Counterfeiting is a big albatross around the necks of ecommerce platforms. And in this case, imitation is not the best form of flattery.
As intermediaries in online shopping, companies like Amazon, Flipkart and Meesho are liable for any counterfeiting that occurs on their platforms. Considering that each of these entities has stock-keeping units (SKUs) that run into millions, identifying counterfeiters is often akin to searching for a needle in a haystack.
At the same time, these intermediaries can’t discount their fiduciary liabilities, especially with the growing focus on intellectual property rights.
In 2015, the owners of fashion brands Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent filed a lawsuit against Chinese ecommerce major Alibaba Group, alleging that it had profited from sales of counterfeit goods. The fashion brands claimed that a Chinese merchant sold an alleged fake Gucci bag for $2 to $5, while the product cost thousands of dollars.
Mindful of the enormity of the challenge posed by counterfeiting, Amazon launched its Anti-Counterfeiting Exchange (ACX) in April 2023. The company claimed that this initiative was part of its efforts to crack down on organised counterfeiting by helping retail stores label and track marketplace fakes.
Closer to home, Meesho is proactively tackling this issue by leveraging advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and data science models. This has helped it detect and flag suspicious listings and bad actor seller accounts promptly.
Meesho introduced 'Project Suraksha' in 2019, four months after formally establishing a compliance function. This umbrella initiative encompasses multiple strategies to combat counterfeit and restricted products. Under this project, the ecommerce company has implemented stringent verification processes, engaged in brand partnerships, and leveraged analytical models for fraud detection.
Sanjeev Barnwal, founder and CTO at Meesho, says, “We leverage advanced computer vision and natural language understanding techniques to continuously fortify our quality checks and effectively identify counterfeit products and bad actor sellers. We also have a dedicated quality and compliance team that proactively cross-verifies automated signals and in turn, enables us to combat fraudulent practices, which builds trust with our users."
Taking Safety Seriously
As part of Project Suraksha, Meesho rolled out a ‘Takedown Policy’ in March 2021, wherein intellectual property owners could report infringement of their rights, allowing the platform to act briskly and take down the offending products.
Utkrishta Kumar, CXO-Business at Meesho, states that this step was a logical extension of the brand’s ethos, putting customer safety and satisfaction at the heart of all its actions. “By continuously investing in technology, enhancing quality checks, and forming strategic brand partnerships, we have significantly improved our ability to detect counterfeit products and protect our users from potential harm,” he adds.
Last year, Meesho implemented the ‘Nearest Neighbour Search’ function to help improve fraud detection capabilities and followed this up with the ‘Logo Detection’ tool to detect the legitimacy of brand logos. Currently trained for leading brands on the platform, product developers are continually trained to expand the list of brands that the tool can identify and flag.
Meesho’s compliance pod is made up of three data scientists, one product designer, two lawyers, eight developers, four business managers and three product managers. The company also works with an external agency comprising around 70 agents who work across several processes.
Project Suraksha Yields Results
The initiatives under ‘Project Suraksha’ have seen more than 2X improvement in recalls for flagging of counterfeit products. The number has increased to over 45,000 in 2023 from around 20,000 in 2021. Currently, three lakh product listings are scanned daily.
Deep Bajaj, co-founder at Sirona Hygiene, notes that Meesho has come a long way to safeguard customers and sellers from counterfeit products. “In today's competitive market, preserving the sanctity of our brand is paramount. The team has been extremely proactive in addressing this challenge and we are confident that with the new technological features and designated compliance team, Meesho will soon become the preferred marketplace for all brands,” he opines.
In 2023, Meesho’s systems detected and blocked over 12,000 bad actor accounts from accessing the platform. The company stated that since February, there has been an 80 per cent reduction in platform views for non-compliant listings. They now represent a mere 0.1 per cent of platform views. The platform’s verification processes also ensure that only legitimate sellers are selling on Meesho.
Its ‘Suraksha List’ comprises around 1,800 brands that have been identified as high-risk for infringement and counterfeiting. The company claimed that this initiative has yielded impressive results, with nearly 42 lakh counterfeit and infringing product listings and 10 lakh restricted products deactivated in the past six months.
Additionally, the ecommerce start-up has forged strong partnerships with brands, ensuring the protection of intellectual property rights and providing customers with a trustworthy shopping experience they can rely on.
To ensure that its sellers are on the same page when it comes to blocking counterfeiting, Meesho provides seller education programmes, ensuring that they understand regulatory frameworks governing online product sales. Simultaneously, it educates consumers about fraudulent activities and provides a simple reporting mechanism to address any issues swiftly.
In the realm of modern e-commerce, trust reigns supreme. Combating counterfeit products and bad actors by embracing a collaborative approach helps establish a transparent and trustworthy connection with consumers.
