CONSUMER SATISFACTION IN AN ERA OF DIGITAL MARKETING

Submitted By-

Harsh Amrit

II Semester

SM0119023

Faculty in Charge

Thangzakhup Tombing

NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, ASSAM

GUWAHATI

31 MAY , 2020

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CONTENTS PAGE NO.

Table of cases
Table of Statute
Table of Abbreviations
1. Introduction……………………………………………………………...…………4
1.1 Literature Review….…………………………………………………………...5
1.2 Scope and Objective……...………………………………...…………………..6
1.3 Research Questions………………………....……………….……………..…..6
1.4 Research Method…………………………………………………………...…..6
2. Consumer Satisfaction…………...………………………….………….…...……7
3. Consumer Rights in Digital Era………………………………..……………...…9
4. Consumer Behaviour on Digital Platform………...…………………...…..........12
5. Need for Consumer Protection…....……………………………………………..16
6. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………..….19
Bibliography

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Table of Cases
Rajinder Singh Chawla v. makemytrip.com
Rediff. com India Ltd. v. Urmil Munjal
Chitra Vittal v. Flowers n Cakes

Table of Statutes
The Consumer Protection Act, 1986

Table of Abbreviation

1. In re In matter of
2. Ltd. Limited
3. Pg. Page
4. Sec Section
5. SC Supreme Court
6. ADL Andhra Legal Decision
7. v. versus

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 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Overview
With the emergence and development of technology, a new form of marketing on digital
forums has emerged, Shoppers can visit web stores from their homes and shop as they sit
in front of the computer. Consumers can buy a huge variety of items from online stores
and can be purchased from companies that provide their products through online.
Consumers can buy books, clothing, household appliances, toys, hardware and software
from an online store. Many people choose to shop online because of the convenience. An
increasing number of consumers have access to the Internet and engage in e-commerce,
which provides easier and faster access to products and services. It also presents some
challenges for consumers that differ from those encountered during offline commercial
transactions. Such challenges have given rise to the need to adapt existing legal and
regulatory frameworks to the particular requirements of e-commerce Many researches
have pointed out to the importance of Consumer Satisfaction in Digital Markets. The level
of satisfaction of customer with a company has profound effects. Thus, though customer
satisfaction does not guarantee the repurchase from a company but it does play a very
important role in achieving customer loyalty. Thus, it is necessary to study Consumer
satisfaction in today’s digital era, the relation of consumer satisfaction with the Consumer
rights and the need of Consumer Protection Law in this field.

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1.2. Literature Review

GARIMA TIWARI, UNDERSTANDING LAWS -CONSUMER RIGHTS 98 ( Lexis

Nexis, 2014).
This book gives an innovative concept to make the complex and technical legal jargons and
provisions simpler using practical situations which one may encounter in their daily lives. This
book consists of six detailed yet easily understandable chapters, comprehensively explaining
the consumer rights and their protection and adjudication, as provided under Consumer
Protection Act, 1986 and rules and regulation made there under. It also discusses the Bureau
of Indian Standards Act, 1986 to identify various standard markers for consumer protection.
Meaning of consumer, scope of protection, agencies of adjudication, complaint procedures,
and reliefs have been discussed.

IAN RAMSAY, CONSUMER LAW AND POLICY (Bloomsburg Publishing, 2007).

This book is a reliable source which explores traditional and emerging areas in consumer
protection law. It has up-to-date collection of statutes, regulations, and other consumer law
materials available for use in a consumer protection course. Its comprehensive coverage and
reflects new developments in the dynamic field of consumer law, including: Internet marketing,
ad substantiation etc. . The book provides a critical introduction to the legal regulation of
consumer markets by situating it within the context of broader debates about rationales for
regulation, the role of the state and the growth of neo-liberalism.

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1.3 Research Questions
1. What is Consumer Satisfaction in relation to Digital Market?
2. How are Consumer Rights affected in Digital Market?
3. What is the need for Consumer Protection Law in Digital Market ?

