“Cyber Monday” is upon us and the National Retail Federation expects more than 62.8 million consumers will buy online on that day, and millions more will buy on the days that follow. With that much online sales activity, you can expect that criminals will try and take advantage of the volume. Fake retailers using bogus websites and fraudulent listings on eCommerce marketplaces will lure unwary consumers with ads for big sales on popular gifts that are out of stock or hard to find elsewhere, according to Social Catfish, an online security site.

Here at IPSecure, our focus is protecting brands and revenue. Considering the explosion in online sales generated during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, we decided to take a look at some of the Best Selling Black Friday products on Amazon. eCommerce deals last all weekend, and our analysis was certainly not scientific. In addition, to keep it manageable, we focused on the Top 8 Black Friday deals on Amazon as of Saturday, November 27, 2021.

We found that most consumers (85%) who visit these listings will buy directly from Amazon. The remaining 15% who do not buy from Amazon, have about a 1 in 4 chance (25%) of buying from a suspicious, low-performing seller based on IPSecure’s scoring algorithm.

Amazon Black Friday Best Selling Deals

1. Apple AirPods Pro, $170, original price: $249
2. AeroGarden Harvest, $90, original price: $150
3. Apple Pencil (2nd Generation), $99, original price: $129
4. Honeywell Home RTH9585WF1004 Wi-Fi Smart Color Thermostat, $99, original price: $169
5. Artistic Weavers Store Chester Boho Moroccan Area Rug, $100, original price: $245
6. NutriBullet NB9-1301 Berry Pink Pro, $89, original price: $110
7. Revlon One-Step Hair Dryer And Volumizer Hot Air Brush, $35, original price: $60
8. Fitbit Inspire 2 Health & Fitness Tracker, $60, original price: $100

After uploading the ASINs for these Top 8 Black Friday Best Sellers, we identified and scored every seller offer, and found some interesting things.

• 159 different sellers are spread across the 8 best selling product listings
• 201 seller offers are attached to the 8 listings
• 10% of sellers are based outside the U.S.
• 30% of offers are both 2P and 3P offers from the same seller
• 60 sellers, or 37.74%, score below 0 - meaning they fail many or most of our algorithm checks
• 40% of sellers are 3P
• 3P sellers had 5-8 day shipping times vs. Amazon’s 2-day shipping
• 25% of 3P sellers had negative feedback 20% or greater within the last 30-days
• 10% of 3P sellers had negative feedback of 70% or greater within the last 30-days
• Across all product listings, Amazon was the Buy Box winner 90% of the time

Based on our findings, 85% of consumers who visit these listings will buy from Amazon. The remaining 15% of consumers, which can be sizable for a platform that received 2.7 billion visits in June 2021 (desktop +mobile), have about a 1 in 4 chance they buy from a suspicious, low-scoring seller.

Clearly, it’s important for brand owners and eCommerce managers to double down on their anti-counterfeiting and brand protection efforts. If your online sales increase significantly during Cyber Monday, then it's logical and prudent to assume that the volume of infringements and unauthorized sellers will also increase.

For the holidays, some companies hire additional employees to help with monitoring and enforcement. However, this isn’t cost-effective. Getting new personnel fully trained and up to speed takes time and resources. To help businesses process the increased number of infringements, companies should consider hiring anti-counterfeiting monitoring and enforcement vendor. Here’s what to look for when considering buying third-party brand protection software to help mitigate counterfeiting activities during the holiday season.

Range of Detection. Criminals use multiple channels to target online buyers, so brand protection software must have the capability to scan multiple sources and platforms, including social media, search engines, eCommerce platforms, as well as websites. Having the ability to scan multiple platforms is crucial for a brand owner, but don’t go overboard. Focus on where a company or brand generates the most sales or consumer engagement during the holiday cycle.

Automated Enforcement. Because infringement happens on multiple channels, good brand protection software should also offer brand owners a simple, automated process to enforce against detected infringements. As IPSecure explained in a previous blog post about effective cease and desist letters, it’s important to have an automated process to generate and send these letters to infringers and also a process to send complaints to eCommerce marketplaces.

Measuring Success. Because anti-counterfeiting and brand protection software is a financial investment, it’s important that the software be able to report metrics that accurately determine the success of detection and enforcement efforts. Having the right measurements of success is crucial. Remember, when it comes to measuring success on marketplace platforms like Amazon, effectiveness is determined by tracking whether authorized sellers are winning the Amazon Buy Box more frequently. Not all brand protection software looks at Buy Box data. Instead, most solutions focus on product listing content, like images, because that is where copyrighted images or trademarks appear. Brand owners need the right software to show the right impact and effectiveness of their anti-counterfeiting efforts.

Finally, during the holidays, IPSecure recommends brand owners consider enrolling in marketplace brand protection programs. Some marketplaces like Amazon and eBay have special programs that allow brand owners to list their product names, trademarks and services in a database. Platforms use this collected information to police infringing listings and expedite reporting of counterfeits to you. Some of these platforms require enrollment before you can submit a counterfeit complaint or report, so it is worth looking into enrollment if you detect a lot of infringing product listings in these marketplaces.

IPSecure strongly believes that online monitoring and takedown efforts are closely coordinated with the eCommerce sales and marketing teams, especially as it relates to Amazon. By closely coordinating tactical steps, positive inverse correlations can and do happen. When a company doubles down on its anti-counterfeiting efforts, it can increase sales making every Friday, a “Black Friday” during the holiday season.

For more information, or to start protecting your brand on Amazon in minutes, visit ipsecure.com and sign up today!