Research Report

Digitised Products: Product Identity as Infrastructure.

The strategic decisions that define control, margin and trust.

Products are beginning to carry their own identity. This report explains how that shift is changing visibility, control and customer relationships, and what leaders need to decide now. Based on interviews with senior leaders across luxury, retail and consumer goods.

Developed in collaboration with Selinko, part of the Toppan Group.

Book cover titled 'Digitised Products: Product Identity as Infrastructure' with a dark abstract background and logos of Selinko, Toppan, and Pivot & Co.

Why this report matters

Most initiatives start in different places: compliance, RFID, digital product passports or customer engagement. They all lead to one decision.

Will these initiatives connect to one product identity, or create new ones?

When identity is unified, each initiative builds on the same foundation. When it is not, systems multiply and value fragments.

What is at risk

c. €20m

For a typical premium consumer goods or luxury company, this much annual operating value can remain unrealised when product identity is fragmented. The cost rarely appears as one obvious failure. It builds across margin leakage, service inefficiency, inventory drag and duplicated reconciliation.

See how this applies to your business

The four decisions leadership must take

To avoid fragmentation and retain control, leadership must decide four things early. This is where the report is most direct: product identity is not just a technology issue. It is a structural decision.

1

Define one item-level identity

One governed identity per product, used across the lifecycle.

2

Govern it centrally

Ownership must sit at enterprise level rather than within one function, pilot or vendor relationship.

3

Separate identity from technology

QR, RFID, NFC and other enablers must point to the same identity rather than create competing ones.

4

Integrate it into core systems

Identity must connect to operational systems before use cases scale.

Where unified product identity creates value

When identity is unified, value begins to appear across three operational levers. These are the levers the report returns to throughout: control, availability and trust.

Control

  • Earlier diversions detection

  • Reduced leakage

  • Less audit reliance

Outcome: Margin protection

Availability

  • Observed movement

  • More precise allocation

  • Lower stock-outs and markdowns

Outcome: Revenue and working capital protection

Trust

  • Verified product history

  • Fast after-sale

  • Resale enabled

Outcome: Secondary revenue and service margin

What you will learn

Four areas where early decisions shape whether product identity becomes infrastructure or fragments across systems, functions and partners.

The decisions that are hard to reverse

How early choices on identity, ownership and pilots determine long term control.

What unified identity unlocks

How organisations move from delayed reporting to real-time product signal, automation and AI.

Where value is already being created

How leading organisations improve availability, detect diversion earlier and make trust verifiable.

What leadership must decide

The non-delegable decisions that shape ownership, governance and lifecycle control.

Who this is for

Senior leaders responsible for digital, supply chain, customer experience and transformation. Particularly relevant for organisations managing complex distribution, high value products or resale and service models.

Expert Contributors

Featuring leaders from LVMH, Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Coty, Decathlon, Moët Hennessy, Salomon, GS1 and Aura Blockchain Consortium.

  • Portrait of a man with brown hair and beard wearing a light blue button-up shirt against a gray background.

    Benoit Aubas

    LVMH, Group Web3 Lead

  • Portrait of a smiling man in a dark suit and white shirt against a white background.

    Gaël Demenet

    Decathlon, Global VP Data & Analytics Customer Growth & Sports Experiences

  • A man with glasses wearing a dark blazer and white shirt, standing indoors with a textured wall background.

    Ian Curd

    Diageo, Connected Data Foundations Lead Global

  • Man with light brown hair wearing a dark blazer and white shirt, sitting against a light blue background.

    Nicolas Comestaz

    Coty, Vice President Global Data & AI CoE

  • A smiling man with short hair, a beard, and wearing a light blue shirt against a green background.

    Maël Tannou

    Pernod Ricard, Supply Chain and Customer Service Director

  • Portrait of a man with short dark hair, a mustache, and beard, wearing a black jacket and a white shirt against a light background.

    Luis Freitas

    Moët Hennessy, Senior Director Digital RTC & E-Commerce

  • A man with short hair and a beard smiling outdoors, wearing a suit and tie.

    Nicolas Belie

    Salomon, Head of Data Platform

  • A woman with short blonde hair smiling at the camera, in front of large tropical leaves.

    Camilla Young

    GS1 UK, Programme Lead - Next Generation of Barcodes

  • A man with dark hair and a beard, wearing a black blazer and shirt, standing indoors in front of a gold or yellow curtain.

    Davide Di Stefano

    Aura Blockchain Consortium, Partnerships & Business Development Manager

  • Professional headshot of a middle-aged man with short dark hair and a beard, wearing a dark suit jacket and a light blue shirt against a light gray background.

    Cédric Lecolley

    GS1 France, Sales & Community Engagement Director

Download the report

Understand how leading organisations are structuring unified product identity, and the decisions that determine control, margin and trust.

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What might this already be costing your business?

Our Product Identity Exposure Assessment is a short assessment designed to help you explore where fragmented product identity may already be weakening control, margin and trust in your business.

A presentation slide showing financial metrics. On the left, it states 'Estimated annual operating value at risk €27m.' On the right, it states 'With unified product identity €11m,' and below that, 'Estimated recoverable value €16m per year,' with a note about a 60% reduction representing value recovery through unified product identity.
Start the assessment

About the collaboration

This research brings together two complementary perspectives on product identity:

  • Selinko (Toppan) enables secure, persistent product identity embedded in the product itself.

  • Pivot & Co helps organisations design how that identity works across systems, functions and lifecycle.

Together, we support organisations in turning product identity into a scalable foundation for control, service and future value.