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Why It’s A Good Idea To Enable Smart QR Code Solutions For Products

How can a growing brand stand out from the competition in this day and age? The answer is simple: make use of the latest technology available in the market.

For instance, enabling smart QR code solutions is a technique that has been around for a long time, and has been developed to near perfection in recent times. It is a chance for upcoming brands to improve customer interactions, protect brand value, and much more. However, not many new businesses are aware of the immense potential of this technology, so here’s a look at how it works.

Creating QR code digital experiences

When you add a smart QR code to a product’s package, any customer can scan it from the store and even after purchase to connect with the product better. All the customer needs is a smartphone to do so, which, as statistics show, 3.5 billion people have at present. Smart QR codes not only make the lives of customers easier, but also significantly improves brand prospects.

The following are the major benefits of using QR code digital engagement solutions:

In the past few years, there has been a sharp spike in product counterfeiting cases across industries. Needless to say, this is not good news for businesses or their customers. Unfortunately, brands do not have feasible solutions to efficiently tackle the problem. Moreover, issues within the business like grey marketing and moonlighting are also difficult to deal with.

Using smart QR codes solutions, it is possible to boost brand awareness with minimal hassles. Customers can easily verify the authenticity of their products from the store itself and put their minds at ease. Such efforts will not go unnoticed, and can lead to higher sales and satisfaction rates.

Customers love it when brands go the extra mile to appreciate them. However, due to mass production and other factors, it is not easy for businesses to give focused attention to each customer. Also, there are so many brands offering similar products that catching customer attention at the store has become next to impossible.

Scanning QR codes at the store makes it easier for customers to make informed purchase decisions. They can access detailed product insights and exclusive offers to enrich their purchase experience. Moreover, brands can stay connected with their customers after purchase using product QR codes as well by creating dynamic product tutorials, offering product care suggestions, and much more.

While the majority of customers are enthusiastic about the idea of business sustainability, not many are aware of the best practices to promote it. In such situations, they seek the guidance of the brands from which they make their purchases. For instance, customers appreciate information on the best ways to dispose of their products after use, and even tips on requiring them for other purposes.

It is easy to provide customers with detailed product recycling and reusing information using smart QR codes. Customers can scan product labels when the time comes to access such data and make better choices. Brands can use the opportunity to introduce customers to reward-to-recycle schemes as well. Such initiatives draw higher customer appeal, loyalty and trust.

Tracing a product’s journey back to its origin tends to be a time-consuming and expensive process for brands and their customers alike. However, it has become essential considering the question marks surrounding the ethics and sustainability of mass production across industries. Supply chain transparency has now become the need of the hour for businesses.

Fortunately, transparency is simple to achieve using smart QR code solutions. Brands can make use of effective track and trace solutions to make their products provenance easily traceable back to the origins. On the other hand, customers can scan product labels to access detailed information on product journeys across the supply chain.

Take the first step with Authlink

If you are unsure of how to get started with smart QR codes, then it is a good idea to test the waters with Authlink Smart Tags. The Authlink platform is user-friendly and convenient, and offers practical ways to integrate intelligent labelling solutions in your business.

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How NFTs Revolutionize Product Security

Imagine a supply chain system that has hundreds upon hundreds of products passing along it every single day. It would take a significant amount of manual effort in order to ensure that each of them is genuine, and that none of them have been tampered with along the way.

It has therefore become essential to set up an efficient system to trace and authenticate products from the source to the shelf.

Understanding the effects of poor product security

Customers deserve to get exactly what they pay for; counterfeit products not only cause huge drains in money, but can often threaten the end user’s health and safety as well.

More often than not, product security issues in the FMCG and alcohol industries turn out to be quite fatal for customers. On the other hand, similar issues in the luxury and electronic goods industries result in massive monetary losses for both brands and customers.

Moreover, not being able to handle these product security issues is an embarrassment for businesses, and it usually becomes a serious blow against brand value and reputation. After all, most customers think it is the responsibility of brands to handle the security of their products.

Exploring alternate product security measures

We live in a time when the virtual world is almost as, if not more, important than the real one. Therefore, it is only natural to assume that adopting digital product security measures is the best way to address the most prominent flaws in the manual methods. For instance, what if we could manage each product without the need to use excessive manpower, time or money?

This is where non-fungible tokens come in.

Anyone who is even remotely familiar with the blockchain space must have heard of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). While they are popularly used to represent famous artworks, videos, images, and so on, they are now transforming existing product security systems for the better.

For instance, the Authlink platform enables brands to create verifiable and traceable NFTs for each of their physical products, thereby ensuring data security and privacy from start to finish.

The following are the major ways in which NFTs revolutionize product security through the Authlink platform:

Using NFTs, physical product provenance becomes easily trackable across the supply chain system for both brands and customers. This helps businesses keep an eye on their products better, while it provides reassurance to customers that their purchases are actually genuine.

Manual product authentication methods consume a lot of time and money, even though in the end most of them turn out to be not that effective. However, making the digital switch using NFTs is a great way for businesses to save time and money while ensuring maximum efficiency in securing their products. For example, it is quite simple and inexpensive for customers to authenticate product NFTs on Authlink’s verification terminal.

Security features like digital signature and digital fingerprinting are easy to use on the Authlink platform, and they simplify and automate the entire product data authentication process. Each NFT that is created on the platform is verified using such strong security features. They also ensure that the data is in complete control of the brand, leaving no room for data leaks or privacy breaches.

All the product data uploaded into the Authlink gets irrefutable recorded under the unique digital assets. They cannot be tampered with or manipulated at any point; even the platform cannot intrude on business data records in any manner. Data that has been cryptographically secured is safe from both internal and external threats.

Adopting digital data security measures with Authlink

Ensuring product security is simple, convenient and effective on the Authlink platform. Apart from NFT-based services, the platform also provides detailed analytics that help brands strengthen their anti-counterfeiting solutions. 

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Systematizing the Fashion Industry with Blockchain Technology

The global fashion industry is worth a whopping 3000 billion dollars. Naturally, this means that there are millions of garments passing along the supply chain and later getting disposed of every single day. Despite all the technological developments, it is safe to say that the fashion industry is quite cluttered, and needs to be systematized.

