Seize the Season
The holiday shopping season has become the most important period in eCommerce. For some businesses, the ‘Golden Quarter’ of Singles’ Day, U.S. Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday now accounts for up to 40% of annual sales, but many are unprepared for the spikes in counterfeits and rights infringements that also occur.
With Corsearch, ‘tis the season to take control of your brand presence and ensure hard won sales are not lost to IP criminals.
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A Global Opportunity
Popularized in the United States, the Black Friday to Cyber Monday weekend is now a global phenomenon that incorporates other important shopping events. The week of U.S. Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday remains the biggest draw for companies and consumers, but it has also been joined by the world’s largest one-day sale, China’s Singles’ Day event on the 11th of November. In 2009, the Chinese online marketplace Alibaba branded the event through a day of heavily discounted items and its importance has grown exponentially. It has even prompted Alibaba’s rival JD.com to start an 11-day shopping festival of its own.
$139 billion
Spent on Alibaba and JD platforms in 24 hours during Singles’ Day 2021.
$8.9billion
Spent online during Black Friday in the U.S. in 2021.
+53 %
Proportion of sales made online during peak holiday season in 2020. This was the first time that online shopping sales exceeded physical locations.
6.1 %
Year-over-year projected growth in U.S. consumers’ online spending in 2022 (between November & December).
A Global Threat
Far from being limited to the United States and China, the online nature of holiday sales means they are now ubiquitous, with shoppers from Beijing to Bloemfontein doing much of their pre-Christmas spending in October and November. In the United Kingdom, sales on Black Friday increase by more than 1700% on a typical day, while 91% of Germans also know what Black Friday is.
With so much activity taking place, creating a sales strategy that capitalizes on the season is vitally important. What many businesses neglect, however, is the danger from lost sales and damaged reputations that also now accompanies this period.
A Global Challenge
Increased sales figures are a cause for celebration, but there is also a dark side undermining this success. Increased eCommerce is preyed upon by counterfeiters and IP infringers, who use the season to increase their own profits at the expense of brands and at great risk to consumers. Figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) suggest that as much as 3.3% of global trade is lost to counterfeiting and piracy annually. Given the size of 2020’s holiday sales figures for Singles’ Day alone, this means that in excess of $3.3 billion was potentially lost.
$509billion
Lost annually to piracy
$3.3billion
Estimated losses for Singles’ Day 2020
40 %
Of goods purchased online from third-party vendors may be counterfeit
18 %
Increase in infringements noticed by our Analysts in Q4
The Outlook for 2023
With the year’s biggest online shopping events on the horizon, few businesses can afford to sacrifice even more of their profits to the expected increase in counterfeits and other forms of infringement.
Even more than previous years, 2023 may represent the most significant of challenges for rightsholders. High inflation and spiralling energy costs, increased price sensitivity among consumers, and a large surge in online shopping will all play a factor in searches for cheaper goods that may lead to the purchase of counterfeits. The problem will be compounded by the evolution of new online platforms and increasingly sophisticated tactics from serial infringers, many of whom may themselves by driven by the prospect of a prolonged recession.
Why Choose Corsearch?
Cut through complexity with rapid, accurate research tools for the clearance and monitoring of brands.
Our comprehensive solutions make worldwide brand and content protection fast and effective; reducing the time you spend manually searching and enforcing on thousands online channels.
With fast trademark watch notifications and online-to-offline capabilities, you can strategically prioritize the biggest threats to your profits and customers with data-backed intelligence and global investigative support.
Where do you want to take control?
Talk to an expert
Talk to us today to learn more about how you can protect your brand and IP during the holiday season and beyond.
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