Online Shoppers Find Ecomm Ratings Biased: Survey

New Delhi, May 14 (PTI) Nearly 56 per cent of online shoppers surveyed by community social media platform LocalCircles said they found ratings on the eCommerce sites and apps to be positively biased over the last 12 months, according to survey findings.

Only nine per cent of eCommerce or online users said platforms have enabled an interface to easily spot sponsored or influencer reviews and ratings, while just 16 per cent of consumers felt their negative reviews were always published in the last year.

The survey assumes significance given that the government is considering making it mandatory for e-commerce companies to comply with quality norms for consumer reviews after a voluntary push failed to effectively curb fake reviews.

"...56 per cent of online shoppers surveyed byLocalCircles...say they have found ratings on the eCommerce sites/ apps to be positively biased in the last 12 months," according to a release by LocalCircles.

LocalCircles said it conducted a comprehensive national survey to find out how effective voluntary standards for online reviews and ratings have been, given persistent complaints.

"The survey received over 54,000 responses from users of eCommerce sites and apps located in over 344 districts of the country," it disclosed.

Despite the standards that prohibit deletion of negative ratings and reviews, the percentage of eCommerce users who found that their negative ratings and reviews were not always published has risen from 45 per cent to 52 per cent in the last 12 months, the survey revealed.

"Despite the controversy, 46 per cent of eCommerce users surveyed say they always referred to rating and reviews when buying while 44 per cent referred to them occasionally," it said.

Further, it said, only nine per cent of eCommerce users surveyed say that all eCommerce sites/ apps have enabled an interface so they can easily identify sponsored, incentivised or influencer reviews while 46 per cent say no eCommerce sites/apps have enabled such an interface.