Rakuten and Techrock Collaborate To Prevent Counterfeiting of Blockchain-based Products

By Rishma Banerjee

Leading Japanese e-commerce giant, Rakuten has recently collaborated with Techrock, which is a blockchain-based supply chain and e-commerce company, in an effort to bring verifiably authentic Japanese consumer goods to the Chinese market.

Techrock is a company which provides end-to-end product tracking and authentication for consumer products.

The decentralised nature of blockchain and its integration with real-time smart packaging tech (i.e., NFCs) is perfect for uploading the conditions of products being shipped to a shared, immutable ledger. Techrock has been a pioneer of similar work, and has collaborated with several enterprises to secure, monitor, and ensure the authenticity of cross-border products throughout the supply chain.

In the official press release, Rakuten’s Vice Senior Manager of Global Trading & Flagship Section, Ye Jianyou noted,

“Techrock’s anti-counterfeit technology allows Chinese consumers to verify they have received a genuine Rakuten product, giving a unique value advantage for cross-border e-commerce.”

Techrock will be offering integrated banking-level security and NFC smart packaging to Rakuten, where products can be ‘touched’ by a smartphone with a Techrock label in order to upload the NFC chip status to the network. The level of security becomes stronger as more people that touch the label.

Alex Busarov, the CEO of Techrock, in a press release, said,

“We’re very excited to be able to provide millions of Chinese consumers with Rakuten’s high-demand, quality Japanese products, and work together to improve cross-border e-commerce as it exists now.”

Rakuten has been trying to improve its product tracking in multiple industries with e-commerce platforms like Techrock, as well as other Chinese giants JD.com and Kaola.

Techrock also offers an ever-expanding portfolio of products from several markets that are sourced from their specialized sourcing team and can be found either in offline retail stores or through their WeChat store.

Counterfeit products spanning across multiple industries from cosmetics to pharmaceuticals are gradually becoming a global problem. It has been estimated that the global anti-counterfeit packaging market can reach nearly $185 billion by 2025. This is leading major online retailers like Rakuten to seek solutions like those offered by Techrock in increasing numbers.

Rakuten, who recently launched their official wallet has been accepting Bitcoin payments since 2015 when it was integrated with Bitnet – the U.S. payment processor.

Rakuten will be opening exclusive ‘zones’ for products inside of Techrock’s retail channel, which would also allow the integration of ‘cross-ecosystem integration’ of the platforms’ loyalty points programs.

Together, Rakuten and Techrock are looking to utilize their association to work in the field of blockchain traceability and consumer insights with their partnership.