Alibaba invests in Smartrac to enhance brand protection

 

The Smartrac Technology Group (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) recently announced that the Chinese e-commerce and retail provider Alibaba Group will invest in the company, reinforcing both parties’ commitment to strengthening brand protection strategies. Michael Evans, president of Alibaba Group, will join Smartrac’s supervisory board.

Smartrac has developed a comprehensive suite of RFID-based solutions that utilise the company’s Internet of Things platform, Smart Cosmos. Smartrac’s IoT solutions enable brand product manufacturers to securely create and embed a unique digital identity into each individual product at the point of manufacture, at scale. This product identity can only be issued by the brand and cannot be faked, copied, stolen or lost. Thus, it provides full control and visibility of each genuine product throughout its product lifetime. In addition, brand owners can deliver exclusive and dynamic content to their consumers to increase customer engagement, loyalty and satisfaction, at the simple tap of a phone.

“At Alibaba, we are continuously innovating and partnering to provide market-leading solutions and highest levels of brand protection for our clients,” said Michael Evans, president of Alibaba Group. “We are thrilled to support Smartrac and together provide brands with innovative product authentication solutions at scale.”

“Smartrac provides premium product manufacturers and their customers with ultimate yet scalable solutions to protect and enhance brands”, said Christian Uhl, CEO and chairman of the management board, Smartrac Technology Group. “We feel honoured by Alibaba’s confidence that our technological expertise will provide brands and consumers with best-in-class product authentication and customer experience solutions”.

Caption: Christian Uhl, CEO of Smartrac (photo: Smartrac)