LOOK OUT! DANGER AHEAD!

Internet is widely used as a tool to conduct research, browsing through social media, new and online shopping. Malaysia is reportedly having the highest penetration of online shoppers, encompassing of 19 million users supporting a business worth RM 25bil and the is predicted to double by 2020. Malaysians are lucky enough to experience the luxury of shopping online, price advantages, exclusive deals and availability of reviews. These days, booking flight ticket or movie tickets, paying school fees and making telegraphic transfers online and within minutes in the comfort of our homes. Also, it is unlikely for a customer who perform online transaction to get caught in a scam or encounter any problems if they follow the instructions correctly or do not get conned by phishing sites. However, the risk is higher when consumers make a purchase through social media when they have to deal with small companies or individuals who do not provide sufficient security features or secure payment methods. 

The Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) reported that it has received approximately 50 complaints of online scams in 2017. Furthermore, the organization believes that the actual number could be much greater because some complainants would just feel discouraged to carry on the issue further. In addition, the complainants would be carrying another burden where the expenses incurred were a lot compared to the claims they were after. Moreover, according to Kuala Lumpur Commercial Crime Investigation Department chief ACP Mohd Luthfi, the backgrounds of the victims are the same where they are individuals who were urgently seeking for financial aid. Plus, these victims were tricked with the appealing terms found on advertisements set up on social media sites such as low interest rate, no guarantor, immediate approval and hassle-free applications, especially for applicants who were blacklisted by banks. 

The irresponsible scammers would run away with the loan processing fee. What is even worse, because of the amount to be rather small, victims felt that it was not necessary to lodge a police report. This in turn would make the scammers to even further their act as no action is taken. Next, as scammers are getting even more cunning as the technology evolves, there are so many new tactics they could use on us. Recently, automated teller machines (ATM) in Malaysia have been hacked by overseas hackers all because of the obsolete operating systems. 

So, what can we do about this?

As a consumer who does online shopping most of the time, we need to be aware of what is criminal issues which are currently happening in the cyber world. On top of that, it is advisable for users to not make any online transactions when they are out public places. Although quick response (QR) codes come in handy most of the time, we need to be extra careful because irresponsible parties could be embedding their own codes instead of the real ones. Meanwhile, the authorities could educate the society at large by updating the statistics on cybercrimes and ways to prevent them. Those who committed this crime should be tracked down and given a hefty sum of penalties so that this crime activities could be put to a halt. Lastly, banks should always update their operating systems regularly to avoid from being hacked.

MOST POPULAR ONLINE MARKETPLACES IN MALAYSIA

E-commerce serves as a platform to sell goods and services to consumers that comes with easy payment method. Because of the huge number of potential online shoppers, plenty start-up companies or individuals are growing their business in Malaysia’s digital market. Goods are often advertised through social media namely FaceBook, Instagram and Twitter as these platforms enable the sellers to generate more sales. Nevertheless, in order to optimize their businesses, goods are needed to be sold via multiple channels and by setting up their respective e-commerce website. For sellers that lack the skill or budget to set up their own e-commerce website, one should consider online marketplaces. 

Now, what is online marketplaces exactly? 

Online marketplaces are ready-made platforms which allow multiple third parties (the sellers) to list their products or services they wish to sell. Carousell, Lazada and Mudah are some of the popular online marketplaces that offer this service. These online marketplaces are so convenient that all we have to do is just signing up an account and start listing our products. Then, the online marketplace will manage the order for us from the existing order management system. Furthermore, the fast-growing online marketing in our country has attracted many sellers to generate sales from offline platform to online platform. 

Unlike e-commerce website, sellers do not have to invest some cash to maintain the website. Online marketplaces carry out site maintenance by automatically updating the content. Hence, it is no doubt that online marketplaces are becoming popular among us today.  These marketplaces garnered a huge number of visitors daily with in interest to buy which are most likely to turn into sales. The following are some of the most popular online marketplaces targeted to the people in Malaysia. These platforms are ideal for you and should come in handy when you want to find a cheap deal online at a later time! 

KEEPING UP WITH THE DIGITAL MARKETS CONSUMERS

As many people are continuously demanding for better, faster and cheaper products or services, businesses must always find new ways to come up with the next best thing consumers will want. Businesses must learn to keep up with the new types of consumer needs and trends as these are proven to be contributing to the companies’ survival and success. The e-commerce prospect in Malaysia and the Asia region are predicted to be profitable in the future. 

Furthermore, the engagement of Malaysian Governments and regulatory bodies on a massive platform has provided guidelines to merchants to make use of e-commerce systematically by imposing e-commerce laws, policy and regulations. Apart from that, this action manages to provide protection for customers who are into e-commerce. As technology is always emerging, e-commerce in Malaysia is always moving forward and becoming a vital tool especially to businesses. 

