As we enter the New Year, we look back on 2024, which saw immense growth in the e-commerce sector.
According to Shopify, the global e-commerce market was estimated to be worth $6.09 trillion in 2024, representing an 8.4% increase over the previous year. The rapid growth of e-commerce is expected to continue in the future. However, with fast growth comes increasing threats from nefarious actors. If there’s one lesson to take away from 2024, it’s that brand protection in the e-commerce space is more crucial than ever before as we enter 2025.
In 2024, Amazon faced significant challenges related to fraudulent activities in its marketplace. A notable incident involved a group of fraudsters active on Telegram known as “Chin Chopa”, who allegedly orchestrated a scheme resulting in the theft of over 10,000 items through fraudulent returns, leading to losses exceeding $1.26 million for Amazon.
What’s more, the prevalence of fake reviews on e-commerce spaces continued last year, with a study conducted by Capital One indicating that up to 47% of reviews on significant e-commerce websites were suspicious.
These are just two examples of damaging fraudulent activities on e-commerce marketplaces, which emphasize the importance of continued efforts to protect both consumers and legitimate sellers from fraudulent activities in the New Year.
Protecting Intellectual Property (IP) in the Age of AI
Securing the IP rights of logos, written text, music, images, and other forms of media is a vital step towards protecting your brand name and its products on e-commerce marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, Temu, and Wish. With the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) models, threats to IP have never been more pervasive as this technology progresses at an unprecedented rate. AI-powered IP infringement has become so widespread that major companies are taking action. In December 2024, for example, Amazon and Universal Music Group (UMG) expanded their partnership to address the challenges posed by unlawful AI-generated content in the music industry.
AI services such as ChatGPT, OpenAI, and Gemini often produce content based on large datasets that include copyrighted material and IP. Like the music industry’s response to file-sharing services such as Napster in the late 90s and early 2000s, artists, brand builders, and other creators are sounding the alarm on AI’s unauthorized use of protected works. ChatGPT, for example, sees an estimated 3.66 billion monthly site visits.
In addition to AI threats, e-commerce platforms continue to grapple with unauthorized sellers and counterfeit products. When not monitored, these threats can damage the brands listing their products on e-commerce marketplaces financially and reputationally.
Common Threats to Brand Protection
As threats to IP, trademarks, copyrights, patents, and design rights have become rampant in e-commerce, brands must equip themselves with the right tools to flag these activities. In 2025, the most common threats to e-commerce brands include IP infringement, counterfeiting, unauthorized third-party (3P) selling, and grey market activity.
Counterfeiting alone has become such an issue in e-commerce that Amazon established the Counterfeit Crimes Unit (CCU) to work with law enforcement to address it head-on. In December 2024, for example, Amazon announced how it worked with networking hardware manufacturer Cisco to take down three individuals who sold as much as $1.5M in counterfeit products.
Similarly, unauthorized 3P sellers continue to sell products without permission, often leading to price erosion and compromised product quality. While 3P sellers may be dealing in genuine products, they do so outside of authorized supply chains, damaging a brand’s reputation and eroding consumer trust.
The Damage Caused by Brand Abuse
First, the abovementioned threats can negatively impact a brand’s bottom line. By utilizing GreyScout’s Lost Revenue Estimator, brands can estimate how much revenue can be lost to counterfeiting, grey market selling, and other threats. In addition to financial losses, e-commerce threats undermine consumer confidence in a brand.
Grey market activity, for example, bypasses official distribution networks and weakens authorized retailers, ultimately harming a brand’s reputation. For example, brands may be unable to honour the warranty of a product purchased from a 3P seller, impacting a customer’s experience with the brand.
Counterfeit goods can also cause reputational damage. While fake, these products are sophistically manufactured with advanced technologies, making them quite convincing to consumers. Counterfeits carrying a brand’s name and logo are visually similar but likely do not adhere to the brand’s quality standards. These products result in negative customer experiences, which can harm a brand’s image irreparably.
Steps to Protect Your Brand
Trademark protection is one of the most important defences against brand abuse. All trademarks, copyrights, and patents must be registered to establish legal ownership of IP and facilitate enforcement. Once IP is legally protected, 24/7 monitoring online marketplaces worldwide is vital.
With millions of product listings across dozens of marketplaces, automation is the only way to stay ahead of potential threats.
Automated brand protection software efficiently scans the web to identify 3P sellers, counterfeiters, grey market resellers, and other cyber criminals. Only when these threats are identified can a brand take the necessary actions. Enforcing your rights is equally important. Brands should be prepared to act on flagged products with legal tools such as issuing cease-and-desist letters to remove infringing listings.
Brand Protection Fueled by Technology
While AI has been used to harm e-commerce brands, other technologies have seen the brand protection industry move forward quickly to combat bad actors. Technology has played a vital role in brand protection, as automated tools and software have streamlined the monitoring of e-commerce platforms, detecting infringements, and enforcing rights.
Real-world examples underscore the importance of robust brand protection measures. Brands like NETGEAR and WaterWipes have successfully used GreyScout’s solutions to safeguard their products on e-commerce marketplaces, achieving significant reductions in unauthorized seller activity.
The Bottom Line
Businesses must prepare for the emerging brand threat in 2025 and beyond. As technology advances, brands operating in the e-commerce space must keep up with bad actors looking to harm their profits and reputation.
While e-commerce platforms such as Amazon provide their own set of brand protection tools, these can be pretty basic. Addressing evolving threats posed by tech-savvy bad actors requires additional measures. To thrive on the web, brand protection software like GreyScout has become vital in providing around-the-clock monitoring in the fast-paced and constantly evolving e-commerce landscape.
