With the rise in online shopping and eCommerce, there has also been an increase in gray market products that are sold through these online portals. Simply put, gray market products are generally illegal and are sold outside the original distribution channel of an enterprise with no consent from the original manufacturer. Going by the nature of the gray market, it becomes complicated to keep track of the exact sales at the source.

1. How to Combat Grey Market Sales?
With the rise in online shopping and eCommerce, there has also been an increase in gray market
products that are sold through these online portals. Simply put, gray market products are generally
illegal and are sold outside the original distribution channel of an enterprise with no consent from
the original manufacturer. Going by the nature of the gray market, it becomes complicated to keep
track of the exact sales at the source.
When you are browsing the internet for your choicest cosmetic product or mobile accessory you
come across numerous websites selling them. At the first glance the offer might look attractive and
authentic along with the discounts and services offered but the chances of these being gray market
products are high. This indicates that there is a huge chance that the mobile, cosmetic or lifestyle
good that you choose online might be faulty or have crossed the expiry date and have been
remarked. Therefore, one needs to be cautious before purchasing them.
Gray market products lead to disruptions with the authentic distributions in the sales channel. The
original partners loose revenue to the gray market sales. Furthermore, it makes an original
enterprise lose its brand reputation, market share and consumer goodwill. Hence, companies today
are looking for effective ways to combat gray market sales.
Industry Solutions to Combat Gray Market
Service providers specializing in online brand management and protection solutions have come up
with high-end SaaS based software that enables end-users to combat gray market sales. The software
monitors the open market on an end-to-end basis for buy/sell listings of goods and part numbers
making use of advanced search agents. These search agents track detailed market data from a wide
range of market types that is comprised of the following:-

2. ● Franchise and large distribution websites
● Independent and gray market web sites
● Email-based forums that aggregate buy/sell listings
● Trade boards
● Auction sites
● Chat
● B2C sites
● Blogs
● B2B sites
This software has the capacity to directly deliver the data via a website to the end user in a compact,
multi-dimensional market intelligence format. Using this format the end users can attain
personalized dashboards, custom report views and even set up user formatted export files. All the
essential information is accessed and used within an intuitive interface. This further helps the
investigators to manage and develop case histories, assess evidence and understand the link
between partners, suspect companies and other associated contacts better.
Over the years, the internet has acted as a pivotal medium in giving rise; to gray market sales.
However, resorting to advanced brand protection solution will enable you to steer clear of gray
market sales.
Read More About: enterprise risk management, Anti-Counterfeiting