1.4 Scope and Objective

➢ Scope
The scope of the project is to study in detail the Consumer Satisfaction in digital
Market.
➢ Objective
1. To study and understand Consumer Satisfaction.
2. To study in detail the effect of Digital market on rights of consumer.
3. To study the need of consumer laws in digital market.

1.5 Research Methodology:

➢ Approach to Research: In this project doctrinal research was involved.
Doctrinal Research is a research in which secondary sources are used and
materials are collected from libraries, archives, etc. Books, journals, articles
were used while making this project.
➢ Types of Research: Explanatory type of research was used in this project,
because the project topic was not relatively new and unheard of and also because
various concepts were needed to be explained.
➢ Sources of Data collection: Secondary source of data collection was used which
involves in collection of data from books, articles, websites, etc. No surveys or
case studies were conducted.

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 CHAPTER II
CONSUMER SATISFACTION

A state of satisfaction or dissatisfaction is a subjective feeling and is a result of specific

experiences of individual perceptions and emotions. This satisfaction or dissatisfaction reflects
a feeling connected with the completed or unfulfilled expectations in relation to a particular
product or service.1 The satisfaction felt by the client, is associated with the experience of his
positive impressions, and conversely will be linked to dissatisfaction with the lack of positive
incentives. The existence of many companies on the market is conditioned with a number of
satisfied customers. Customers are the key factor of the existence and company development
on the market. It is obvious then, that firms, which want to face the competition, need to provide
valuable and unique terms to their customers, that will satisfy their needs. This satisfaction
includes not only the feelings associated with the purchasing process, but also the atmosphere
before and after the execution of purchases.

Customer satisfaction is often associated with the customer gratification. Products or services,
that are a source of satisfaction, provide the desirable value to their customers, at least in a
sufficient degree. Standard ISO 10004 specifies, that: “Satisfaction is a judgement, an opinion
expressed by the customer. The degree of satisfaction reflects the gap between the customer’s
vision of the expected product, and the customer’s perception of the delivered product”.2

All decisions, made by the consumer, are affected by many factors, including economic ones,
such as: incomes, price, savings, loans, the impact of marketing instruments, and noneconomic
factors, such as: demographic, social or psychological ones. Recognizing and satisfying
customer’s needs, expectations, preferences and behaviour is not easy and — what is more —
knowing it does not guarantee success on the market. The reason of this is the fact, that
consumer behaviour is not rational. Consumers, who make a purchase of a certain good, usually
have already clarified requirements referring to its quality, purpose or use. They do not pay for
the product in a physical sense, but they pay for value or what they expect from the product.
Expectation have a different scope and sometimes they could be very overstated or quite
modest. That’s why taking a decision by the consumer is preceded by initiating and defining
the customer’s specific needs.

1
Farris Paul, Marketing Metrics, 3(19) THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO MEASURING MARKETING
PERFORMANCE 18, 23 (2010).
2
ISO 10004:2018, ISO, www.iso.org (last visited May 5, 2020).

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The consumer need means a demand for specific goods and services. According to J. Senyszyn:
“Consumer need is a state of indispensability of products possession or use, being a result of
achieved level of development of the human environment and his requirements as a bio-
psycho-social structure”3. All the consumption needs refer to with the products of human
labour. Another definition says, that the need is a potential or actual condition of the absence
of something, what is necessary to keep a person alive and allows him for individual
development, gaining and maintain a certain social status, etc.4. Needs provide a discomfort
associated with the lack of satisfaction caused by shortage of tangible or intangible values in
the certain situation. There are few fundamental human needs — but human desires have
unlimited character. Although people have limited resources, so they choose the products
which provide good value for money. The basis of the customers’ choice is perceived by its
value, which specific products or services are able to deliver. Specifying value for the good is
not the same as for the service value in services is different from the value of products. Due to
the nature of services, their value has always immaterial character, although there are also
material elements. Customer’s reception of service is generally more emotional than the
perception of products. Value plays a very important role in customers’ decision making.
Having a choice between several offers, they decide on the products or services which value is
perceived as the highest. Customers do not evaluate the product value and cost in an objective
manner, but only as perceived value. The valuation of the goods delivered to the customer is a
challenge for today’s manufacturers. The products available on the market are very modern,
and their production is based on advanced techniques and technology. Therefore, it is difficult
to say how much the product is worth from the point of view of the customer. It is important
to make a distinction between the organization’s view of the quality of the delivered product
and the customer’s perception of the delivered product, because the perception governs the
customer’s satisfaction.

