Online buyers face growing risk of getting fake products
25 Apr 2018
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While online shopping is growing tremendously in India, users are increasingly face the risk of ending up with counterfeit products.
Two recent surveys reveal that between 35 per cent and 40 per cent of consumers have received fake products after buying them online.
The Economic Times quoted the two surveys – one conducted by LocalCircles, and the other by Velocity MR – that reveal the increasing number of counterfeit products supplied to online buyers.
The LocalCircles survey had 6,923 respondents, of whom 38 per cent said they had received counterfeit products. “Among the leading ecommerce sites, consumers said they had received counterfeit products on Snapdeal at 12 per cent, while 11 per cent said Amazon and 6 per cent cited Flipkart, the survey showed,” said the paper.
The second survey conducted by market research platform Velocity MR – and with 3,000 respondents – indicated that every one out of three online shoppers received fake products while shopping online over the past six months.
The government is concerned about the growing instance of frauds, and the consumer affairs department plans to take steps to protect consumer interests. The government plans to release new guidelines which would result in ecommerce firms providing details including maximum retail price, manufacturing location and discounts.
