Will Amazon’s Project Zero Decrease Online Counterfeit Sales?

04/03/19

28th March 2019 – Amazon’s Project Zero is its second attempt to remove counterfeit listings from the Amazon marketplace and comes shortly after the company warned about counterfeits in its earning report in February. But what does Project Zero really means for brands affected by the growing issue of online counterfeits?

Global sales of counterfeit and pirated goods are reported to have soared to as much as $509 billion in 2016, representing up to 3.3 percent of world trade, compared to 2.5 percent of global trade in 2013. This poses a major threat to economic growth and innovation.

According to the latest assessment by the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the OECD [Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development], footwear, clothing and leather goods topped the list of industries affected the most by counterfeit products. In fact, Red Point’s latest report on footwear shows that 32 percent of consumers were not confident they could identify fake shoes online, with 35 percent of respondents saying they had purchased fake footwear by accident in the past.

Meanwhile, the countries reported to have been affected the most by counterfeiting in 2016 included the United States, whose brands or patents were involved in 24% of the fake products seized, followed by France at 17%, Italy (15%), Switzerland (11%) and Germany (9%).

With ecommerce goods virtually immune to government regulations and third-party sellers accounting for 52 percent of all products sold on Amazon, it’s becoming harder for shoppers to spot fake products online. As a matter of fact, following increased public scrutiny earlier this year Amazon issued its first-ever warning about counterfeit products in its earnings report, reflecting increased concern over the problem.

Read the full article in Internet Retailer.