3
S.Praveen Kumar, Consumer Satisfaction in Online Shopping, 3(9) WIDE SPECTRUM 18, 23 (2015).
4
Consumption, Oxford Dictionary of Economics (5th ed. 2017).

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 CHAPTER III

CONSUMER RIGHTS IN DIGITAL ERA

Consumer Rights is defined as ‘the right to have information regarding the Quality, Potency,
Quantity, Price and Standard of goods or service.5
Before the 1960s, the Consumer Rights were practically non-existent. Consumers didn’t have
much legal redressal methods available in case of cheating or fraudulent practices. But, in mid-
twentieth century consumer movement began to gain momentum in the US and by 1950s, legal
product liability was established. This allowed the aggrieved party to only prove their usage of
product, rather than being liable for composite negligence and the onus of proof shifted to the
seller. Thus, changing the ongoing concept of Caveat Emptor to Caveat Venditor.
In the early 1960s, during the presidential election campaigns, John F Kennedy, made a
promise to work towards the cause of consumers, and on 15th March 1962 Kennedy presented
the Consumer Bill of Rights in the Congress. In his speech, President Kennedy Spoke of four
rights.6

Right to Safety of Consumers is one such right, it includes Right to be protected against
marketing which is harmful to life and property. In the context of Digital Marketing, consumer
safety faces challenges on various fronts. Consumer data is at the core of many e-commerce
services and elevates privacy and security risks. According to a research, around 92% of users
have concern over privacy issues, in general, online retailers need to collect a lot of
information: addresses, credit card information, passwords, and more.7 Many companies also
collect a lot of data through cookies and other methods to determine demographics and better
target advertising for future transactions. the data collected by various companies, during
digital shopping can be used to alter or modify the views of the user, moreover, the data
breaches at major companies, and, most recently, the fact that bots and Facebook may have
played a significant role in recent US elections have all caused concerns.

Right to be informed is another right available to consumers, the consumers have right to
receive accurate information. Consumers can make wise decisions only if they have the

5
Consumer Rights in India, Jago Graghak Jago.com, http://www.jagograhakjago.com/consumer-rights/ (last
visited May 5, 2020).
6
David Lazarus , 56 Years Later, LOS ANGELES TIMES (Mar. 15, 2018, 3 AM),
https://www.latimes.com/business/lazarus/la-fi-lazarus-kennedy-consumer-bill-of-rights-20180315-story.html.
7
Besim Beqaj, Consumer Satisfaction in Online Services 22 ZAGREB INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF
ECONOMICS & BUSINESS 39, 47 (2019).

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information they need. Businesses are required to provide certain details about their products.
For example, drug companies must list the complete contents of every medicine. Clothing
manufacturers must list the fibres used in materials. Packaged foods must show all ingredients,
with the main one listed first. Companies provide this information through product labelling.
But, e due to the nature of the Internet and complexity of terms and conditions to which
consumers may not always have timely access. Therefore, consumers are more vulnerable

online to misleading and deceptive conduct. To make informed purchasing decisions in e-

commerce transactions, consumers need relevant and accurate information about goods and
services and the traders supplying them. One of the common challenges’ consumers face in
developing countries is the difficulty of establishing the identity and location of a provider of
products online. Some jurisdictions identify challenges such as misleading information on
actual and total prices, effective interest rates and consumer rights under the relevant national
law.

