May 22, 2022 4:00:00 PM | Shoplazza News Shoplazza | