Image from left: Australia Post executive general manager parcels and StarTrack CEO Bob Black; Blackmores CEO Christine Holgate; Hon Steven Ciobo MP, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment; managing director of Alibaba Group Australia and New Zealand Maggie Zhou; PwC Australia CEO Luke Sayers.
Australia Post, ecommerce giant Alibaba and vitamins brand Blackmores have joined forces to combat counterfeit goods.
This partnership comes after Australia Post and Alibaba signed an agreement last month to extend Australia Post online storefronts beyond China to Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
The storefronts will operate on Southeast Asia’s leading ecommerce network Lazada, which Alibaba has a majority stake in, creating a powerful online platform for Australian businesses to sell products to the millions of consumers across the region.
Australia Post executive general manager parcels and StarTrack CEO, Bob Black, said the fraud project would help guarantee genuine products arrive safely into the hands of Chinese consumers.
The companies are focusing specifically on food products and will explore technologies including blockchain to track food exports from paddock to plate.
“The initiative will leverage our secure, reliable and fast service to support the authentication of Australian products bound for the Chinese market,” he said.
“Our food producers have a global reputation as being a clean, green and safe provider of food and we are pleased to help deliver a solution to enhance the integrity of their produce.”
Food fraud is known to be one of the biggest issues facing the global food industry, considering the potential health risks associated with adulteration and loss of trust from consumers and governments.
In recent years counterfeiters have targeted popular Australian products such as health supplements, beer and wine, honey and cherries.
In other news
On Retailbiz this week we have a piece from Helen Masters about what Aussie retailers can learn from Topshop’s omnichannel strategy. The retailer’s announcement that it is launching an Australian e-commerce platform has caught the eye of many local retailers. Check Helen’s piece out here.
Another retailer with plans to begin local operations is Amazon, which now expects to be fully operational by the end of 2018. Find more about that here, including how retailers can prepare for the increased competition.
Heard of Bikinihaus? We hadn’t until this week, when we discovered the Berlin shopping centre. The concept mall is located in a heritage-listed complex with views of a monkey enclosure. It’s well worth a look so check that out here.
And finally, a buyer has been found for troubled NZ retailer Pumpkin Patch. You can read about the acquisition by the Catch Group here.
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