Issues in e-commerce can cause substantial harm to consumers. This includes such practices as unexpected costs, unfair contract terms, misrepresented products, or unintentional choices through dark commercial patterns. According to a 2022 OECD study, the cumulative cost of e-commerce problems for OECD consumers, considering their most severe issue in the past year, exceeded USD 22 billion. Understanding consumer harms in online marketplaces is vital to design effective policies and prioritise enforcement activities.
Consumer policy and digital technologies
Digital technologies are reshaping the way in which people interact with the world. Online markets provide consumers with a plethora of benefits including a broader range of choices and increased convenience. However, they also introduce numerous consumer protection challenges and expose new vulnerabilities. These challenges are often linked to “dark commercial patterns”, the handling of consumer data, the reliability of ratings and reviews, the increasing complexity of digital content products, the clarity of disclosures, security of payment methods, and the assurance of product safety.