Counterfeiting or duplication is not only harmful to the consumers but is equally detrimental for the companies. Moreover, counterfeiting not just affects big brands- assumed by many but, also decimates the business growth of small companies.
According to a report by Research and Markets, “The total amount of counterfeiting has reached to 1.2 Trillion USD in 2017 globally and is bound to reach 1.82 Trillion USD by the year 2020.”
This monstrous growth of counterfeiting is a testimony to the fact that it is badly affecting the business growth and market image of companies. Counterfeiting leads to serious problems which may even in some situations lead to a complete shutdown of businesses. Let’s discuss the major impacts of counterfeiting on businesses.
1.Drop down in sales
Counterfeiting brings down sales of genuine goods. Consider a scenario in which the counterfeit of your genuine product is sold in the market at half of its price. This will attract many consumers who are willing to buy fakes and will negatively affect the sale of your genuine products.
New research from Mark Monitor, the world leader in enterprise brand protection, has revealed that almost half (47%) of brands lose sales revenue to counterfeit or pirated goods, with one in three reporting a loss of more than 10%.
With the growth of online shopping, it has become difficult to recognize fake products. Forgers usually copy the branding and packaging of genuine products making it difficult for one to recognize fake products. The infestation of e-commerce space with counterfeits has brought down sales of legitimate companies.
2.Loss of brand reputation
Brand reputation is critical for companies across the world. A piece of negative news involving the companies name can hit its reputation badly. Similarly, a counterfeit purchased by a consumer in place of the genuine product may fail to work or worn out in a few days. This will create a wrong impression in the minds of consumers about the poor quality of the brand’s products.
It takes years of hard work and consistent consumer satisfaction to create an iconic brand image for companies.
Since word of mouth publicity plays an important role in the brand image the consumers affected by fakes will provide negative feedback on the brand. Customers may also leave negative reviews on forums and websites which further ruins the brand’s image.
3.Loss of time and money in fighting fakes
When a company finds out that they are being impacted by counterfeiting they take certain measures to fight back. However, this can be time-consuming and involves a lot of money and resources. This leads to diversion of company’s money for fighting fakes instead of investing it in other developments.
Companies suffering from counterfeiting invest a good amount of money in hiring costly legal experts and fighting legal cases for securing their products and brand from IP infringements.
