solutions but is also known for providing IT-enabled supply chain management solutions. Among a long list of IT-enabled solutions, Holostik caters customised and robust inventory management solutions. Before providing the inventory management solution to its client Holostik deeply researches and studies different aspects of the client’s supply chain. Only after many rounds of brainstorming sessions, Holostik provides an exclusive customised inventory management solution to the client.

Now let’s understand the process of inventory management system through the following steps:

• The inventory management system starts right from the raw material stage to the final finished product stage. With the help of an inventory management system, a manufacturer in real time can easily know the quantity of raw material converted into the product on the production floor.
• The manufacturer is also aware of the quantity of product which goes from the production floor to the warehouse and in the distribution channel.
• The span of this system goes up to the retailer. The system helps the manufacturer in ascertaining the inventory of the system at each stage of the supply chain.
• The inventory management system provides better decision-making power to the company owner. He or she can effectively strategize and manage the entire production and distribution process with much ease.

Whether it’s a medicine, food item or a makeup kit, consumers always want to be sure about the genuineness of the product. Any kind of adulteration and tampering not just dupes the consumer but also raises a question on the credibility of the brand and its products.

Just imagine a scenario where you find that your anti-cough syrup bottle has a tampered or a broken seal, but the contents seem intact. Will you take the risk of consuming the syrup? We bet you won’t give it a second thought and you might throw it in the trash or return it to the store.

In order to avoid such kind of situations which jeopardizes the health of the consumers and rips apart the image of the brand, many pharmaceutical companies are using different kinds of anti-tampering solutions for securing their products.

Of late, there has been widespread use of anti-tampering labels in different industries which provide robust security to the products. As their name suggests these security labels display any kind of tampering attempt made with the product. There are different kinds of anti-tampering labels with different functionalities which are as follows:

• Paper labels: These labels indicate tampering by tearing or delaminating.
• Void labels: When an attempt is made to remove these labels, the adhesive layer is destroyed, and a warning message appears on the substrate.
• Self-destructive labels: When these labels are removed, they leave behind visible fragments which are very difficult to remove from the packaging.
• Perforated labels: When the package is opened the label is destroyed at the perforation line.

Holostik is one of the leaders in manufacturing wide variety of anti-tampering labels. These labels can also encompass security printing and cutting-edge holographic features which enhances its security manifolds. Holostik has a legacy of securing different types of products and brands with the help of anti-tampering labels.

A recent report by OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) and EU’s (European Union’s) Intellectual Property Office states that the footwear industry is one of the worst hit by counterfeiting. Some of the popular footwear brands affected by counterfeiting are Nike, Adidas, Sketchers, Reebok, Asics etc. Surprisingly, fake footwear represented 22% of the overall share of counterfeited and pirated goods seized in the year 2016.

Consumers these days have become highly fashion conscious however not everyone can afford costly branded items. In order to satisfy their hunger for brands without spending enough money, consumers knowingly buy counterfeit products. Purchasing counterfeit items is illegal and buyers of counterfeit products violate the intellectual property rights of the brands.

Counterfeiting becomes totally unacceptable when the consumers are unknowingly duped into buying fakes. It is quite tough to differentiate between genuine and fake products. With the growth of online portals, it has become easier to sell counterfeit products. This is because a consumer cannot examine the product physically to assess the genuineness of the product. Counterfeiters also utilise renowned sites to sell fake products.

According to a report, global footwear market was valued at approximately USD 246.07 billion in 2017 and is expected to generate revenue of around USD 320.44 billion by the end of 2023, growing at a CAGR of around 4.5% between 2017 and 2023.

With an enormous market for the footwear industry in the coming years, it is quite likely that counterfeiters will try their best to eat the profits of genuine companies. Counterfeit footwear may satiate your urge for branded goods, but they wear out, may cause injury or accident and many times lead to high monetary loss. Besides this, counterfeit footwear leads to loss of profits, drop down in the reputation of a brand and most importantly leads to unemployment.

Counterfeit footwear can be curbed with the help of effective regulatory measures, use of anti-counterfeiting technologies and most importantly by spreading awareness among consumers related to fake footwear products.