Online marketplaces have become primary touchpoints for e-commerce transactions. But, before we delve into these advanced shopping mediums, let’s look at where this all began.

 

Markets have existed long before your Mac was invented and refurbished for the twelfth time. And, these public gatherings are more than just a space to buy and sell goods. They play a significant role in the development of local economies and the sociocultural evolution.

 

In many countries, shopping at a public market is a standard feature of everyday life. Vendors know the regulars by name, and shoppers recognize their favorite merchant by booth. There is a sense of community here. Each transaction involves a social interaction between the buyer and seller. The customer knows exactly what they are paying for and where it is coming from at the time of purchase. This is something online shopping cannot provide.

 

Times have changed

Consumers inevitably migrate toward sites that provide a quick and convenient way to purchase goods. Sites like Amazon, eBay and Allegro lead the way and provide a variety of goods across different geographies. Shoppers now have the option to search and shop at one location for an endless variety of goods.

 

E-Commerce Statistics:

• 54% of online shoppers have purchased clothing, shoes and other items from marketplaces (Big Commerce, 2017)
• 22% of business owners sell through an online marketplace (Big Commerce, 2017)
• 44% of shoppers go directly to Amazon, compared to 34% who use search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo to search for products (Marketing Land, 2015)

 

Ensuring Marketplaces Are Compliant

The practice of marketplaces offering fast, if not instant, onboarding is a challenge for compliance teams. With such a large volume of vendors, pages are constantly changing. To make matters worse, new vendors can join daily and their product listings are constantly being updated and can change at any moment.

 

One G2 client experienced a total of 158 violations over the span of a month. The most common were counterfeit goods. Below is an image of a fake Rolex watch detected by our G2 analyst team. The description says “Superclone, AAA quality.”  The “AAA” designates this good as a fake. This is one of several counterfeit products that were discovered. Other violations included illegal drugs, adult content, weapons and nutraceuticals.

 

Fortunately, G2 Web Services works with acquirers and often marketplaces directly, looking for products that could violate card scheme rules (tobacco, pharmaceuticals, counterfeit goods, firearms, etc.) The combination of G2’s advanced web crawling, proprietary technology and extensive database provides the most comprehensive view of marketplace risk available today.

 

If you want to learn more about marketplaces, please download the marketplace solutions brief and fact sheet. Included are specific case study examples as well as insight to G2’s Marketplace Monitoring solution.