The company of Argentine origin also has the Brand Protection Program (BPP), which grew 20% to reach 6,784 associates, among which are legal representatives of different brands, a fact that also promotes the detection of products that violate the rights of intellectual property within the platform.
In addition, the manager shares that with the use of technology, such as Artificial Intelligence, the complaints received were reduced by 41.2%, compared to the first half of 2021.
ClarkeModet estimates that 85% of Mexicans have consumed pirated products. Although most of the purchases were made consciously, due to the easy accessibility and convenient price of the products, another part was not intentional. One of the limitations of electronic commerce is being able to verify the mechanisms, labels or security seals that various brands have put on their products to guarantee their authenticity and that increases the risk of inadvertently consuming piracy.
In Mexico, e-commerce reached a value of 401.3 billion pesos in 2021, which represents a growth of 27% compared to the previous year. Last year, electronic commerce represented 11.3% of total retail sales, according to data from the Mexican Association of Online Sales (AMVO), and this year the participation is expected to increase.
For Mercado Libre, detecting and eliminating the pirate offer on its platform is a constant challenge. “Mercado Libre, as an intermediary, cannot know if there is an infringing trademark, especially if no complaints are made about the publications that violate intellectual property,” Deyá declares. “You always need to have the registration of the trademark on the to know what to look for in infringement, this happens with all platforms,” he adds.
What can be done to stop piracy?
Mercado Libre has detected the 10 categories with the highest reports of intellectual property violations or sales inflation. In the first place are sex toys, which are often misclassified by sellers, followed by medicines, medical equipment, tobacco, empty bottles, decoders, games, alcoholic beverages, unregulated imports, and financial items, including bills or coins. of gold.
To avoid falling into a fraud, Federico Deyá shares five tips when buying online:
- Buy in the official stores of the brands within the marketplace.
- Review the rating, reviews and comments that both the product and the seller have.
- Doubt publications where the price of a product is ridiculous.
- Use the contact channels for purchases that are not satisfactory for any reason.
- In Mercado Libre, use the Protected Purchase program.
In the analysis, “Anti-piracy: Mechanisms to combat illicit trade and transnational crime”, Lorena Fortanet, a ClarkeModet specialist, writes that there is a certain social permissiveness towards counterfeit merchandise due to the lack of awareness of its consequences beyond the economic losses generated by brands.
But its effects go much further, since “it affects public income through loss of taxes, it affects health with counterfeit medicines, fraudulent drinks and food, with inputs that can be harmful such as lead paint, electrical appliances that can cause short circuits, affects the environment by not having regulation regarding manufacturing materials and waste, “he writes.