What are the major concerns in the fashion industry?

There are a number of issues that are causing growing dissatisfaction among businesses and customers alike, as follows:

The fashion industry has always been accused of being excessive. However, in the past decade, the wastage has reached new heights, causing outcries among environmentally conscious customers. 

It has become hard for emerging fashion brands to keep up with growing customer demands and manage the complexities of the supply chain.

Due to the large volume of fashion products making their way through the supply chain, it has become next to impossible to separate the real goods from the fake ones.

Due to the mass number of customers, fashion brands are not able to effectively address each customer’s concerns and get them rectified in an orderly fashion.

How can blockchain technology systematize the fashion industry?

While the product pileup issues are causing trouble in the fashion industry from start to finish, introducing blockchain technology can go a long way in bringing a sense of order and efficiency in all the processes. Here is how it works:

Sustainability and fashion are not known for going hand in hand. However, many brands, both big and small, are trying to adopt sustainable practices and reduce the carbon footprint they create. Plus, a lot of customers want to be sustainable, but are not aware of the options that allow them to do so, particularly while disposing of used products. 

Such concerns are easily addressable using blockchain technology. For instance, fashion brands can reveal the sustainable steps they take to their customers through tools like smart tags. Any customer can access such data at the store. And when it’s time for disposal, customers can use smart labelling solutions again to find out how they can stop their products from getting into overflowing landfills.

A manually managed supply chain system is not always efficient, and tends to experience a lot of mishaps. The best way to ensure seamless supply chain processes is to automate them. This feat is made possible with the track and trace solutions enabled with blockchain technology. Not only do the transactions become easier to trace, but they also get protected from external risks through cryptographic security.

Sorting the real garments from the fake becomes a mammoth task when there are huge stocks of documented and undocumented products. It also increases the risk of thefts in the organization. However, with the help of blockchain technology, fashion brands can keep an eye on each and every one of their products.

Keeping customer satisfaction levels up is crucial for any fashion brand hoping to stay afloat in the competitive market, regardless of how good the overall product quality is. A great way to make customer service systematic is by using blockchain-driven services, like Authlink’s Customer Connect feature, for instance. This helps in setting up a system in which customers can voice their concerns, and brands can resolve them promptly as well.

Why is Authlink ideal for enabling blockchain solutions for the fashion industry?

The Authlink platform, apart from being simple-to-use and highly convenient, offers blockchain-enabled services that are tailor-made for the fashion industry. Fashion brands employ these solutions to rectify supply chain complexity issues, enhance consumer satisfaction and promote authenticity and transparency throughout their operations. By doing so, Authlink is bringing the fashion industry a step closer to resolving its systematization hurdles.

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Ensuring Data Security with Digital Signature and Fingerprinting

When it comes to keeping valuable information safe, the idea of digital security does not seem quite promising to many. This is because of the notion that no information online is ever private, and that everything can be compromised. However, with the development of blockchain technology, we have reached a point of time in which data privacy and authenticity can be ensured digitally. 

The flaws of non-digital data storage and verification systems:

The majority of people prefer to use paper documents to record sensitive information, hoping that they will be easier to track. However, this is not exactly a feasible idea for the following reasons:

Adding security features to paper documents is an expensive process, the effectiveness of which is not satisfactory.

Paper documents can pile up quickly, and authenticating each and every one of them can be a time consuming process.

Forging and manipulating paper documents is easier than one might expect; the risk of insider theft is high. 

There is a low sense of control and confidentiality while managing paper documents. 

Now one might wonder: Is there really a better way to manage valuable information? Is it truly possible to keep data tamper-proof? 

This is where blockchain-based cryptographic security features come into play.

Cryptography helps in safeguarding valuable information from external threats. Using the cryptographic security that blockchain technology provides, brands can upload and manage data online with ease. The Authlink platform enables several crypto-driven security features that help businesses ensure the safety and authenticity of their data at all times, the major ones being digital signature and digital fingerprinting.

Promoting accountability with digital signatures

What Authlink does:

On the Authlink platform, each business can upload a secure digital signature to issue, transfer and authenticate product designs and identities. The digital signature feature works with advanced signing encryption technology, and the Issuer of the organization can create it to ensure total control over the signing matters of the organization’s account. 

What businesses get:

Authlink has made it mandatory for each organization to enable its own digital signatures in order to develop digital product designs and identities. This is a practical way to ensure that there is no scope to create unauthorized digital products and that there is accountability for each bit of product information uploaded on the platform. The digital signature cannot be manipulated or leaked, but it is also easy for the Issuer to manage and put it to use for company purposes. 

    2. Enhancing verifiability with digital fingerprinting

What Authlink does:

The Issuer of an organization can add digital fingerprinting files to the business account to make them effortlessly verifiable. When a new file is uploaded to the system, it is assigned with a distinct fingerprint or cryptographic hash to ensure its security across the ecosystem. The files can also be verified by any external parties through Authlink’s verification terminal. 

What businesses get:

In general, confirming the authenticity of a company’s files, especially by third parties, tends to be a time-consuming process. Moreover, keeping accurate document records and protecting them from safety threats can become quite expensive. However, with the digital fingerprinting feature, each business document becomes easy to store, access, and verify. Moreover, the Issuer of the organization needs to confirm authenticity using the digital signature in order to create a new file. This strengthens the accountability of the data in the documents. 

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Digitizing Businesses- Blockchain Beyond Cyptocurrency

It is hard to deny that there is a lot of ambiguity surrounding the idea of blockchain technology. To many, the terms blockchain and cryptocurrency are almost interchangeable, and there seems to be nothing to know about the system beyond that. However, this is proving to be a false belief, with the non-cryptocurrency applications of blockchain rising in popularity among both well-established and emerging companies alike. 

