Incopro launches e-commerce platforms report: ‘Three strikes and out’

Click to read Incopro’s report: ‘Three Strikes and Out’

Click to read the official announcement from Incopro

E-commerce marketplaces and social media platforms have transformed to become essential sources for goods and services. Brand owners must do what they can to protect themselves and their consumers from ‘bad actors’ online, who misuse their brands to sell fake, sub-standard and harmful products and services that de-fraud and deceive.

“With the pandemic driving an accelerated shift to online retail, it is critical that more is done to protect brands and consumers,” says Simon Baggs, CEO and co-founder of Incopro.

“We are seeing huge increases in brand misuse, a trend which has already caught the eye of legislators in the United States and Europe. I hope this study will inform and accelerate legislative change, driving a consistent approach to seller verification and sanctions for repeat illicit activity.”

Incopro has undertaken a statistical review of a sample of its enforcement data, covering over 1.5 million non-genuine listings removed from online platforms between November 2019 and November 2020. The study assesses the proportion of issues that Incopro has found online and removed that have been offered by the same seller on the same e-commerce marketplace or social media site.

The results of Incopro’s review are found in “Three Strikes and Out: How Ecommerce Platforms Can Protect Consumers from Repeat Offenders” which explores the connection between repeat sellers of illicit goods and services, and the monetary gain that could be secured if online marketplaces and social sites were to implement two baseline requirements:

• All seller identities should be verified; and

• All sellers should be removed from the marketplace or social site if identified as selling illicit goods and services on more than three occasions (‘three strikes’).

Please read on to discover more about Incopro’s analysis of this increasingly challenging issue.