Consumers and businesses should take precautions when dealing with e-commerce. This is to ensure that any malpractices such as false claim, scams and fake products can be curbed. Other than building a sense of security and awareness, the actions taken act as reminder to the consumers and business entities where they are always protected by Malaysia’s law, acts and regulations. There is no escape for them to commit any wrongdoing since their actions are being watched by the authorities.  

Should any customers encounter any unethical behavior by the other party, they should make a report without any hesitation. It is advisable for cheated consumers to lodge a report within 24 hours once the fraud activity has been identified. If both parties have agreed on a certain price offered, the online transaction should be made without a hassle and the delivery of the item should be made immediately. It is also recommended to assure the buyers that their purchases will be arriving in a good condition in a short period of time so that they will not feel distressed after performing online shopping. 

Additionally, e-commerce is mainly facilitated by technology that comes with network, hardware and applications. We need to ensure that the devices are equipped with a high level of protection to ensure information security of e-commerce. Also, the security products should be tested by other independent and trusted party to validate if they are reliable. Besides that, the Malaysian Common Criteria Scheme (MyCC) was initiated to elevate the competitiveness in quality assurance of information security through the deployment of the Common Criteria (CC) standard as well as to gain the consumer confidence in Malaysian information security product and systems. On top of that, the laboratory use for testing purposes are always on the go to conduct CC evaluation to local information security product and is now being accredited with MS ISO 17025.

MALAYSIAN DIGITAL MARKETPLACE AND ITS FUTURE

Traditional retail industries are making their ways to participate in the digital trend. This eventually has heightened the fear of market saturation to the e-commerce industry. In order stay in the game for a longer period of time, digital marketers are investing their time, money and energy on newer technologies to further improving their businesses. Furthermore, technology experts believed that with the implementation of innovative and creative technology, the e-commerce industry is predicted to be more mobile and would involve the latest virtual reality market. Online shoppers will be dealing with sellers through such medium such as augmented reality and virtual reality when making purchases over the internet (Global Retail Trends, 2017). 

Furthermore, KPMG International Cooperative (2017) mentioned that online shopping via the digital marketplaces is predicted to be available on mobile devices. Mobile-first sites, dedicated apps and various payment methods made it easier for people who are busy running their day-to-day lives to shop by using their phones. For example, global mobile sales accumulated to 34% of all e-commerce transactions worldwide and it was predicted to grow 31% in 2017 (e-Marketer, 2017). Hence, businesses are utilizing omni-channel services as they believed that the consumers are always looking for a more convenient way of shopping. 

To provide a positive customer experience, businesses are working on a communication through the usage of technologies such as bots. Businesses are seen to be doing a good job connecting their physical and digital presence in enhancing the customer experience. For customers who expect a ‘phygital’ online shopping experience, investing in innovative and latest technologies is the answer. Other than fulfilling savvy consumers demands for customized services and experience, the latest technologies offer businesses to rise to the personalization challenge. 

WHAT MAKES SKEPTICAL MALAYSIAN CONSUMERS TO PURCHASE ITEMS ONLINE WHEN PERSONAL INFORMATION AND MONEY ARE INVOLVED?

The Malaysian e-commerce is considered by the majority of leading experts to be in the early stage of development. Consumers are still studying the brands available online and what each brand can provide them. SKMM (2010) stated that 66.3% of our consumers are still choosing to shop in a physical store that enable them to have the privilege of inspecting the goods without having to worry about the security of e-commerce. Furthermore, since 59.1% of the consumers are expressing their disbelief of e-commerce while 58.7% of the consumers do not find digital marketplaces provide enough safety, Alam and Yasin (2010) studied the factors influencing consumer trust by taking data from the purchasing of flight tickets over the internet. 

Consumer behavior is reportedly to be influenced preferably through word-of-mouth (WOM) compared to other means of marketing communications, be it advertising and publicity. Ha (2004) mentioned that WOM is one of the key drivers of brand trust because as it is proven to increase consumer awareness, expectations, perceptions, attitudes, behavioral intentions and behavior. Alam and Yasin (2010) agreed that brand trust can be instilled successfully with the existence of positive WOM, hence concluding that there is a strong, positive relationship between WOM and the level of trust possessed by the consumer.  

One of the reasons consumers are reluctant to trust the digital marketplaces is because they are hesitant to provide their personal details, especially when it involves credit card. Unlike high-performing e-commerce economies, ours lacks of high-end security features which causes Malaysian consumers feeling insecure and lacking of trust in the internet. According to a 2013 survey carried out by Rakuten Online Shopping, an internet service company and owner of Malaysian marketplace, 83% of the respondents agreed that a secure website and transaction is the most important element that persuade their online shopping decision. Hence, the decision of the people in Malaysia buying their flight tickets over the internet is mainly prompted by the high level of security system offered by the marketplace towards the consumer’s personal information and transaction being disclosed to third parties (Ha, 2004; Alam and Yasin, 2010).

