Nobody wants to unknowingly end up with a knock-off and Moncler doesn’t want its customers even fretting about the prospect.
The French luxury outerwear brand, which has gained popularity as the amount consumers are willing to spend on down goes up, is adding radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology to its products in its continuous effort to fight fakes.
Moncler started outfitting its garments—which can retail for upwards of $1,000—with anti-counterfeiting instruments several years back, adding a more sophisticated label that worked in conjunction with its website, code.moncler.com. With the label and the site, consumers could sign up to check the characteristics of the piece they bought and get immediate feedback from Moncler on its authenticity.
Going beyond that, the retailer said this week that starting with its Spring/Summer 2016 collection, all products will come equipped with RFID technology.
The technology comes with an unambiguous alphanumeric code, a QR code and a near field communication (NFC) tag shaped like Moncler’s logo. The embedded chip will allow consumers to confirm the product’s authenticity by either reading the QR or NFC code with an app on their smartphone or visiting the code.moncler.com website.
“This is a general approach that genuinely and incisively brings the brand even closer to its customers and which is imbued with care, respect and special security,” Moncler said in a statement. “It is a means of controlling the market, and of transparency and protection under all aspects, that was designed for people who choose an original Moncler product and its exceptional qualitative, aesthetic and symbolic scope.”
Moncler has been fighting against counterfeits as many luxury brands do, and just last month the retailer said it took control of 50 domain names registered in violation of its trademark rights.
According to a company statement, three Chinese individuals had registered the domains in December 2015, with the Moncler trademark in combination with words like “outlet” and “sale” to lure consumers searching for Moncler branded products at discounted prices.
The domains took searchers to websites similar to Moncler’s own, with images of authentic Moncler garments pilfered from its site, and then upon ordering, shoppers found themselves with fakes.
“For Moncler, an iconic brand and a qualitative benchmark at a global level, the battle against counterfeiting is a fundamental objective,” the company said.