Blockchain and cryptocurrency

In general terms, cryptocurrency refers to a virtual form of currency that is secured using cryptography. They are based on blockchain technology, irrefutable, and next to impossible to counterfeit. The most well-known forms of cryptocurrency include Bitcoin, Etheruem, Cardano, Dogecoin, and so on. The following features make cryptocurrency highly favorable among young investors:

Low transaction costs

24/7 access

Easy verification

Unlimited purchase and withdrawal

Rules out the need for banks 

Ironically, the features that make the cryptocurrency market appealing to many people are what turn some off from the idea of ever investing in them. Studies show that only 0.5% of the world’s population is using blockchain technology at present. This form of mistrust and lack of information about digital currency has led to misplaced perspectives about blockchain technology in general as well. 

Employing blockchain technology in business

Contrary to popular belief, blockchain technology is a useful and worthwhile system to improve business processes. In fact, several large companies are employing blockchain in their day-to-day operations, and smaller companies have started following suit as well. If this trend continues, the market worth of blockchain solutions is expected to reach $20 billion by 2024. 

Using blockchain technology, businesses can create secure and verifiable NFTs for each of their products, and thereby enjoy the following benefits:

1. Product provenance:

A brand’s products need to be traced from start to finish in order to ensure that they are not forged or duplicated along the way. This is not always practical when there are a large number of products. However, using NFTs, all product-related transactions can be digitally tracked and managed from the source to the shelves. This helps both brands and customers keep an eye on their valuable products with minimal hassle. 

2. Immutable data records:

A major issue that several businesses struggle with is protecting their data from both internal and external threats. When done manually, securing valuable data tends to be a time-consuming and expensive process. This issue is easily solved using the cryptographic security that blockchain technology provides. All the data uploaded into the blockchain network is quite difficult to manipulate and can be securely stored based on business needs. Data privacy is always taken care of in the system. 

3. Anti-counterfeiting:

Product counterfeiting has been practiced for centuries, and with the advent of advanced technologies, it has become nearly impossible to differentiate the real from the fake. This also causes a huge drain on brand loyalty and value. However, blockchain technology makes it simple to verify product authenticity every step of the way. It is simple to trace product duplication and forging trends and then implement anti-counterfeiting solutions using product NFTs. 

4. Automated transactions:

Human resources are integral for the functioning of any business, and they need to be allocated appropriately for maximum productivity. However, product management hurdles cause many brands to waste manpower on activities that are repetitive and redundant. Such processes can be automated using blockchain technology. Product digitization brings a lot of ease and automation into everyday business and helps brands make split-second decisions better. 

5. Customer engagement:

Boosting customer interactions has become a top priority for brands hoping to stand out from the competition. There are now several digital solutions available in the market that foster brand-customer relationships, including smart QR code solutions empowered by blockchain technology. Such innovations open up new avenues to boost brand loyalty, interaction, and appeal which are essential for business growth. 

6. Business efficiency:

A common concern that several brands have is that it will be challenging to adopt new technologies and replace older ones. However, in reality, digitization can enhance businesses rather than disrupt them negatively. Blockchain technology can be seamlessly integrated into existing business systems, making it easy for brands to boost overall efficiency and productivity. 

7. Direct consumer connectivity:

Personalized brand-customer interactions have become crucial in this day and age. But due to mass production and related concerns, not many brands are able to provide focused attention to their customers. However, with NFT-driven solutions, brands can establish direct communication channels with specific customers or customer segments to promote exclusivity, customization, and meaningful connections. 

Enabling blockchain business solutions with Authlink

Authlink is a convenient and user-friendly platform that brands use to drive up business efficiency, product traceability, and customer interactions with minimal hassles. The platform offers a range of solutions that comprises the best that blockchain technology has to offer beyond cryptocurrency. 

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Digitizing Fine Wine Bottles with NFTs

A large number of people who collect wine would agree that the hobby is as rewarding as it is challenging. Dedicated wine connoisseurs show the least amount of hesitance in spending big bucks on extremely rare and famous wine bottles. After all, which oenophile wouldn’t want to own a distinct vintage wine bottle, particularly something as unique as wine aged in space? While fine wine can be considered a great investment, there are several issues that plague wine collectors, such as:

Difficulty in figuring out whether their wine bottles are genuine or not due to rising cases of counterfeit wine

Systematizing and protecting valuable documents related to the bottles

Low supply chain transparency, as aged wine bottles tend to pass along several hands

Hassles in confirming and transferring ownership while reselling bottles

However, despite the downsides, the wine collecting trend does not seem to be going out of style anytime soon. Instead, it seems to be evolving with the current times, as proven by the rising popularity of NFT wines. 

While a lot of people associate the NFT hype with certain digital content like games, virtual art, and even JPG files that are raking in millions of dollars, wine lovers are stepping in to explore new avenues of getting to know rare and physically non-existent wine bottles. 

A surprisingly large number of wine investors and collectors are currently dipping their toes into the NFT game to deal with virtual wine bottles. For instance, French winemaker Château Darius has started selling online images of wine bottles under NFTs, each costing more than $300. Similarly, Bitwine is taking things a step further to satisfy ardent oenophiles by launching a series of 1000 NFTs that are pixelated versions of rare and popular wine bottles around the world. While many find such a concept strange, Bitwine happened to make sales valuing upto $52,000 in just five days after the launch. Well-known Single Malt Scotch Whisky brand Glenfiddich has teamed up with Blockbar to launch limited edition liquor NFTs as well. 

While such instances are certainly amusing for customers and pose great marketing opportunities for winemakers, it is also time to address the pressing concerns of most wine collectors in handling real-life, fine wine bottles. By employing NFTs in a blockchain-driven platform like Authlink, it is possible to turn the situation around.

Why is creating NFTs with Authlink ideal?

Authlink is moving beyond the common NFT based wine marketing trends to offer lasting bottle management solutions for wine collectors. With Authlink’s various services, particularly the digitally secure Mobile Vault, wine collectors can expect the following advantages when it comes to managing their valuable and physical fine wine bottles:

Safe and digitally secure platform for creating NFTs for bottles:

Authlink creates a safe and completely secure space for wine collectors to create NFTs for their wine online. The NFT are connected to physical wine bottles, and act as a mirror for all related transactions. This helps wine collectors ensure that their valuable bottle data remains safe and sound from potential threats.

