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Online monitoring assists in identifying counterfeiters

Wes Shepherd, CEO of Channel IQ, discusses monitoring Internet distribution so manufactures, distributors, and retailers can better understand their markets, and track gray market sales and potential counterfeiting.

Wes Shepherd
Wes Shepherd

Packaging World: What markets does Channel IQ serve, and describe the company's customer base?

Wes Shepherd: Channel IQ is in electronics, appliances, automotive parts, apparel, and is expanding in pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals, working with many of the biggest brands in those markets. Our customers are principally manufacturers, although we are seeing more distribution and retail clients that want the same data for different reasons. Ultimately, everyone is trying to gain better visibility and control in order to gain pricing information and competitive advantages and channel control, especially with respect to online retail endpoints. For a distributor, they can spot gray market sales and learn where they may have sold to somebody whom they weren’t supposed to sell a product to. They can also maintain their competitive stature by adjusting their own sale prices if they are able to. They are able to acquire more customers because we can bring back all of those retailers and show them who is selling like products. On the other side, manufacturers are typically trying to keep pricing in line with the market and making sure that their genuine products are making it through the right dealers to the right customers.

Packaging World: Pharmaceutical products carry considerable value, yet based on the fact that electronics represent your largest market, pharmaceuticals would seem to lag behind in terms of tracing their product through distribution. Why might that be?

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