The impersonality of digital market weakens the relationship between providers and
consumers, thereby increasing consumer vulnerability. The web-based environment is
propitious to unfair commercial practices. Therefore, consumer trust in digital markets is one
of the main challenges in the development of digital market. Unfair commercial practices
influence transactional decisions of consumers in relation to products and prevent consumers
from making informed choices, and they deceive consumers as to the nature of the product and
by providing untruthful information to consumers, using aggressive marketing techniques,
creating confusion between the trade names or trademarks of competitors and falsely
representing themselves as consumers and posting reviews in their name, for instance on online
accommodation booking platforms. In seeking to gain a competitive advantage over
competitors who offer better goods and services and lower prices, traders may mislead
consumers by exaggerating the quality or misrepresenting the features of their products or
services. One interesting example in this case is of France, France’s recent legal framework in
this area regulates the rules for fair, clear and transparent information, by which platforms
must abide, including for reviews, ranking and de-ranking of contests and disclosure. In India,
the Consumer Protection Act of 1986 establishes that the right to information is defined as “the
right to be informed about the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of goods or
services, as the case may be so as to protect the consumer against unfair trade practices”.8

8
The Consumer Protection Act, 1986, No. 68, Acts of Parliament, 1986 (India).

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Another pertinent right available to consumers is the right to choose, as it being a globalised
economy the consumers can choose from a wide variety of goods and services. Businesses
compete with each other to sell their products to consumers. They offer new products, lower
prices, higher quality, or improved services to get you to choose their products. Competition
provides choices. A lack of it hurts consumers. But, e-commerce is conducted by digital agents
based on algorithms, which will choose products and perform transactions. One study refers to
such digital agents as algorithmic consumers. Despite their benefits, algorithmic consumers
will increase the vulnerability of consumers to risks in areas such as privacy and cybersecurity.
Algorithmic consumer systems are capable of collecting, registering and aggregating enormous
amounts of personal data, which may be accessed by unauthorized parties without consumer
consent, and this can be used to influence consumer to buy certain products or brands going
against the free choice of consumer.

The Right to be Heard is a very important Consumer Right, consumers should be provided with
meaningful access to fair, easy-to-use, transparent and effective mechanisms to resolve
domestic and cross-border e-commerce disputes in a timely manner and obtain redress, as
appropriate, without incurring unnecessary cost or burden”. An example of setting up fair and
reliable mechanism to resolve issues is Brazil, In Brazil, the National Consumer Secretariat
created an online conciliation mechanism in 2014 This public service allows direct exchanges
between consumers and providers to resolve disputes online. Currently, 80 per cent of
complaints are conciliated, satisfying consumer complaints in an average 7 days. This service
is provided by the State to promote direct interaction between consumers and suppliers, to
reduce consumer conflicts. Participation is only open to companies that voluntarily and
formally register in the system.9

9
M.J Schmidt, Success or Failure?—Effectiveness of Consumer ODR Platforms in Brazil and in the EU, 98(2)
JOURNAL OF CONSUMER POLICY 32, 38 (2020).

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 CHAPTER IV

SHOPPING BEHAVIOR ON DIGITAL PLATFORM

The mysteries of the decisions of the online shopper are speculative at best as delving into the
thought processes of each individual consumer is hard to predict. Online consumer behaviour
is a complicated socio-technical phenomenon and has been the focus of researchers for the last
decade. It is elusively hard trying to judge the psychological state of consumers while they are
making purchases. Due to this hard task of making generalized conclusions there has been a
number of studies that have come out hypothesizing different factors.

The factor that affect consumer behaviour in the sphere of online shopping is sometimes
classified as external and internal factors. The external factors are the ones beyond the control
of the customers which include demographics, socio-economics, technology and public policy;
culture and marketing. Internal factors are personal traits or behaviours and include attitudes,
learning, perception and motivation.

However, not giving much importance to classification, this project seeks to analyse the main
factors that influence online shopping behaviour of consumers.