Simple-to-use platform that makes benefits of NFTs accessible to all:

Creating NFTs can seem daunting for most people who are unfamiliar with the nitty-gritty of blockchain technology. But this does not mean that they cannot enjoy the many benefits they provide. The Authlink platform is completely user-friendly, and makes it simple and easy to create, own and manage the NFTs of physical wine bottles. 

Unique data tokens for each bottle in the wine collection:

Each physical bottle gets assigned with a unique NFT that cryptographically records all relevant information. Each data token is distinct and easily verifiable across the Authlink ecosystem. The data cannot be manipulated or tampered with, and is always under the control of the bottle owner.

A virtual wine cellar to store NFTs linked to physical wine bottles:

Using the Mobile Vault, wine collectors can manage a virtual wine cellar containing the NFTs of their fine and vintage wine bottles. This helps in ensuring total wine ownership, and in managing the bottle related transactions efficiently.

Hassle-free platform to ensure authenticity of the bottles:

When it comes to wine authentication, blockchain oriented services like what Authlink offers are most effective. Considering the rising number of fake wine bottles circulating in the global market, Authlink helps wine collectors ensure the genuinity of their expensive bottle purchases.

Secure wine provenance blockchain tracing solution:

Authlink’s blockchain wine tracking solutions help wine collectors trace their bottle lifecycle back to the vineyard using digital tokens. Even if the bottle has passed through several hands before reaching the wine collector, the Authlink platform boosts the digital traceability and traceability of the bottles in the ecosystem, and enables quick access to previous bottle owner information.

Convenient platform to easily transfer or resell bottles if necessary:

A large number of wine collectors consider their wine bottles to be worthwhile investments, and therefore they may need to be resold in the future when the time comes. While reselling expensive fine wine bottles, there tends to be a lot of extra cost and time involved. However, the Authlink platform simplifies things by establishing an efficient and secure space to transfer physical bottle ownership using their NFTs.

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Enhancing Organic Food Traceability with Blockchain

The number of consumers actively seeking organic food is growing day by day. Unfortunately, this has led to an increase in scams as well, and even the actual worth of organic food has come under question. However, digitizing organic food supply chains could be the answer to resolving the issue. 

Understanding the organic food trend:

There are several reasons why organic food has gained popularity in the past few years, mainly because:

Consumers are wary of the synthetic fertilizers used in conventional food, and organic food promises to be grown using natural fertilizers.

There is far less risk of being affected by chemical herbicides with organic food than with conventional food. 

Organic products are meant to be ethically and humanely sourced by following the most eco-friendly practices. 

Conventional meat and dairy products are linked to harmful antibiotics that are used to prevent livestock diseases, whereas natural methods are used during organic food production. 

Addressing major issues in the organic food industry:

Organic food tends to be more expensive than conventional foods, which has led to several businesses turning it into a marketing gimmick. This has led to several consumers getting exploited after purchasing products that are labeled organic but are not so. This has not only caused customers to lose faith in the particular brands that sold the mislabeled goods but also in the organic foods industry in general. 

As a solution to the problem, boosting organic food supply chain transparency has become imperative. It has become necessary to set up a convenient system for both brands and their customers alike to track and authenticate organic food provenance. While this is a difficult feat to achieve manually, blockchain technology can help make things simple in many ways. 

Promoting transparency in the organic food industry with blockchain:

Blockchain technology is making its way across multiple industries, and the organic food sector is no exception. It is an ideal solution for food brands that want to strengthen their relationships with customers and enhance the efficiency and traceability of their supply chain systems. 

The following are the major ways in which blockchain technology boosts transparency in the organic food industry:

Enables customers to ensure that proper agricultural practices are being followed:

There is a lack of awareness among many customers regarding the agricultural practices used to produce organic food products, and how they differ from traditional methods. Using blockchain technology, brands can ensure that relevant information is revealed to customers during purchase to clear up their queries. For instance, brands can use Authlink Smart Tags to empower customers to scan product labels and immutable product data records on their own. 

Helps brands reveal the humane conditions under which animal-based products are sourced:

The notoriety of the conventional meat and dairy industry is what has driven a large number of customers to the organic food industry. The customers want to know if the animals are treated right in hygienic environments in farms before they are processed. Through the blockchain-driven Authlink platform, customers can trace their organic meat and dairy products right back to the source and put their minds at ease. 

Assists concerned customers in protecting their own and the planet’s health:

Chemical pesticides are not only harmful to human health but also that of the earth. Many consumers purchase organic food for the sole reason that they have not been exposed to toxic chemicals at any point. By making use of Authlink’s end-to-end traceability solutions, brands can bring transparency along the supply chain system from start to finish, and reveal the sustainable practices they follow. Enhanced traceability will further boost customer loyalty and trust. 

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Essential Smart Tags Guide: Creating Multiple Digital Product Experiences

Customer engagement tends to be a top priority for any brand that wants to gain an edge over the competition. The best way to win customer appeal is by going above and beyond to make shopping experiences as memorable as possible.

There’s no doubt that smart labels like QR codes, RFID, and NFC tags make it a lot easier for brands to market themselves and their products. It is also true that smart tags have opened up new avenues to offer great benefits to consumers.

If you are wondering how your brand can switch things up for customers, then Authlink Smart Tags could be what you were looking for.

What customer benefits can brands create with smart tags?

Countless brands are offering similar products in the market across industries. Customers are always spoilt for choice, regardless of whether they are purchasing a smartphone or a bar of soap. The best way to catch customer attention is by offering exciting shopping benefits no other brand provides. When the benefits continue after purchase, it is even better. 

With Authlink Smart Tags, you can give your customers several meaningful benefits pre and post-purchase, and the major ones are as follows:

While making purchase decisions:

Customer demand for a product tends to vary with location, timing, occasion, and so on. Authlink Smart Tags help your brand stay alert of changing consumer needs and accordingly create customized discounts, cashback offers, and so on. 

