Lacoste claims online availability of its products as fakes

As e-tailing flourishes and online shopping reaches Tier II, III cities, major brands have

to now deal with the problem of fakes. Import of fakes and grey market sale of brands like Lacoste, Puma, Benetton, Canon and Nikon is turning to be a major problem. These labels are now putting in efforts to stop such illegal imports by negotiating with top online platforms. But despite their intervention, in case of Lacoste, for instance, discounted products of brand continue to be available online with lead portals.

Lacoste doesn't sell its range online but fakes of the label like polo T-shirt are available anywhere between Rs 600 and Rs 1,200 against the original ones priced about Rs 3,000 a piece in stores. Lacoste says that the discounted products sold online under its brand name are either sourced through unauthorised channels or fakes.

The company had earlier sent letters to many such e-commerce platforms that engaged into selling discounted Lacoste. The products were also removed from their sites for a few days but now they are back to lure customers.

On the other hand, the brand is aggressively planning to expand its India footprint through the franchise route. Lacoste’s product portfolio includes clothing, footwear, leather goods, perfumes, eyewear and watches. Lacoste India is a strategic alliance between Lacoste and Sports and Leisure Apparel (SLA). The SLA has the exclusive rights to manufacture Lacoste branded garments in India and distribute/market Lacoste branded garments in India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The SLA also has exclusive rights to distribute/ market Lacoste branded footwear in the country and Maldives.