The first major factor is perceived risks.10 Online transaction involves a temporal separation of
payment and product delivery. A consumer must provide financial information, example, credit
card details and personal information, that is, name, address and phone number for delivery in
order to complete the purchasing process. Risks perceived or real, exist due to technology
failure or human error as breaches in the electronic system and data entry mistakes are not
uncommon in the real world. The most frequently cited risks associated with online shopping
include financial risk and product.

Financial risk is always the number one concern of individuals who are shopping
online. Financial risk is defined as the perception that a certain amount of money could be lost
while purchasing or making a product work properly from an online purchase. Certain age
groups are more concerned with their security and privacy of their bank account information.

Millennials are more likely to be less concerned than older generations who behave more
sceptical in making online purchases. Furthermore, the potential to have your personal financial

10
GARIMA TIWARI, UNDERSTANDING LAWS -CONSUMER RIGHTS 98(2014).

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information disclosed from a transaction online is a real concern. Shoppers experience
perceived risks for the potential loss they may experience while shopping online.11

Product risk is also a significant influencer of consumer behaviour. Although this isn’t a
common occurrence while shopping online, not receiving their products after purchasing them
online is a common fear that shoppers share. Potential loss of a delivery is where goods are
lost or damaged and create a fear in customers that they would not receive their goods on the
agreed time frame that the business stated. There are many circumstances that affect whether
or not the customer receives their delivery for example improper shipping and handling during
transportation. With the variety of possibilities that can go wrong the consumer may not
complete a transaction based on delivery promises. It’s an unfortunate characteristic of the
internet that information there could be lost. Your payment details or personal information
could easily be retrieved from a database it is stored in by the shop for instance, as we have
seen recently with few major security breaches. Customers are growing more aware of the
dangers of stolen data from the web. And they filter their purchasing alternatives against
security criteria.12

Instances of having personal information handed over to or stolen by third party companies to
send unsolicited emails and spam to customers adds to this risk. Even though the results of
privacy breaches may not be as severe as losing one’s financial data, it can still cause a great
deal of frustration and diminish trust in stores. A lack of trust in a store’s privacy policies is a
serious obstacle for many customers. Similarly, many customers look for reassurance that their
data will be protected and not handed over to any third parties for further use in marketing.
Hence, individuals with a higher inclination towards risk taking opt for online shopping.

Limited information and the inability to see a three-dimensional version of the product is
another factor that might influence consumers. The bonus of shopping in a traditional brick and
mortar store is being able to have the product in front of the customer. This gives the
opportunity to manage the expectations that a customer has when they are purchasing a product.
When an ecommerce business gives accurate descriptions of products and the ability to zoom
in on the product pictures to give the client an accurate expectation of the product. Due to the
limited information that is sometimes presented to consumers they lose the inability to evaluate
the quality of the product.

11
United Nations, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Consumer protection in electronic
commerce, TD/B/C.I/CPLP/7 (24 April 2017) .
12
GARIMA TIWARI, UNDERSTANDING LAWS -CONSUMER RIGHTS 98(2014).

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Convenience another aspect of online shopping that influences consumer behaviour. 13 This is
the major reason why individuals feel that online shopping is a benefit in their lives because it
saves them time throughout the day. Instead of having to go out and take extra time shopping
for a product, individuals are able to save their time and spend it doing things they actually
want to be doing. With such a high variety of different types of stores there is just about every
type of product available online.

The return policy is probably the most important thing that gives customers the ability to return
an unwanted item or purchase that doesn’t measure up to their expectations or needs. Without
a proper return policy, a customer’s shopping behaviour is severely stunted because they are
forced to put too much faith into the ecommerce business, which is hard to achieve due to
deception and falsely described products. There is nothing worse for the consumer than
receiving a product and feeling like their money was wasted because the product doesn’t
measure up to expectations.14

Advertisement plays a greater role in influencing the purchasing decisions made by consumers.
They are even known to bring about a great shift in market shares of competitive industries by
influencing the purchasing decisions of consumers. The Marketing campaigns done on regular
basis can influence the consumer purchasing decision to such an extent that they may opt for
one brand over another or indulge in indulgent or frivolous shopping. Marketing campaigns if
undertaken at regular intervals even help to remind consumers to shop for not so exciting
products such as health products or insurance policies.

