The term “gray market” can be used in multiple ways. The two primary usages of this term indicate a market for legal goods that is carried on in a manner that is not intended by the original manufacturer of the goods.

1. Combat Gray Market Sales Today
Rapid and innovative development in the internet technology have played in an essential role in
flourishing eCommerce and online shopping sites. There are times when you come across online
deals with attractive discounts and offer prices. Though it all seems lucrative at the first glance, but
there is a high chance of these products being duplicated by unapproved channels and sold at a
lesser or higher price. Hence, there is no guarantee that these products and their prices are
authentic. The internet today has given rise to gray market or parallel markets that sells faulty goods.
Defining Gray Market
The term “gray market” can be used in multiple ways. The two primary usages of this term indicate a
market for legal goods that is carried on in a manner that is not intended by the original manufacturer
of the goods. Generally, by itself gray market is not an illegal domain, and neither the products
purchased. However, it is highly unregulated and this it can lead to concerns for customers who buy
goods from the gray market channels.
For the consumers who are expecting authentic products and authentic manufacturer’s warranty will
be upset by gray market sales. Owing to the fact that is it disorganized and the channels are not
approved by original manufacturers there is a chance of faulty goods or duplicated goods entering
the market. This in turn results in customer dissatisfaction and loss of original brand reputation.
There have been cases where the products sold in gray market sales are outdated or old, no more
into use or have crossed their expiry date that have affected the consumers. This has an acute and
dangerous effect when it comes to the pharmaceutical industry with medicines being sold even after
their expiry date. All these put together results in health hazards, monetary loss and loss of
consumer goodwill.

2. How to combat Gray Market sales
Today service providers specializing in enterprise risk management has come up with innovative
solutions to combat gray market sales, that also helps you to retrieve the lost brand image and
market share by making the value chains tighter. These companies have set up an advanced web
mining and reporting technology that provides enterprise visibility beyond the supply chain. The
solution also provides a prioritized actionable data against any kind of fraud practices. The solution
enables end users to halt counterfeits and gray market sales and can also monitor a wide selection of
sources globally that includes B2B sites, auctions, and gray market emails and many more. The
moment a fraudulent activity is detected, the supply data are prioritized and analyzed within the
solution and offered to take the necessary actions.
Read More About: Counterfeiting, Brand Management, Anti-Counterfeiting