The number of luxury knockoffs is six times higher than that of the authentic ones in the sales channels targeted at Chinese consumers, according to a report by a research academy named Fortune Character.
To avoid the knockoffs' negative influence on their brand image, luxury companies try their best to make it easier for consumers to recognize differences between the knockoffs and the authentic ones.
For instance, they will show images of their products in the pre-sale commercial advertisements or promotional videos and make several slight changes to these products later. Manufacturers of knock-offs always make the products in accordance with the images shown in the pre-sale promotion activities. Naturally, the consumers can easily tell the difference between the authentic ones and the knock-offs when the products are sold in the market.
Luxury companies are not the only party involved in the campaign against the knock-off producers. China's electronic business platforms also do their bit.
A security expert at Alibaba, a Chinese e-commerce company, told reporters that more than 2,000 employees are tasked to crack down on knock-offs in the company.
Zheng Junfang, one of the partners of Alibaba, offered her proposals to solve the problem: on one hand, the e-commerce platforms can get rid of the knock-offs on their platforms, track down the sources of knock-offs by applying big data technology and crack down on the parties involved in the production and sales of knock-offs. On the other hand, the society should help these small and medium-sized manufacturers of knock-offs to produce quality goods and build brand names of their own.