Consumer spending decisions are also known to be greatly influenced by the economic
situation prevailing in the market. This holds true especially for purchases made of vehicles,
houses and other household appliances. A positive economic environment is known to make
consumers more confident and willing to indulge in purchases irrespective of their personal
financial liabilities.

At the personal level, consumer behaviour is influenced by various shades of likes, dislikes,
priorities, morals and values. In certain dynamic industries such as fashion, food and personal
care, the personal view and opinion of the consumer pertaining to style and fun can become
the dominant influencing factor. Though advertisement can help in influencing these factors to

13
Besim Beqaj, Consumer Satisfaction in Online Services 22 ZAGREB INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF
ECONOMICS & BUSINESS 39, 47 (2019).
14
S.Praveen Kumar, Consumer Satisfaction in Online Shopping, 3(9) WIDE SPECTRUM 18, 23 (2015).

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some extent, the personal consumer likes and dislikes exert greater influence on the end
purchase made by a consumer.

Group influence15 is also seen to affect the decisions made by a consumer. The primary
influential group consisting of family members, classmates, immediate relatives and the
secondary influential group consisting of neighbours and acquaintances are seen have greater
influence on the purchasing decisions of a consumer. For instance, the mass liking for fast food
over home cooked food or the craze for the SUV’s against small utility vehicle are glaring
examples of the same.

Lastly, purchasing power of a consumer plays an important role in influencing the consumer
behaviour.16 The consumers generally analyse their purchasing capacity before making a
decision to buy and products or services. The product may be excellent, but if it fails to meet
the buyers purchasing ability, it will have high impact on it its sales. Segmenting consumers
based on their buying capacity would help in determining eligible consumers to achieve better
results. These are the prime factors influencing online shopping behaviour of consumers.

15
Besim Beqaj, Consumer Satisfaction in Online Services 22 ZAGREB INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF
ECONOMICS & BUSINESS 39, 47 (2019).
16
United Nations, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Consumer protection in electronic
commerce, TD/B/C.I/CPLP/7 (24 April 2017) .

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 CHAPTER V
NEED FOR CONSUMER PROTECTION

Even though online shopping is at its peak, with a majority of the urban population purchasing
commodities online, it has certain shortcomings which adversely affect consumers, resulting
in the need for consumer protection.

Jurisdiction of courts posed a great challenge in the early years when e-commerce cases were
brought before consumer forums. Many cases were struck down due to lack of jurisdiction
which the consumers had to run helter-skelter identifying the right jurisdiction, given the virtual
nature of digital market. One such instance was the case of Rajinder Singh Chawla v.
makemytrip.com17 where the Consumer Court rejected a consumer complaint for lack of
jurisdiction. The reason was that the online transaction was spread across various geographical
areas. The Court could not make out a reason for entertaining the complaint.

A predominant feature of consumer law is to promote good business practices, such that the
consumer is well-informed about the transaction. The anonymous character of the online
market demands a greater need for clear information on matters at every technical step for
conclusion of the contract and also effective means to identify and correct input errors prior to
the completion of the contract.

Physical stores allow price negotiations between buyers and the seller. The show room sales
attendant representatives provide personal attention to customers and help them in purchasing
goods. However, there is an absence of this personal interaction between the consumer and the
seller when goods are purchased online.

Electronically, a customer has to buy a product without seeing actually how it looks like. The
electronic images of a product are sometimes misleading. The colour, appearance in real may
not match with the electronic images. People like to visit physical stores and prefer to have
close examination of good, though it consumes time. The electronic images vary from physical
appearance when people buy goods based on electronic images. All this may lead to the seller
concealing information about the product or not displaying the reality of the product.
Consumers will hence be cheated and their Right to be Informed will be violated if the products
received are adulterated, spurious or duplicate.

