E-giants have obligation to protect consumers

An advertisement for online shopping site Taobao.com of Alibaba Group is seen at a metro station in Shanghai, Nov 12, 2014. [Photo/IC]

THE STATE ADMINISTRATION FOR INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE on Monday convened a meeting with the country's 15 e-commerce giants, including Alibaba Group and Amazon China, urging them to clamp down on misleading advertisements and fraudulent promotions in any form. The Mirror commented on Wednesday:

The administration's latest meeting with the country's major e-commerce enterprises came just a few days before the Nov 11 online shopping gala, known as Singles Day.

Actually during the past month or so, online promotions have been in full swing.

Promotions such as presales with big discounts to free entry to lotteries might attract people to participate in the annual shopping spree. But they could also mislead customers if their claims are deceptive, as has been the case in some instances in the past. That explains why the industry and commerce administration has issued the warning to the e-commerce platforms.

Still, official urgings are not enough to keep the e-commerce market in check. Apart from the traditional quality defects, many goods "exclusive to e-commerce platforms" are often inferior and poorly manufactured, leading to rising concerns about the credibility of online merchants. And some online retailers go to great lengths to design a slew of complicated, confusing special offers, which few have the luxury of figuring out, let alone getting a discount.

These semi-open secrets, which come at the cost of customers, are a result of some e-commerce enterprises' indulgence toward unqualified merchants and loose supervision. That warrants more concerted efforts to keep promotional tricks at bay and timely respond to customers' complaints.