For example, your regular customer can get a special discount upon scanning a product label at the store on his/her birthday. Similarly, imagine that a customer decides to buy sunglasses on a hot day. By scanning the smart label, he/she gets an instant discount by adding a hat from the same brand to the cart as well. Possibilities like these are endless with Authlink Smart Tags. 

After product purchase:

Authlink Smart Tags make your brand’s loyalty campaigns even more convenient to access for your customers. For instance, a customer signs up for your brand’s loyalty scheme during the first purchase using the product’s smart label. From then on, whenever the customer buys products from your brand again, he/she keeps adding points by scanning the smart tags. Eventually, the customer scans, redeems the points, and avails great discounts during future purchases. 

Customers love it when brands create reward schemes as they help in saving a lot of money, particularly when they make frequent purchases from the same brand. Such schemes also help you retain brand loyalty in the long run. 

During product use:

There are certain types of products whose manner of usage evolves with time. Your brand can prepare to deal with the variations using Authlink Smart Tags. You can also convey repair, warranty, and insurance details when requested by consumers. Smart tags also make it convenient for customers to submit feedback on product use when necessary. 

Take the example of a customer who purchases moisturizer during the winter season. During the initial smart tag scan, the cosmetics brand instructs the customer how to keep skin from drying out when it’s cold outside. When the customer scans the smart label again during the summer season, he/she is advised on how the moisturizer works best for the skin in hot weather. 

Also, consider the possibility of a leather jacket that sends cleaning reminders upon scanning its smart label, or a watch that provides warranty details instantly when it is time for repair. Initiatives like these help customers get the most out of their purchases and ensure an elevated product use experience. 

After product expiry:

Depending on its nature, a product may need to be refilled, put to a different use, or sustainably disposed of when its expiry date is around the corner. Your customers will appreciate being instructed when they happen, which is when Authlink Smart Tags come in handy.

Take the example of a pair of well-worn boots; it should not be taking up space in its user’s wardrobe anymore. Introducing the user to reward-to-recycle schemes at this stage is a great idea. When the user scans the boots’ smart label, he/she gets detailed instructions on the best recycling options available in the region, or even recommendations on how to transform them into something else like planters or centerpieces. Customers find such instructions useful to save time, space and money, and to possibly get rewarded.

Brands use Authlink Smart Tags to keep customers happy, interested, and engaged with their products and services. And the best part? Employing them is a relatively simple, inexpensive, and worthwhile process.

If you are interested in testing Authlink Smart Tags for your brand, schedule a free demo to get started.

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Cheran Colleges boosts time and cost efficiency by issuing digital certificates for students

Learn how Cheran Colleges teamed up with Authlink to issue digital certificates for their students, and why it has been game-changing. Using the platform, Cheran Colleges is bringing down costs, driving up efficiency, boosting data security, and establishing strong digital connectivity with their students. 

A digital switch like this could be just the kind of change that the education sector needs. Read all about it in Authlink’s latest case study here: https://bit.ly/cherdigtz

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Enhancing Brand-Buyer Interactions With Customer Connect

Product digitization is transforming the way that brands do business and how customers perceive their products. With the evolving trends, consumers are also hoping for quicker, more effective and convenient ways to ensure better product use experiences than ever before. 

Authlink’s Customer Connect feature offers brands innovative ways to digitally establish lasting relationships with customers and also retain appeal and loyalty. 

The Customer Connect feature is available across the Authlink platform, and  consists of a chatbox that both brands and customers can use to communicate with each other instantly. It ensures that brand-buyer relationships are not limited to the shopping period, but are perpetuated long after purchase as well. 

The Customer Connect feature comprises a range of functions to boost customer engagement, the major ones being as follows:

Connecting with each individual customer

The Customer Connect option allows your brand to directly chat with customers when required. This is a great way to get regular updates and real-time feedback on product use from active customers. 

Generating exclusive offers for customer segments

New offers and discounts increase chances of customer retention, and are also helpful for keeping customers interested in your brand’s products. The Customer connect feature makes it simple to create offers for buyers and inform them of the same instantly. 

Broadcasting important information to customers

Customer Connect’s broadcasting tool is quite useful when it comes to sharing important information with a mass number of customers. While this usually tends to be a time-consuming and expensive process otherwise, the Customer Connect tool makes things cost-friendly and efficient. It offers your brand a practical solution to provide important business updates to customers on a regular basis. 

Addressing customer queries:

It is normal for new customers to have multiple queries during the first time they use a particular product. In such situations, it will be convenient to be able to quickly chat with the relevant brand and get the queries resolved. The customer Connect feature makes it possible for consumers to do exactly that. 

Resolving customer complaints:

When customer complaints pile up without getting resolved, it can cause brand value and reputation to diminish. The Customer Connect tool establishes a safe space for consumers to get their complaints resolved on a timely basis. 

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Why Transparency is Integral in the Food and Beverage Industry

It goes without saying that consumers in the food and beverage industry have the right to know exactly what they are eating. Generally, customers are interested in finding out the following information about their food and beverage purchases: The quality standards followed during food processing and packaging. The ingredients that went into the food preparation, and whether they are harmful for the consumer’s health. Allergy information if the consumer has any specific ailments. The ethical practices followed in raising animals in the case of meat-based products. Addressing transparency issues in the industry with blockchain technology The food processing industry is growing rapidly, and studies show that there are 21,000 food companies in the United States alone, and have generated around $750 billion in revenue. Needless to say, it gets difficult for consumers to decide which brand they can trust to feed them well, which is why adopting supply chain traceability solutions has become crucial for food and beverage companies to retain customers. Authlink offers a range of blockchain-driven services that food and beverage brands use to employ a food transparency platform in their business and keep consumer satisfaction rates up as well. The following are the ways in which enhanced transparency can help your food brand flourish: 1. It promotes accountability for each link in the supply chain, from the farm to the table: Food gets sourced, processed and packaged through a number of steps before it reaches the customer. In order to ensure that all the steps happen the way they should, promoting accountability throughout the supply chain is essential. The Authlink platform records every transaction in real-time, so that each product-related activity can be tracked and verified efficiently. End customers can scan intelligent product labels to access detailed information  about the product journey and make their purchase decisions.

