The fragrance market is, unfortunately, one that is often targeted by counterfeiters. It is also one that attracts a high proportion of “conscious consumers” who increasingly demand to know more about the products they enjoy, including their origins. As a result of both of these factors, there is greater interest among consumers today for transparency in the fragrance products they acquire.

Because of this, some luxury fragrance companies are turning to RFID, NFC and QR codes to reassure their customers of their products’ authenticity. France-based Bastille Parfums emphasizes sustainable and natural fragrances, and in conjunction with Avery Dennison, is utilizing RFID and QR codes to ensure transparency for their customers. The young French company is rolling out the new technology on Pleine Lune, its best-selling fragrance, and Paradis Nuit, its newest fragrance.

Bastille Parfums CEO Sophie Maisant said that Bastille has been partnering with Avery Dennison for a little more than a year, having met Maryna Grytsenko-Nénon, market development Europe, RFID Beauty & Personal Care for Avery Dennison, during the Cosmetic 360 trade show in Paris.

“For Bastille, one of the key aspects of our DNA as a fragrance brand is transparency and full disclosure, and this led us to embrace this project,” Maisant said. “We already confirm and disclose all of our ingredients, which is unusual for the cosmetic industry, and with RFID we can go a step forward by providing the consumer with all of the information. You can actually be sure the product you have in your hands is an authentic product.”

Maisant said that the RFID label NFC and QR codes allow consumers to trace the origins of the products they are using, connecting to an app with all of the information on it. Bastille uses Avery Dennison’s atma.io connected product cloud platform to track every product at every step of the supply chain from source to consumer, as well as to provide analytics data.

“We have a label with the RFID embedded in it, and a QR code to scan,” said Maisant. “The NFC and QR code allow the consumer to trace the product, as well as provide a nice experience. On the app, you first land on the product ID, which is unique to each individual item, providing the manufacturing date and date of bottling.

“As you scroll down, you start to access a lot of information about sourcing, ingredients, where they are coming from, then the base notes and olfactory values and other information – it is a way to engage with the consumer,” Maisant added. “It complements all of the information we offer on our website.”

There are also supply chain and inventory benefits from the RFID labels.

“There is an excellence it brings in terms of supply chain management – as soon as you equip all of your products with RFID, you can trace production live and follow our products from point A to point B,” said Maisant. “It offers full visibility on the supply chain as well. And further down the line, inventory management can be done in a matter of minutes.”

There were some challenges, beginning with getting everyone on board with the project.

“The biggest challenge is probably to make sure all of your stakeholders are fully on board from day one, and fully see where you want to take the brand,” Maisant pointed out. “We had to convince our manufacturing and logistic companies to get on board, and everyone put in the effort.”

Grytsenko-Nénon noted that cosmetics and beauty are a perfect application for RFID, which is reflected in the growth the company is seeing.

“Brands in this space want to ensure transparency, supply chain optimization and effective management of expiry dates with high accuracy,” said Grytsenko-Nénon. “Small items such as makeup are well suited to RFID tagging, as the application can take up significantly less space on the item than a barcode, leaving more ‘real estate’ for branding or interactive elements. Cosmetics and beauty consumers particularly care about the origins or their items. RFID, NFC and QR codes can all help convey this information and provide brands with interactive features that their customers will enjoy.”

Maisant said that Bastille sees more opportunities for RFID, NFC and QR code technology.

“We started the journey to disclose what we wish to, but there is no end to what we can ultimately disclose,” Maisant observed. “When we have shared the technology, everyone has been impressed with how easy it is and it is very well accepted. Hopefully we will deploy this throughout our whole line – starting with our best seller, Pleine Lune, and Paradis Nuit, our newest fragrance.”