Amazon intend to expand their Brand Registry program in the US to allow every brand to register their logo and products. The aim is to enable brand owners to more easily report counterfeit products as Amazon.
As well as manufacturers, private label brand and branded white label products owners can also join the program. Potentially it would also benefit creators of custom or hand-made products and companies with sole or exclusive distributors of a product on Amazon could also join the program.
The big benefit is that when you enrol your products in Amazon’s Brand Registry, they are assigned a GCID. Unlike an ASIN, a GCID is tied to the product (rather then an Amazon listing) and is the same world wide and will never be deprecated or merged.
Registering your products in Amazon’s Brand Registry and obtaining a GCID also removes the requirement to have a valid GTIN (UPC/EAN) which could be useful for smaller manufacturers. However as you’re likely to also want to sell other than on Amazon, you’ll probably still want a GTIN anyway.
Amazon Transparency Program
As well as giving brands easier ways to request Amazon to take down the violating listing and close seller accounts if they are infringing their IPs, Amazon also have a new Transparency program. By buying a product with a Transparency code, consumers can be confident that the product is genuine and easily find additional information about the item.
Manufacturers can place Transparency codes on their items at the point of manufacture to provide data about each item’s origins, authenticity, and more. Some manufacturers also offer more information about their products’ materials or ingredients.
Amazon are advising consumers that if the Amazon app or new Transparency app is unable to read the Transparency code (or if the app scans the code but is unable to verify the origin of the item) to contact Amazon customer service.