2. It ensures that proper food quality standards are being followed from start to finish: The quality of food purchase is a crucial point of concern for the majority of consumers, and they are willing to pay higher to ensure the same. A simple way to give customers the information they want is by updating food health, quality and safety standard data followed to create each product on the Authlink platform, and making it easily accessible. A simple smartphone scan will give consumers all the information they are looking for, confirm food authenticity and quality, and put their minds at ease.

3. It updates food provenance in real-time, which customers can use to trace the origins of their purchases: Tracing the origins of food products is highly important for many consumers, particularly for meat and dairy products. Ambiguity related to ethical issues that frequently occur in poultry farms, for example, can easily turn consumers away from particular brands. Bringing transparency in such issues is the only way to capture customer trust and boost sales in this situation. Consumers need to know that the animals are being raised humanely in clean and hygienic conditions. A simple way to do so is by using Authlink’s food track and trace solutions to make product origins traceable with a few taps. 4. It boost overall trust and efficiency of your business by ensuring smooth flow of products from one place to another: Paper documents can cause a lot of confusion along the supply chain, and they are quite difficult to organize and verify. This becomes a challenge for food brands looking to improve their business processes by boosting business transparency. By going digital with the Authlink platform, food brands can automate many important processes and transactions along the supply chain, and ensure that products get processed and delivered on time. It leaves no room for compromises on food product quality at any point of time. This boosts customer satisfaction and trust regarding their product data authenticity as well.

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Moving Beyond Data Transparency With Digital Twins

Creating digital twins for products has proven to be the most ideal way for brands to enhance their business and supply chain transparency to:

Address customer demand for data regarding their products and business operations

Improve business efficiency by enhancing clarity on supply chain operations

However, the other functions that digital twins perform are not as popular as the transparency solutions, but can also help brands stand out from the crowd and attract new customers to their products.

Resolving major business problems with product digital twins Assigning each product with an intelligent digital identity is a convenient way for brands to make them trackable and manageable from start to finish. Apart from boosting end-to-end traceability, digital products also serve the following purposes:

1. Enable effective smart brand protection The problem: It is not uncommon for businesses to face product counterfeiting troubles due to issues like grey marketing, moonlighting, document forging , and much more. Many brands find it difficult to deal with such problems effectively, mainly due to added expense and waste of resources. However, such cases can eventually tarnish the reputation of the business and even cause loss of customers. The solution: Authlink offers a range of anti-counterfeiting solutions for brands to use digital assets to protect their business integrity and reputation with ease. Most of the processes are fully automated, which means that there is no need to spend unnecessary time or money ensuring that all data is protected from external threats, and that all the products reaching the stores are authenticated.

2. Capture real-time consumer and supply chain analytics The problem: Customer demands and expectations from brands and their products keep evolving, and can even be quite unpredictable at times. In the competitive market, it is definitely a great asset for brands to be able to read their customers’ minds and figure out exactly what they want. Moreover, lack of understanding about the operations in each supply chain link can cause mismanagement and lower business accountability. The solution: Authlink offers a digital dashboard that enables businesses to use digital twins to capture detailed insights on their products and customers. The real-time analytics make it simple for brands to meet customer expectations and promote accountability for all of their business operations.

3. Improve shopping experiences with intelligent labelling solutions The problem: Due to growing competition, customers are seeking more information about the products they intend to buy in order to make better purchasing decisions. However, searching for detailed data about each and every product is not practical, and customers often end up missing out on great products that offer the features they are looking for. The solution: By creating digital products with Authlink, brands can upload detailed product provenance and other relevant data securely on the digital platform. Also, by creating smart packages for products, all data including that about product certifications, brand sustainability, ethical motives and so on become easily accessible to customers through simple smartphone scans.

4. Elevate post-purchase services and connections The problem: More and more customers are looking for new and innovative ways to interact with their purchases as well as their favorite brands. Satisfactory post-purchase experiences have become essential to retain customer loyalty and engagement in the long run. The solution: Authlink Mobile Vault creates a secure space for customers to manage the digital twins of all their past purchases and explore new opportunities to connect with them. Through the vault, users can stay updated with all the new developments of their favorite brands and also get their product-related queries promptly addressed. Using the intelligent digital identities, consumers can also unlock interactive product tutorials, warranty and insurance details, product care, reorder and consumables information, and much more. It is also a great way to take complete ownership of all product related data. Benefits like these will help boost customer appeal towards brands and their products.

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Sorting the Real Diamonds From the Fake

Diamonds are highly popular across the world, and are unfortunately quite easy to forge. People often spend thousands of dollars to purchase diamonds which sometimes turn out to be fake ones. While there are systems in place to identify fake diamonds and prevent their circulation, they often manage to make their way to unsuspecting customers.

Is it possible to identify fake diamonds instantly? Yes, it is definitely possible, even without an expert nearby, to check if your diamond is real or not. Usually, the following factors can serve as talismans for diamond authenticity: Flaws in the diamond that make it imperfect but genuine: It is not often possible for someone who is not an expert to identify the smallest flaws in a diamond. However, some of the more noticeable imperfections on the gemstone can be spotted by anyone using a loupe. If the diamond looks too perfect and costs far less than you thought it would, then it is highly likely that the diamond is fake.

Fluorescence when the diamond is exposed to UV light: Verifying diamond fluorescence is a quick and easy way for verifying diamond authenticity. But this is not always the most reliable method to confirm genuineness on its own. When exposed to UV light, your real diamond is likely to glow in either blue, orange, yellow, pink or even green color. You can try looking up if your diamond is meant to glow, or move to another alternative for verifying its authenticity.

Rough exterior that is not adversely affected by sandpaper: Diamonds are quite rough, and are not easily damageable using sand paper. On the other hand, the exterior of  fake diamond is likely to get tarnished at the slightest rub with sandpaper. Therefore, an effective way to check for diamond authenticity at home is by rubbing sandpaper gently against the diamond’s exterior surface.

