TikTok is working with Entrupy, a maker of product-authentication technology, to offer handbag-authentication services on its new e-commerce platform, TikTok Shop, Entrupy announced Wednesday.
The partnership reflects a growing effort to build trust in TikTok Shop as the social-media company looks to establish itself as a shopping destination.
Entrupy works with retailers, resellers on online marketplaces, and other merchants who want to show prospective buyers that their items are authentic. It expanded to TikTok Shop in response to a growing demand for its services on the platform.
The technology works on handbags made by several luxury brands, including Burberry, Chanel, Hermès, and Prada. Entrupy plans to eventually expand to other luxury categories on TikTok Shop.
“The scale at which online commerce is emerging, especially on social-media platforms, is just phenomenal,” Vidyuth Srinivasan, Entrupy’s CEO and founder, told Insider. “But anywhere there is commerce, you’re going to have counterfeits.”
TikTok and Entrupy have worked together since TikTok Shop launched in beta earlier this year. TikTok’s policies prohibit merchants from selling secondhand, used, or open-box products unless they have been invited and approved to do so. Resellers must use a third-party authentication service — either Entrupy or Real Authentication — to resell luxury handbags on TikTok Shop, according to the policies.
A TikTok spokesperson declined to comment further for this story.
Entrupy’s users receive a handheld microscope that attaches to an iPod or iPhone and takes detailed photos of various parts of an item, such as the leather grain or its logos. They then upload those images and some metadata to the cloud, which runs the information through Entrupy.
Its artificial intelligence has been trained to detect abnormalities and judge whether an item is fake, Srinivasan said. If an item is deemed authentic, a certificate will be displayed to prospective buyers on the listing. Entrupy, which sellers pay for on a subscription basis, also provides a financial guarantee that protects sellers in the event of a dispute.
“It ensures that customers who buy from these businesses have that complete trust and the feeling of safety and peace of mind that it’s not only that seller who’s telling me this is real — it’s also a third party, which is not invested in the transaction, being able to say the same thing and provide guarantees,” Srinivasan said.
Srinivasan said that 8% to 12% of the items Entrupy evaluated were found to be not authentic.
Building trust on TikTok Shop
The partnership comes as TikTok appears to be building a team focused on pre-owned luxury goods. It’s hiring a “head of pre-owned luxury,” whose job would be to “develop the go-to-market strategy, prioritize key initiatives, and build and lead a team of sellers” for the pre-owned-luxury category on TikTok, according to the job description.
Providing authentication services could make TikTok Shop appealing to resellers of luxury items online. TikTok could also compete with marketplaces such as The RealReal, StockX, and eBay, which invested heavily in authentication programs to drive sales. For example, eBay started authentication efforts with sneakers before expanding to watches and handbags.
The focus on authentication could indicate that TikTok wants to encourage sellers to sell higher-cost items on the platform. The question of authenticity can be a barrier to consumers wanting to make a purchase, especially from a reseller.
“If they’re not buying from retail, there’s always this question in the back of their minds, am I being had? Is there some kind of a scam here?” Srinivasan said. “Our goal was to completely eliminate that question with a lot of transparency with technology at scale and, of course, with accuracy.”
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