17
Rajinder Singh Chawla v. makemytrip.com, 2019 (114) ALD 458.

16
One such issue that came up before the consumer court is the case of Rediff. com India Ltd.
v/s Urmil Munjal18, wherein the consumer was dissatisfied with the goods delivered by the
online shopping website. While the consumer wanted to return the product and claim refund,
he did not find a Return Policy, which provided details of the address to which the products
were to be returned. Since the online portal was facilitator between the sellers and buyers as
mentioned in the terms and conditions, it was the duty of the facilitator to inform the consumer
as to how the goods are to be returned to the seller. The Court held the online portal liable on
the grounds of ‘Deficiency in Service’ for not providing sufficient information.

Sometimes, there is disappearance of shopping site itself. In addition to above, the online
payments are not much secured. So, it is essential for e-marketers and retailers to pay attention
to this issue to boost the growth of digital market. The rate of cyber-crimes has been increasing
and customers’ credit card details and bank details have been misused which raise privacy
issues.19 Some people pretend selling items at a very cheap price often send a low quality,
opened or refurbished item, in other cases the site may shut down unexpectedly, leaving lot of
customers who might have already paid for the item but did not receive anything. Shopping
online can also take one to phishing sites which want to defraud one.20

Making payments online is not always safe. There may be sites which are not secure or do not
encrypt your personal credit card data, so if a hacker breaks in their system, your personal data
can be compromised.

These demerits are obvious indicators of why consumer protection is required in online
shopping. This argument is further substantiated by case laws.

In Vinod kumar, Ernakulam Vs. Shoed Merchant, Mumbai & eBay India,21 on 30.07.2005 the
complainant purchased a camera mobile hand set through the website of the second respondent
by paying an amount Rs. 6,500/- by way of Demand Draft on 4.8.2005. Thereafter the set was
supplied. The set showed defects from the second day itself and the battery was also used
one. The complainant informed this matter immediately were opened a new mobile phone
namely Sony Ericsson was replaced with the above said hand set by making the complaint. The
additional amount of Rs. 800/- towards the total cost of Rs. 7,500/- that was paid on
16.6.2005. The seller advertised that the set was having the USB port facility. But this was
also a defected set. Again, the complainant requested to replace another phone. It was also

18
Rediff. com India Ltd. v. Urmil Munjal.
19
S.Praveen Kumar, Consumer Satisfaction in Online Shopping, 3(9) WIDE SPECTRUM 18, 23 (2015).
20
S.Praveen Kumar, Consumer Satisfaction in Online Shopping, 3(9) WIDE SPECTRUM 18, 20 (2015).
21
Vinod kumar, Ernakulam Vs. Shoed Merchant, Mumbai & eBay India, 2005 (14) ALD 98.

17
stated that the other mobile set namely Sendo X Smart phone had the facility like Blue Tooth,
Infrared, MP3 player, radio etc. The complainant was also asked to pay an additional amount
of Rs. 1,300/- being the excess value. On receipt of the new phone it was noticed that said set
was also defective one. All of the facts were also informed by the complainant to the seller. On
the first opposite party expressed his inability to replace the set, but stated nothing with regard
to the complaint mentioned by the complainant. He also contented that he may be able to
provide a new battery as and when he gets the same. These facts were brought to the notice to
the second opposite party who washed its hands by stating that they are not liable to any
transaction after two months of the same based on the above facts a total amount of Rs. 25,000/-
was claimed for the above acts which amount to a deficiency in service on the part of the
opposite parties. However, the consumer won this case of obvious breach of the implied
conduct of online shopping.

In another case, Chitra Vittal22 from Bangalore ordered a combo package including cake
from Flowers n Cakes to India, an online florist and gift store that guarantees same day delivery
and the “delivery of fresh products – always.” Flowers n Cakes to India failed to deliver the
product on the specified day, and when they finally did deliver it the next day, the cake was
“smashed up, made of cheap wine” and of a quality that was entirely unacceptable to the
customer.
When Ms Vittal attempted to complain about the non-delivery of the product on the scheduled
day, she found that the customer care numbers displayed on the website were not attended. She
managed to find contact details of their Hyderabad-based sub-vendor, only to be told that they
had only received their orders from Flowers n Cakes to India the morning after the scheduled
date. Five days later, Ms Vittal complained about the delayed delivery of a substandard product
over a chat conversation with the company representative, who, according to her was rude and
paid no heed to her complaints.23 This case too was ruled in favour of the consumer due to the
blatant disregard of the online seller.

