In order to entice/retain customers (even if they are a dissatisfied lot), and continue to increase the yield per client, ecommerce companies resort to many tactics that many a time, are identified as unethical (at times, illegal). Some of them are:
1. Subscription Trap
When you want to unsubscribe, the site will redirect you through a series of pages, thereby tiring you and making it technically impossible for you to unsubscribe
2. False Urgency
Creating, of course falsely, a sense of the urgency in your mind. E.g: while booking hotel room, message popping out saying, “ only 1 room left”
3. Basket Sneaking
While checking out, including additional items in your shopping cart without you knowing and/or without your consent
4. Confirm Shaming
Using an audio or video response to create a sense of shame / fear / guilt in the buyer. For e.g: when you drop a product from the cart, a video response coming from the screen making you feel cringe feeling guilty or shame
5. Forced Action
Forcing the user to buy additional items. For e.g: auto check mark for flight insurance while booking an online air ticket.
6. Privacy Zuckering
When ticking ‘terms & conditions’ during an online purchase, the same term sheet would have included a line taking your your consent for sharing your data, without your realising it. Many terms & conditions are laborious and come in fine print and buyers don’t actually read while buying online !
7. Interface Interference
The design of the site that manipulates user interface, depending on the system’s buyer knowledge E.g: a) highlights certain specific information; and (b) obscures other relevant information
8. Bait & Switch
Advertising a particular outcome based on user’s action such as luring customers into using a product under attractive terms, then change the conditions once engaged, forcing them to accept the outcome, usually a paid service.
9. Drip Pricing
The pricing elements are not revealed upfront. Minimal pricing information is available but when you click to buy, other pricing elements are loaded to it.
10. Disguised Advertisement
Hiding additional inputs from buyers until they are committed to making a purchase. E.g: disguised advt. on the software download page to boost ad revenue, such as, displaying advertisements with a prominent download button that closely resembles the actual download button for the desired software.
These are called dark patterns, and these tactics are employed by e-commerce sites when you reach out to it for buying. Many Governments, now also India, are enacting regulations against it including punitive measures.
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