Easily noticeable and testable heat conductivity signs: Something that you would notice about a real diamond is that it conducts real quite well. For instance, if you breathe towards the gemstone and create a fog on the surface, it will disappear almost instantly in case of genuine diamonds. However, it will take a longer while for the moisture to disappear if the diamond is not real.

An officially generated diamond certificate, preferably digital: GIA certificates have been used for  a really long time to reassure customers about the authenticity of their diamond purchases. In many cases, this is indeed a tried and tested way to check if your diamond is real. However, recent cases of certificate forging have raised question marks all over its effectiveness in ensuring diamond quality and authenticity. However, digital certificates are gaining popularity, and happen to be a great way to securely manage diamond data and check for authenticity.

How can Authlink help you ensure diamond authenticity? The Authlink platform enables gemstone blockchain solutions to help diamond brands and customers to authenticate their diamonds by creating verifiable digital certificates. All diamond-related data is securely uploaded in the Authlink ecosystem, and cannot be tampered with or manipulated by counterfeiters. Customers can safely manage their diamond data online while taking full ownership and control of related transactions. Diamond businesses can also share certificates easily with their customers at the time of purchase, and reduce the risk of the certificates getting duplicated or misused. Moreover, customers can transfer ownership of their products securely in the digitally fortified platform. The platform also ensures end-to-end diamond traceability so that the provenance and journey of each gemstone can be tracked from start to finish.

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Can Blockchain Tackle Fake Wine and Spirits Sales?

It is quite difficult to distinguish between fake and real alcohol, and people who purchase counterfeited ones don’t realize it until it is too late. Unfortunately, based on The World Health Organizations’ reports, 25% of the alcohol consumed worldwide is unrecorded. In fact, fake alcohol has also become a top cause of death for tourists travelling in unfamiliar locations. Sales have grown exponentially during the pandemic period as well.

What are the major risks of fake wine and spirits circulation?

The rise in counterfeit alcohol sales is undesirable for several reasons, particularly the following:

It reduces customer trust for genuine wine and spirits brands

Spiked alcohol can be fatal, and is extremely harmful for health

It causes huge monetary losses for authentic wine brands

How can blockchain solutions help curb fake alcohol sales? Blockchain technology has gained popularity among wine and spirits brands looking to improve business efficiency and customer engagement. Recent trends have also proved that it is helpful in identifying and curbing fake alcohol sales in the following ways: Creates smart labels or NFCs for each bottle for instant verification: Verifying wine and spirits authenticity usually tends to be a tricky process, but it is simplified using blockchain technology. It is possible to use smart QR code solutions to create smart labels for each bottle. Any customer with a smartphone can simply scan the label to access detailed information about the product and instantly verify authenticity. NFCs are attached to bottle caps so that it becomes hard to replicate the brand’s unique data design once the seal is broken.

Digitizes all bottle data for better management and security: Keeping paper-based records of bottle information is risky, particularly because it is easy to manipulate and tamper with. A much safer option is to digitize all product information and store it as irrefutable records in the blockchain network. All bottle-related transactions get automatically updated under unique digital assets and are easily accessible when required.

Makes each bottle provenance traceable from the vineyard to the shelf: Blockchain enables end-to-end wine traceability that benefits both brands and customers. Detailed provenance data gets recorded in the blockchain network, which further improves business transparency among customers. Brands can ensure that their bottle data remains accurate and traceable from start to finish, and thereby protect their consumers from purchasing counterfeit bottles.

Prevents the functioning of unauthorized sales pathways: Grey marketing and moonlighting are common issues in the wine and spirits industry, and it is not often practical to take preventive measures. However, implementing blockchain wine solutions is a great way to tackle the problem and shut down unauthorized sales pathways once and for all.

Empowers customers to find out product data by themselves: Through simple smartphone scans, it is possible for customers to trace the origin of wine bottles right from the store, and figure out authenticity on their own. This is generally a time-consuming and expensive process, but bottle digitization makes things quick and cost-effective.

Offers detailed updates on bottle counterfeiting trends and hotspots: Blockchain-driven platforms like Authlink enable brands to access accurate analytics on counterfeiting trends across their store locations. This helps brands understand relevant counterfeiting issues and come up with best solutions to curb them. This is a great way to take preventive measures and get rid of the issue once and for all in the future.

Why is the Authlink platform ideal for implementing wine blockchain strategies?

Wine and spirits brands rely on Authlink’s blockchain-driven services to protect their bottle authenticity for the following reasons:

Simple and easy-to-use platform

Seamless supply chain management

Quick bottle authentication across the digital ecosystem

Traceable digital identities for each bottle

Real-time insights and analytics

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The Rise of Digital Identities in Today’s Business World

The latest digital technologies are transforming the way people do business. Outdated approaches towards products and customers won’t make the cut for brands hoping to stand out from the crowd. That is why major business organizations are choosing to digitize their products and services. When it comes to creating a digital identity, blockchain technology is the right way to go.

What are digital identity solutions, and why are they so popular?

A digital identity (also known as an NFT) is created to mirror the journey and transactions related to a physical product on the blockchain network. Brands enable digital product identities using blockchain systems for the following reasons:

1. To ensure end-to-end traceability of each physical product along the supply chain system:

Creating digital products makes it possible to track, trace and record provenance from start to finish. It helps in ensuring accountability for each link in the supply chain, and boosts efficiency in managing products.

Example: A meat product is processed several times until it reaches the customer, and there needs to be multiple quality, safety and health standards followed along the way. By enabling meat traceability from the farm to the table using digital identities, meat brands can ensure that all the steps happen smoothly, and that all the right practices are followed.

2. To employ digital anti-counterfeiting solutions that protect product authenticity and brand integrity:

Blockchain technology makes it possible for brands to protect their product data by storing it under secure digital assets. All valuable business documents and certificates can be kept safe from manipulation and tampering. This is a great way to tackle counterfeiting issues across the supply chain, and also safeguard brand integrity.

Example: The luxury goods industry is highly prone to counterfeiting issues. By assigning digital identities to each valuable product, luxury brands can prevent unauthorized sales, keep up with counterfeiting trends, and so on.