These cases highlight the need for consumer protection in online shopping.

22
Chitra Vittal v. Flowers n Cakes, 2002 (5) ALD 58.

18
 CONCLUSION

Customer satisfaction is essential to any business. If the customers are satisfied they are more
likely to purchase more often. decisions, made by the consumer, are affected by many factors,
including economic and non-economic ones This satisfaction or dissatisfaction reflects a
feeling connected with the completed or unfulfilled expectations in relation to a particular
product or service. Technology is leaping with unmatched speed, today. As Charles Clark once
remarked, ‘the answer to the machine is in the machine.’ Though trade has too lived up to this
and thus started off with the idea of online shopping, however, meeting the needs and
satisfaction of the consumer, keeping in mind a person’s Consumer rights.

The existing environment of business is chaotic, with the existence of cutthroat competition,
where each seller is trying his best to survive and thrive by dominating the market. In order to
maximise profits, sellers go to great extents, which can also end up being unethical and
subsequently harmful. To maintain Consumer Satisfaction, it becomes necessary to protect the
consumer from various threats of Digital Market

Consumers are often uninformed. They lack the knowledge of their rights and duties. They do
not have effective means to differentiate between original and duplicate or adulterated goods.
Hence, these innocent consumers are oblivious since they are not informed of the possible
hazards that can arise. Consumers are often exploited by manufacturers, retailers and traders.
Goods are often duplicate, adulterated, spurious and defective.

Thus, it becomes necessary for Consumer protection laws to ensure various actions of the
online sellers, namely, transparent and effective protection of the consumers, Fair business,
and Online disclosures in order to maintain the integrity of the company and safeguard of the
consumers, confirmation process where the has the ability to change and modify their orders,
express an informed and deliberate consent of the purchase and obtain a record of the
transaction, user-friendly and secure payment, privacy of personal information and lastly,
dispute resolution, where the consumers are clearly informed of a fair dispute resolution
process.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books, Statutes, Articles-

1. GARIMA TIWARI, UNDERSTANDING LAWS -CONSUMER RIGHTS 98 (Lexis

Nexis 2014).

2. Farris Paul, Marketing Metrics, 3(19) THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO MEASURING

MARKETING PERFORMANCE 18, 23 (2010).

3. The Consumer Protection Act, 1986, No. 68, Acts of Parliament, 1986 (India).

4. Oxford Dictionary of Economics (5th ed. 2017).

5. Besim Beqaj, Consumer Satisfaction in Online Services 22 ZAGREB INTERNATIONAL

REVIEW OF ECONOMICS & BUSINESS 39, 47 (2019).

6. S.Praveen Kumar, Consumer Satisfaction in Online Shopping, 3(9) WIDE SPECTRUM

18, 23 (2015).

7. United Nations, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Consumer

protection in electronic commerce, TD/B/C.I/CPLP/7 (24 April 2017) .

8. M.J Schmidt, Success or Failure?—Effectiveness of Consumer ODR Platforms in Brazil

and in the EU, 98(2) JOURNAL OF CONSUMER POLICY 32, 38 (2020).

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Web Sources-

1. ISO 10004:2018, ISO, www.iso.org (last visited May 5, 2020).

2. Consumer Rights in India, Jago Graghak Jago.com,.jagograhakjago.com/consumer-rights

(last visited May 5, 2020)

3. David Lazarus , 56 Years Later, LOS ANGELES TIMES (Mar. 15, 2018, 3 AM),
https://www.latimes.com/business/lazarus/la-fi-lazarus-kennedy-consumer-bill-of-rights-
20180315-story.html.

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