20% online shoppers received fake product at least once in 12 months: Survey

New Delhi: Twenty percent online shoppers received a fake or counterfeit product at least once in the last 12 months. The highest percentage of counterfeit products sold on online platforms were in the shoes, cosmetics, and fragrance categories.

According to a national study by LocalCircles, the problem of consumers getting stuck with the wrong product when ordering online is continuing. 48% of online shoppers got stuck with a wrong product at least once in the last 12 months due to the return and refund policies of platforms.

Fake products sold:

Consumers allege that certain online sellers are taking advantage of the non-returnable product category and shipping different goods or in some cases, a counterfeit product. 1 in 5 such consumers surveyed confirmed receiving one or more counterfeit products, just in the last 12 months, with the highest percentage of fake products sold on e-commerce platforms being in the shoes, cosmetics, and fragrances categories.

The LocalCircles study received over 102,000 responses from online shoppers located in over 327 districts of the country. 63% of respondents were men while 37% of respondents were women. 41% of respondents were from tier 1, 28% from tier 2 and 31% respondents were from tier 3, 4, 5, and rural districts. What is noteworthy is that only 39% of consumers surveyed, who received a fake or counterfeit product from an online platform, were able to get a replacement product while 41% got stuck with it due to platform or seller terms or not raising the grievance.

Also, problematic is the fact that only 1 in 4 consumers surveyed say they found a direct way on eCommerce platforms to report a counterfeit or fake product receipt while 43% of them found no way of reporting fake products on the platforms. This works in favor of the bad sellers who are selling counterfeit by design as it delays their identification by the platform thereby leading to more consumers getting impacted.

Responses on E-Commerce sites:

During the survey, a section of the consumers allege that sellers are taking advantage of products with no return and some sellers are shipping different products by design as they know that the consumer does not have a return option. This practice is rampant on Meesho and Flipkart.

When asked about which platform is their favorite from a Returns and Refund perspective, Amazon was rated as the most preferred by a whopping 79%.

In contrast, Meesho and Tata Neu were preferred by just 2% of consumers and Ajio by just 1%. Flipkart was preferred by just 3% of consumers though its subsidiary Myntra was a favorite of 6% of consumers.

A similar exercise in the Quick Commerce space found that 22% of consumers preferred Big Basket for returns and refunds while 13% preferred Swiggy Instamart and Blinkit. Only 6% preferred Zepto while the highest 31% were not happy with the return and refund policies and processes of any quick commerce platform.

Flipkart fined Rs 10,000:

E-commerce platform Flipkart was recently fined Rs 10,000 by a District Consumer Redressal Forum in Mumbai for refusing to take back a defective nutrition supplements product from a consumer who alleged that the product was a counterfeit. The forum stated that Flipkart's "no return policy" was an unfair trade practice and a deficiency in service. The commission also observed that Flipkart is under obligation to ensure that the products being sold from its e-marketplace are of good quality.

Online Shopping makes up 7% of the retail market:

Currently valued at $70 billion, India's online shopping makes up approximately 7% of the country's total retail market, therefore presenting a huge opportunity for growth. In the coming years, several factors, like high internet penetration, low-cost internet services, and substantial increase in rural smartphone users, are expected to propel the sector towards a promising future, states a report by investment promotion and facilitation agency Invest India.

The report has projected that India will be the leader of the online shopping revolution, with an estimated 500 million shoppers by 2030. However, the sale of counterfeit products and poor return and refund policies are the two common consumer complaints that have been posted repeatedly by online shoppers on the LocalCircles platform.