BEWARE THE SHADY TRAPS OF E-COMM THIS FESTIVE SEASON

DUSSEHRA is done with and Diwali is ahead. Before, within and in between these two festivals, India buys up the goodies it loves. Even as the Dussehra sales close, online marketplace sales have touched a record ₹55,000 crore ($6.5 billion) in one week. Even as the Diwali festive season begins and the card parties start, a whole market of buyers and sellers is ecstatic and ready to buy and sell even more.
India's online retail market is today all of $75 billion in value. As online retailers and their close cousins in direct-to-consumer e-commerce (D2C players) celebrate and prepare to sell more during their Diwali sales, I look at the consumer side of dynamics and peek at a rather concerning soft-underbelly issue of e-commerce and the virtual format of selling and buying. Harry Brignull, a London-based user-experience (UX) designer calls it a ‘dark pattern'.
E-commerce dark patterns are really bad practices purposely ingrained into websites we buy from. Brignull calls it out to be "deceptive practices carefully crafted to trick users into doing things not in their interest". These are scientifically crafted UX tricks that seek to gain at your expense. Must you watch out for these, even as you participate in the buying frenzy that has just closed and is equally about to unfold ahead?
For a start, let me call a spade a spade. When you buy on an e-commerce platform, you give a lot. You pay with your time, money, and equally your privacy. The data you leave on the platform is something that gets to become footsteps you have left behind that will be followed to make you buy more. The important point to insist on is that you want to be responsibly used. You are being used as a customer, but you want it to be done with responsibility and with least irritation, aggression, deceit and the marketing UX lie.
Denne historien er fra October 15, 2024-utgaven av The New Indian Express.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9500+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra October 15, 2024-utgaven av The New Indian Express.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9500+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på

Quick commerce grocery market to grow 3x to ₹1.5-1.7 lakh cr by 2027
WITH hyperlocal supply chain and doorstep delivery, quick commerce is emerging as a powerful force for creating jobs, as it is expected to employ about 11-13 lakh people by the end of 2027.

Spiritual trip turns tragic: 1 dead in Dwarka river, camel riders save 6 more
A spiritual sojourn turned tragic in Dwarka on Thursday afternoon, as seven tourists — four young men and three young women — were swept away by powerful currents in the Gomti River triggered by a sudden surge in sea water levels.
Gaza defence agency says 37 killed in Israel attacks; aid group reopens centres
GAZA's civil defence agency said Israeli attacks killed at least 37 people on Thursday, as a US-backed aid group reported it had resumed operations after a one-day hiatus.

Sudarshan Venu to Take Over as TVS Chairman & MD
The Board of Directors of TVS Motor Company has unanimously named Sudarshan Venu as the Chairman and MD of the company.
Rhythms of the rain
Ash King is back with a monsoon-themed track, Dhadke Ye

Ronaldo breaks jinx as Portugal beat Germany
CRISTIANO Ronaldo scored the winner in a 2-1 victory over Germany in Munich on Wednesday, sending Portugal through to the Nations League final and breaking his run of bad fortune against the Germans.
Pollachi case: Don't precipitate matters, journo told
THE Madras High Court on Thursday asked noted journalist 'Nakkheeran' Gopal not to precipitate matters until the next hearing of the plea of AIADMK MLA Pollachi V Jayaraman and his son Pravin Jayaraman praying orders to restrain Gopal and 10 other YouTube channels, journalists and guest speakers from linking them with the Pollachi sexual assault case.

TNPL: Shivam Singh guides Dragons home
POWERED by Shivam Singh's unbeaten 50-ball 82, Dindigul Dragons beat Lyca Kovai Kings by seven wickets in the inaugural match of ninth edition of the Shriram Capital-Tamil Nadu Premier League under lights at the CDCA-Sri Ramakrishna College of Arts & Science Cricket Ground, Coimbatore on Thursday.
Gold up ₹430/10g, silver rises ₹2,000 to hit ₹104,100/kg
Gold of 99.9% purity appreciated ₹430 to ₹99,690 per 10 grams (inclusive of all taxes), according to the All India Sarafa Association.
Boson Cell Launches Two Lithium-ion Cells
CHENNAI-based Boson Cell has launched two indigenously developed lithium-ion cell variants—18350 B-30A and 21700 B-50A—as it eyes a share of India's battery market, projected to grow to $9.56 billion by 2030.