"100% Authenticity Guaranteed"... Shinsegae International's 'SI Village' Launches Digital Certificate

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Shinsegae International announced on the 2nd that its online platform 'SI Village' will implement a digital certificate of authenticity service guaranteeing 100% genuine products for items sold.

In August, Shinsegae International partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to begin developing a blockchain-based digital certificate system. This initiative aims to build trust with customers and strengthen its own competitiveness in the online luxury market, where parallel imports and counterfeit products are rapidly increasing.

The digital certificate service will be initially applied to 25 high-end luxury brands sold on SI Village. This includes popular in-house luxury brands such as Maison Margiela, Chlo?, Herno, Brunello Cucinelli, Alexander Wang, and Sacai, as well as numerous officially registered overseas brands on SI Village like Golden Goose and Boon the Shop.

The digital certificate can be verified through the product detail page of the respective brand and is issued seven days after product delivery is completed. Customers can view the certificate on the SI Village mobile website and application. The issued certificate will be deleted if the product is exchanged or returned.

SI Village’s digital certificate is based on blockchain technology, which is tamper-proof and enhances security, eliminating risks such as loss, damage, or forgery. It also contains various information including purchase history, receipt date, seller, and purchase location, allowing customers to easily verify product details and authenticity anytime and anywhere.

Shinsegae International plans to further develop functions to transfer ownership of the product and assign the certificate, ensuring authenticity during secondhand transactions or resale and preventing the resale of stolen products.

To celebrate the launch of the digital certificate service, SI Village is offering a 5% discount coupon (excluding some products) on items with digital certificates issued until the 31st. Customers can receive up to a 50,000 KRW discount on purchases over 100,000 KRW.

A Shinsegae International official stated, “Although luxury platforms selling high-priced overseas products are rapidly increasing, there are not many places where customers can confidently verify the ‘power authenticity’ of the products they purchase.” He added, “As the only luxury platform selling 100% officially imported genuine products, we plan to take the lead in creating a trustworthy luxury sales environment.”