The next big step in fashion – WWD

The fashion apparel and luxury goods industry has undergone some remarkable changes in the past five years. Since the pandemic, from the accelerated digitalization of brands and the rapid growth of social commerce to re-commerce and consumers prioritizing buying sustainable products, the industry has completely evolved.

But one key step remains in the industry’s transformation journey: integrating products into the digital value chain.

And here is the role that Certilogo plays. Founded in 2006, the Milan-based technology company is a pioneer in connected products. Its Digital Identity, a SaaS web application empowers brands by allowing individual products to be authenticated. Already used by more than 80 brands, Certilogo’s platform is a game-changer in improving a brand’s relationship with their customers – one built on trust, value and sustainability.

For consumers, a digitized product is easily authenticated, and opens the door for brands to offer a variety of engaging experiences while meeting sustainability goals and combating counterfeiters. As a result, the demand for digital products is increasing. For its part, Certilogo has seen an average growth of 34 percent in the company’s digitized products over the past five years, which will grow to 54 percent in 2021. The product than it was five years ago.

Some of the things that set CertiLogon’s consumer web application apart from other solutions are its ease of use and integration capabilities. The web app enables brands to provide instant product verification of genuine products to deliver relevant information, compelling content and innovative services with greater effectiveness in intercepting counterfeit products than other solutions. Michele Casucci, founder and CEO of Certilogo, fits the brand name.

Certilogo creates a close and authentic relationship between product, brand and consumer. The technology transforms the customer experience with a brand by strengthening trust and brand loyalty. Moreover, it creates a narrative that is permanently attached to that product – it is resold or passed down from generation to generation, thereby increasing the value of the product.

Other benefits for brands include an affordable way to digitize products, essentially turning individual items into “secure smart assets” that can be easily integrated into the holistic journey of connected customers and accessed throughout their product lifecycle.

So why is this important? Think of a luxury item, say a watch. When that watch is sold and leaves the store, that’s the last thing the brand sees. But with digital identity, analog products are digitized, and transformed into a connected authentication, engagement and service platform. “Smart-connected brands have the advantage of staying in constant contact with consumers and their products throughout the supply chain, across all distribution channels, beyond the point of sale to end-of-life renewal,” Casucci said.

For brands, value proposition also has another dimension. CertiLogo’s technology enables brands to identify and link non-sticky physical products to non-sticky digital products. Brands can offer consumers digital experiences through their purchases – for example, tickets to events or backstage content. Or they can metaport their purchases to wear them in the metaverse. And ownership of NFTs can later be exchanged to purchase unique physical products. The possibilities are endless.

And in addition to a digitized and improved post-purchase experience, consumers are protected from unknowingly purchasing counterfeit products as they can verify product authenticity in real time. Meanwhile, the brand benefits from crowdsourced product tracking, using data from the verifications to monitor counterfeiters as well as overproduction, gray market distribution and licensed products. It’s a win-win for brands and their customers, as well as consumers in the secondary market.

It is noteworthy that the versatility of the Certilogo solution was not part of the original mission. “We first set out to meet the challenge of how to easily and securely authenticate products, protecting the consumer and reducing counterfeiting. As this technology becomes the fundamental sanitizing factor for connected product strategies, our mission has evolved to help brands build the most loyal, engaging, measurable and sustainable relationships with consumers through their products. According to Rossella Munafò, head of sales and marketing at Certilogo, promoting the product to transfer, extend and create new value when the product is resold.

Another key element of value proposition for brands and consumers is the role that technology plays in terms of sustainability.

“Safe and verifiable connected products will also benefit the planet,” Casucci said. “Not only helping to reduce harmful counterfeit products, but also creating trust through transparent, reliable sustainability information, making it easier to repair, sell and recycle products, extending product life and enabling greater circularity.”

Last fall, Certilogo released the results of a consumer survey that highlighted the importance of offering sustainable products. The company’s researchers found that product sustainability affects the purchase decision. According to Certilogo, 70% of respondents in the survey “consider the sustainability of their purchases as important or very important”, the authors of the report pointed out.

According to the survey, 93% of consumers “find sustainable products useful and 1 in 5 green certificates are very useful.”

The report concludes that knowing whether a product is authentic and legitimate is fundamental to consumers—especially younger generations like Gen Z and Millennials. Moreover, product certification is considered the most important sustainability feature of these consumer-related products. The survey found that 70% of respondents consider product certification as the most important “green” service.

So what’s next for the industry? And for Certilogo? Casucci sees limitless possibilities and is inviting brands to create a bright and connected future. “While we don’t yet know what the future of fashion will look like, we only have to look at the digitalization of the music and film industries or the predictions of self-driving cars.” The driving experience, as well as the auto industry itself, to know that we should expect a radical change,” Casucci said. “Certilogo empowers brands to create that future, and we’re confident it will deliver exciting consumer experiences, new business opportunities for brands, and much better for our planet. Given the pressing nature of climate change, speed is of the essence, so Certilogo aims to democratize connected product technology.” And it’s accelerating adoption by making the technology affordable and accessible for all brands, regardless of their location, size or digital maturity.

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