Protecting Your Clients’ Profitability with Security Labels

In the United States, more than $600 billion — yes, that’s billion, with a “b” — is lost to merchandise counterfeiting each year. That’s 3% of the U.S. gross domestic product. That doesn’t count losses from other sources of fraud, such as theft or unauthorized returns. This is why selling security labels is such as valuable service to your clients.

Security labels may look unassuming, but they play a critical role in the safety, security, and profitability of your customers. Among their many roles, they ensure authenticity, provide secure tracking and tracing, deter counterfeiting, and prove that boxes or containers haven’t been opened or compromised. If the products are regulated, security labels protect your client from lawsuits or fines.

Buying More than Just a Label

It would not be an exaggeration to say that when your customers purchase security labels, they are buying a lot more than just a product.

• They are buying protection for their brands.
• They are buying protection for their customers.
• They are buying protection from lawsuits and regulatory fines.

In other words, they are buying protection for their bottom lines.

It’s no surprise, then, that we see security labels everywhere. We see them placed across access panels to industrial equipment to prevent unauthorized repairs. If someone tries to remove the sticker, the label self-destructs. We see them used for pricing on high-end electronics that if removed (say, in an attempt to commit fraud) reveal the word “VOID.” We enjoy the glittering of holographic labels on our favorite luxury brands, often not realizing that they also serve to ensure authenticity and deter counterfeiting.

We see security labels used for everyday safety, as well. Examples include non-removable labels on prescription bottles and tamper-prevention labels placed on bags of medical supplies that must remain sterile until opened.

Markets for Security Labels

Indeed, security labels are used in nearly every market:

• Automotive
• Aviation
• Retail products and packaging
• Consumer and industrial electronics
• Medical equipment
• Industrial equipment
• Pharmaceuticals
• Banking
• Events and ticketing

Just to name a few.

Every one of your clients likely needs or would benefit from security labels if you help them to see why.

How to Sell Security Labels

How do you sell security labels? Start with a client’s tolerance for risk. How much money do they lose every year through counterfeiting? Theft? Unauthorized returns? What is their legal liability if they deliver a product that has been improperly labeled or compromised in some way? What is the cost of negative public relations if they are fined for non-compliance with labeling regulations?

While we tend to associate security labels with expensive products, they are important for many small and mid-sized businesses, too. Door-to-door delivery services, such as GrubHub, often seal their delivery bags with security labels to assure customers that their meal hasn’t been touched since leaving the restaurant. Mom and pop shops can secure merchandise boxes to reduce employee theft. (“It’s just one candy bar out of the box. No one will notice.”)

The number of security applications is vast, with a nearly infinite number of applications. Each application may require a different combination of substrates, inks, laminates, and features to meet the client’s needs. How do you put the pieces of the puzzle together?

Questions to Get You Started

Here is a series of questions to ask to get started:

1. What is the intended use? Will the label be used for tracking? Identification? Counterfeit-prevention? Tamper-resistance?
2. What surface will it be adhered to? Will it be porous or non-porous? Will it be textured or smooth? Porous and textured substrates will require more adhesion than smooth, nonporous ones.
3. Will the label need to be removable? If so, how much residue is acceptable to be left behind? There is a trade-off between security and residue. The more secure the label, the more stickiness it requires.
4. Can the label be removable? Or, as in the case of pharmaceuticals or aviation parts, should it be difficult or impossible to remove?
5. If it can be removed, what type of tamper evidence makes the most sense? When peeled away, do you want a void message to be revealed? Should the label tear into pieces or peel away to reveal an underlying pattern? Should it change colors?
6. Will the label need to be protected from extreme elements such as water, extreme temperatures, gasoline, or chemical pollutants? Frozen foods may have temperature-sensitive labels that change colors if the food has been compromised by reaching temperatures that are too high or too low. Consumer electronics may have color-changing labels that indicate when a certain amount of moisture has been present. (For example, to let an Apple repair tech know that the reason the customer’s iPhone doesn’t work is because it has been dropped into the kitchen sink.)
7. Will the label be printed with additional security features? For example, holograms, microprinting, and fluorescent inks that only show up under black light.
8. Will it need to be printed with serial numbers or other variable text or images (such as barcodes or matrix codes)?
9. Will the label need to be laminated for extra protection? This is why we often see laminated security labels in the automotive, marine, and aviation markets, for example.

Helping a client design a security label is complicated, and much rides on getting it right. Wise has deep experience in security labels and keeps common substrates, such as silver and white void labels, in stock. This allows us not only to help you produce the right label for each application, but to turn them around quickly.

Security labels are an important market for distributors to pursue. Don’t trust them to just anyone.

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