3.To deepen the connection and interaction between products and customers digitally:

By employing intelligent labelling solutions using digital product identities, brands can create digital experiences for their customers, and also boost product-consumer interactions. NFTs also make it possible for customers to access worthwhile post-purchase benefits.

Example: The competitiveness of the beauty industry makes it difficult for growing brands to make a mark. In such cases, digitization can go a long way in connecting consumers to their products, and helping them make the most of their purchases.

What makes the Authlink platform ideal for creating digital products?

As it has been established, the creation of smart product identities offers brands a feasible way to stay ahead of the competition, and eventually boost sales. The Authlink platform operates with blockchain technology, and offers the following benefits for business organizations looking to digitize their products:

Time and cost effectiveness in digital identity management

Security in storing digital asset data 

Convenience in tracking digital product status in real-time

Ease in transferring and disabling the ownership of digital assets

Is your brand interested in digitizing products through blockchain? Sign up for a free 12 month trial of Authlink beta here, or sign up for a demo of the platform here.

Find out more about our services at https://authlink.com

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Can Blockchain Ease Hallmarking Processes and Speed Up Operations?

There has been rising concern among jewelers regarding the complications in the prevalent hallmarking system, which mandates that the unique ID (HUID) of each jewelry product be verified and uploaded in the official system. This move has caused a lot of trouble for jewelers, as manually uploading the HUID number of every single piece of jewelry requires a lot of resources and effort. Unfortunately, not many hallmarking centres are properly equipped to deal with high volumes of jewelry verification requests, and it is causing further inefficiencies and delays in inventory management. 

Moreover, the process of authenticating jewelry consumes a lot of time and requires technical knowledge. The process of hallmarking each product is too prolonged and causes businesses setbacks of around 5-7 days, which negatively impacts sales. Also, the new system has been criticized for being a tracking mechanism. 

Considering the dissatisfaction and unrest that the recently introduced system has caused among jewelers, there has been growing demand for a more practical system to take care of jewelry hallmarking procedures. 

Current role of blockchain in the jewelry industry

In recent years, gemstone blockchain solutions have gained popularity among jewelry manufacturers, suppliers and customers. Such solutions help jewelers issue digital certificates for their customers directly at the time of purchase, which is a more secure and feasible alternative to paper certificates. They also help in tracking valuable products along the supply chain in real-time, which boosts cost and time efficiency of jewelry businesses. The data security that blockchain technology provides has made it an obvious choice for jewelers looking to improve their product management efforts. 

Integrating blockchain technology into hallmarking systems

Similar to jewelry businesses, official systems that are currently in place for jewelry hallmarking can fix their existing flaws by adopting blockchain technology. This works best through a safe and simple-to-use platform like what Authlink offers. The Authlink platform consists of a range of digitally-driven solutions that can help officials address jeweller’s demands more effectively than any other currently available solutions.

Authlink simplifies the switch from monotonous manual data entry systems to a digital and automated platform. Each jewelry product is assigned an intelligent digital identity  which makes it easy to verify and manage.

Each jewelry package is also provided with a smart label that can be scanned to access the product ID. This rules out the need to waste resources on verifying the IDs of each piece of jewelry; everything gets digitally automated. 

Traditional methods of jewelry authenticity take an unnecessary amount of time, and it causes major dents in the jeweler’s wallet. However, the Authlink platform offers a simple yet effective space to get jewelry authenticated in a matter of minutes. Processes that usually take hours and hours can be completed far more productively, and this eventually boosts overall business efficiency as well. 

Businesses deserve to protect their data privacy, and prevent confident information from getting shared with outsiders or external parties. This also increases the risk of their valuable product data getting manipulated, copied or tampered with. In the Authlink platform, all uploaded data is given the highest level of privacy and security, which official systems can benefit from.

Find out more about our services at https://authlink.com

Click here to schedule a free demo of the Authlink platform and get a clear idea of how it works. 

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Digital Alternatives to Curb Growing Fake Diamond Certification Cases

There has been a sharp spike in cases of misusing diamond authentication certificates in recent years

The Surat city police recently uncovered a racket involving inferior diamonds being sold with genuine GIA certifications. Valuables worth Rs 11 lakh, twenty-four GIA certificates and five low-quality diamonds were seized from diamond trader Dharmesh Patel. Police investigations are still underway to determine the authenticity of the GIA certificates used for the scam.

The original certificates were procured from other businessmen who had not given them to their customers during purchase. Businessmen with low experience were victimized through the racket, and they were sold inferior diamonds with laser-inscribed numbers matching those given in genuine certificates. A similar incident has also been reported by the GIA in Mumbai, and the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council of India is trying to bring awareness to curb the problem.

The Gemological Institute of America developed diamond certifications in order to protect diamond authenticity and ensure that proper quality standards are being followed. However, the scam in the well-known diamond market hub of Surat has thrown light on the flaws in the system, and has proven that such certifications alone are not fully effective in curbing scammers.

Under the existing system, ensuring the authenticity of each diamond certificate is a lengthy process that is neither time nor cost-efficient. This makes it easy for scammers to get away with the crime. A simple solution for this problem is to bring awareness among customers, but that too is not always practical when done manually. Clearly, ensuring diamond security is not as simple as it sounds, and the recent incident calls for a more feasible alternative to paper diamond authenticity certificates.

Based on industry trends, it appears that digitizing diamond certificates with gemstone blockchain solutions is the most efficient solution for protecting and verifying diamond authenticity. The Authlink platform is blockchain-driven, and enables diamond brands and customers to trace, manage and verify their product certificates. Issuing digital blockchain verified certificates for each physical diamond makes it quite simple to manage and authenticate data. Unlike physical certificates, digitally-managed data remains tamper-proof and irrefutable.

Diamond sellers can automatically generate digital certificates for consumers at the time of purchase, which ensures that each certificate is accounted for. It becomes next to impossible for scammers to sell inferior products when each diamond is associated with a genuine document.

Find out more about our services at https://authlink.com You can also request for a free demo of our platform. Click here to request a demo