In recent years, online retail has become increasingly prominent in consumers' everyday lives. In addition to traditional online retailers, online marketplaces, where a large number of retailers offer their products through one platform, are becoming more and more important. For consumers, online marketplaces offer some advantages over conventional e-commerce models, such as the broad selection of different products. At the same time, the rapid spread of marketplaces is accompanied by challenges in the area of consumer protection. In recent years, the number of complaints about online marketplace providers has increased significantly. In addition, there are concerns about compliance with applicable safety regulations for the products offered.
Therefore, the DIN Consumer Council commissioned ConPolicy together with OmniQuest to conduct the research project 'Digital consumer marketplaces – Requirements, problems and barriers in everyday consumer life'. The project aimed to show which requirements, problems and barriers existed along the transaction process in B2C online marketplaces.
The project was implemented in three steps:
- Literature analysis: In the first step, an overview of the market and legal situation as well as the transaction phases was created. In doing so, the state of research on consumer expectations and problems was elaborated and research gaps were identified.
- Online survey: A representative online survey was conducted to collect data on consumer experiences and expectations.
- Recommendations for action: Based on the findings of the literature research and online survey, conclusions and recommendations for action were derived for the work of DIN Consumer Council and for consumer policy in general.