Alam and Yasin (2010) stated that there is a strong, negative relationship between perceived risk and the level of brand trust attained by consumers. Perceived risk can be categorized as economic risk, performance risk and purchasing risk. Consumers are terrified over the issue of monetary loss from online purchasing decision, the level of security in digital marketplace website and having to deal with products or services that do not meet the requirements as advertised. Therefore, the greater the amount of perceived risk that consumers have in online purchase transaction, the greater the impact on a certain brand.

In order to convince consumers to make more purchases online, it is important to set up a useful website with detailed and quality information. The engaging, authentic and relevant information ensures the consumers to have a good online experience as they get the opportunity to build a good rapport with the brand available on the digital marketplaces. Plus, quality information has the ability to increase consumers’ knowledge and awareness of the brand. Brands that are willing to invest their time and money into perfecting their functioning websites are considered to portray their level of commitment to their customers. A seamless user experience will eventually increase their consumers’ perception of their brand and trust. 

To make the digital marketplaces fair, the aforementioned factors could serve as a guideline for marketers in understanding the development of brand trust. Sellers should identify the factors that prompted customers to buy certain items or services over the internet. This is to make sure that businesses can always execute an effective plan to make their businesses more profitable at the end of the day. In addition, consumers can have the luxury of better services which will be greatly contributing to their confidence in digital marketplaces.

Trust is earned, but it can also be broken. So, show your commitment and install it into the basis of your company so everyone is onboard. 

BUILDING A FAIR DIGITAL MARKETPLACE WITH REPUTATION SYSTEMS AND OTHER MECHANISMS

The design of a particular marketplace should provide safety and reliability that can convince the customers secure transactions. Of course, digital marketplace comes with its drawbacks where both sellers and buyers could face risks in anonymous transactions. For instance, there could be issues where sellers are not being paid after an order has been secured, damaging of assets as well as negotiating with demanding or unpleasant customers. As for buyers, they could be exposed to the risks of not getting the expected products or services and the disappearing of seller when payment has been made. The usual solutions to combat this problem involve the combination of firms building reputable brands and having the meddling of government instructing the sellers to comply with the regulations. 

By utilizing the advancement of digital technology such as digital reputation systems, insurance, fraud detection algorithm, identity and credential verification, dispute resolute procedures and customer service, this allows a safer transaction to be made. Firstly, reputation systems, which are currently being used by many online marketplaces, operate by pursuing the transactions of a party and enabling the other party to give a rate or review once completing the transaction. Although reviews are made available to the public, negative reviews could be painting a bad image on behalf of the sellers (Dellarocas, 2003; Cabral and Hortacsu, 2010; Luca, 2013; Pallais, 2014). On the other hand, marketplaces namely eBay and Airbnb could not be made possible without the prevalence of reputation systems. This means that reputation systems should be properly designed despite the effects that arise. 

Reviews are often affecting consumer demand and they have the ability to reduce moral hazard on sellers’ behalf. In a two-sided review systems, both sellers and buyers could be exposed to the risk of retaliation when one of the parties gives a negative review. This is evident especially if we are familiar with the application, Carousell, where potential buyers or sellers are given the privilege to do a checking before pursuing with the transaction. Therefore, the system should be regulated by having the reviews to be revealed at the same time after both parties have submitted the reviews or once the submission period has ended. 

Meanwhile, online marketplaces that relate to supply of services to consumers are taking the issue of making fairer marketplaces in a serious manner. Airbnb and Uber require identification based on government issued documents as well as social media account to ensure the marketplaces are safe and can be trusted by the customers. Furthermore, when customers need a trusted driver to take them somewhere or wish to hire a professional to carry out a certain job, they shall not be worried since other marketplaces such as Lyft and Thumbtack which are widely visited by the people in the US, perform a thorough formal background checks and double-check professional certifications and licenses. Moreover, by relying on its cloud-based machine learning fraud detection, services offered by Sift Science allow companies to detect fake accounts, malicious content and credit card fraud, thus creating faster, smoother and safer online experiences.

Marketplaces are also focusing on customer service and dispute resolution since it is a meaningful competitive advantage to have a strong reputation of reliable customer service operation. 65% of the respondents claimed that an excellent customer support is the key to a company’s success in winning the customer’s loyalty and trust (KPMG, 2017). Buyers or sellers are given a compensation with a proper management in the case of unexpected events occurred during a transaction. Plus, marketplaces are also providing insurance contracts. For instance, in case of property damage such as accidents which occur during a transaction, Airbnb and Uber should cover the insurance on behalf of the sellers.