Product Authentication System

Three Components

• Unique code and label: every unit receives an unpredictable code, printed on the label and preferably hidden under a scratch layer.
• Database: every code is on record — which batch, when produced, how many times queried.
• Verification screen: what the customer sees after scanning. Plain, unambiguous, no jargon.

Why Codes Must Be Unique

If all products share one QR code, the system verifies nothing. A counterfeiter copies a single genuine label onto millions of units and every one returns "genuine". Authentication only means something because each code exists exactly once.

What the Database Holds

The code, its batch, production date, status (active, queried, cancelled), first query time, total query count, approximate query region, and which dealer or territory the range was shipped to.

Setup Sequence

1. Scope: product groups, annual volume, target markets. Code length and infrastructure are sized from these.
2. Code generation: unpredictable values, uniqueness-checked, written to the database.
3. Label design: code placement, size and scratch area, matched to brand identity.
4. Verification screen: mobile-first, on your own domain.
5. Pilot: a limited run tested on real phones in the field.
6. Production and monitoring: full volume, with query data accumulating.

Host It on Your Own Domain

A customer redirected to an unfamiliar address does not trust the result. Running verification under a subdomain of your own site materially improves credibility.

Will Customers Actually Use It?

Honestly: not spontaneously. Scan rates are driven by communication — a clear call to action on the label, a brief explanation on the packaging, and ideally a small reward for the first query. Without those three, scan rates stay low.

What the Brand Gains

Query volume by batch, geographic distribution of scans, and clusters of repeat queries. Counterfeit distribution usually shows up as a regional concentration in that data long before it surfaces elsewhere.