Why did Amazon banned Chinese Sellers from its platform in USA?
News 📰Amazon one of the largest based e-commerce giant has removed certain made in china, sold on amazon gadgets from its e-commerce platform. Gadgets of companies such as Aukey and Mpow has been disappeared from the digital platform. Let’s look at the reason for Amazon to ban Chinese gadgets from its platform.
About the ban
Chinese Sellers on Amazon
The allegations
The Finding
Steps Taken by Amazon
FAQ
About the ban
Amazon.com had recently blocked the vendors of several top Chinese merchants from its platform stating the reason of suspicious behaviour. The industry insiders have conveyed that this move from Amazon is part of a targeted crackdown based on certain business practices that are questionable to the sellers on the platform, including the sellers based in China.
The most products of Mpow which is the main electronics store of Amazon has not been available for purchase from April 2021. The electronics store is run by ByteDance and Patozon which is backed by Xiaomi.
There was no response from Aukey and Mpow on the queries put forward by the South China Morning Post. However, a spokesperson from Amazon has said that the company will not be able to give comments on individual cases. He added that Amazon has systems to detect suspicious behaviour and to take prompt actions. There were no allegations of conducting fraud by Aukey and Mpow.
Chinese Sellers on Amazon
The two banned companies are Chinese vendors who have turned to Amazon in order to enter the international market. According to a recent report by Marketplace pulse which is a consultancy firm, 75 % of all new sellers on Amazon was Chinese based company as of January 2021.
The share of Chinese based sellers on the US site of Amazon had increased from 28 % in 2019 to 63 % in 2021. The most successful sellers on Amazon would generate a huge amount of profit.
The allegations
It is seen that as these Chinese firms are moving towards Amazon, they are bringing in some shady practices which is much more common in Chinese marketplaces. According to certain Industry insiders, some of the practices include creating fake reviews for the products, increasing the sales numbers, etc.
The recent actions of Amazon can be considered as a warning from the e-commerce platform which sends the message that the US based giant will not tolerate such activities on their platform.
The Finding
The recent removal of products from Amazon’s website has created a coincidence with the reports which were sent by the antivirus product review site called SafetyDetectives. The company had conducted a survey where they received links of around 75,000 which is directed towards Amazon’s accounts.
The cybersecurity team of the company have found that the links led to the vendors of Amazon which asked for positive reviews for their products for exchange of free products which would be provided by the website.
The owner of this website has not yet been detected but the researches could find some information written in Chinese which has led them to believe that the server is located in China.
Steps Taken by Amazon
From past few years Amazon has been working towards fighting such problems on their digital marketplace. From the year 2016 the company has banned incentivized reviews.
In the 2020 brand protection report which was released by Amazon has mentioned that the company has spent around USD 700 million and has provided new employment for more than 10,000 people to crackdown fraudulent cases and abuse.
According to a report, In the year 2020 the company has blocked more than 10 million suspected bad listings and 6 million attempts to create a new account.
Platonov has conveyed that the manipulation of review has become essential in competition between the vendors within a certain marketplace. They added saying that they are almost present everywhere with number of social media groups, websites and even a lot of companies that are specialized in techniques such as brushing and leveraging ample networks.
FAQ
What percentage of Amazon reviews are fake?
61% of electronics reviews were reported to be fake on Amazon as of March 2019.
Does Amazon allow fake products?
The sale of counterfeit products is strictly prohibited on Amazon.
How do I avoid Chinese sellers on Amazon?
Avoid brand names that are weird combinations of consonants and vowels, Avoid products that are identical to one with different brand names, and Carefully inspect products that have generic product titles and do not list a brand name, these steps might help you to avoid Chinese sellers on Amazon.
Conclusion
The problems related to fake reviews still exist on the Amazon and other online retail platform even though there have been a lot of lawsuits filed against such companies and the individuals who have written the reviews. Platonov has said that the problem would increase as Chinese vendors expand overseas.
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