Targeting the luxury market, GoodsID is in full development mode for its "digital passport"—a blockchain-based digital authentication solution. Loÿs de la Soudière, co-founder and CEO, says that 2021 will be the year that sales take off. He gives Luxe Packaging Insight a tour of this technology, described as an “ideal solution to battling counterfeiting throughout the product’s lifetime coupled with ultra-specialized marketing functions”.
GoodsID specifically targets luxury products. What does your offer entail?
We are a B2B2C provider of security and traceability solutions for high-value goods with a strong notion of property. To put it simply, GoodsID secures the product, is a proof of authenticity and can instantaneously prove ownership. Our solution, best described as a 'digital passport' allows these products to become truly durable through time as they are handed down, sold or traded thanks to an inviolable guarantee of authenticity.
Which luxury sectors are your priority?
Our focus is on high-value products, namely jewelry, watches and bags. The premium end of the wine and spirits market —collector’s items or ultra-premium bottles — is another target. However, fragrance, or other consumable goods with a relatively short life span aren’t a fit for our solution. The fine art sector has also been on our radar, but given the opacity of the market, it’s a bit more complicated.
From a regional perspective, we’re currently driving our business in France and in Switzerland.
Technically, how does your solution work?
GoodsID’s technology allows brands to produce a digital certificate registered in the blockchain for each product. All of the data linked to the product will feature in the certificate, making it the product’s ID card. Our solution is a way of dematerializing the certificate of authenticity, of moving from paper to digital and therefore making it impossible to copy.
What information does this 'digital passport' provide?
The certificate has two parts: the first includes the product’s characteristics, serial number, visual description and guarantee. More marketing-oriented information can also be registered in this space: the company’s history, or a video of how the product was made, for example.
The second part houses the product’s ‘history’: every single transaction throughout its lifetime, notably the transfer of goods from owner A to owner B. Not to mention the proof that the product actually originated from the luxury brand.
The certificate combines two forms of ID: the product’s, via a serial number, and the owner’s, which is his or her email address.
It can be enriched throughout the product’s lifespan; if the watch is repaired, if the guarantee is activated, if it’s been re-sold to a new owner, it’ll all be recorded.
Your offer goes beyond just security solutions, however.
Yes, we offer brands a way to boost the consumer experience. The luxury maison can track the product throughout its entire lifetime and send messages (via the blockchain certificate) to all clients who have purchased the same model, giving them specific knowledge on that item. As they are communicating solely on the product in question, it’s a form of ultra-specialized marketing.
In addition, as they have access to the product’s ownership, brands are able to have a close read on and better manage the second-hand market, which is poised to take on more and more importance in the years to come.
When the product changes hands, the company can send a message to the new owner, who may or may not already be a client, to welcome them to the brand universe. We mustn’t forget that 40% of purchases are gifts, meaning that the brand in many cases has no knowledge of its consumer.
I believe that in time, PRM — product relationship management — will replace CRM (customer relationship management). Product experience will prolong the consumer experience.
What is the added value of dematerializing the certificate via the blockchain?
Digitalizing would be simply copying the information to a digital format, such as a PDF. With GoodsID, the luxury brand emits the data and registers it in the blockchain. The idea is to give each product a set of data that is ultra-secure, unique, impossible to copy and stable through time. When a client purchases a luxury watch, for exemple, in one click they’ll accept the digital certificate and obtain access to a wealth of information, including the guarantee of authenticity.
The technology offer can also integrate other services.
Yes, namely geared to marketing and communications. By pressing the ‘activate my product guarantee’ button in the certificate, for example, the client is put in touch with the dedicated service in just one click. Another service is our recently launched product insurance.
What does this insurance offer entail?
We signed our first insurance contract with French jeweler Courbet earlier this month. With our solution, the ring is already insured at the moment of purchase, which ensures surefire fraud protection. If the jewel is reported stolen, the certificate turns red and the compensation process is accelerated.
How has GoodsID’s digital certificate been received by the luxury market?
It must be said, luxury brands are not very tech-oriented and the decision-making process is often very long. For the last three years we’ve been promoting our solution first with small and medium-size brands. While the major luxury players are increasingly interested in our technology, I don’t think they’ll be the pioneers when it comes to adopting our solutions.
In terms of cost, this solution is relatively insignificant compared to the value of the product. We offer interested brands a subscription service.
I believe that in time, all luxury clients will have a GoodsID account ‘containing’ all of their valuables!
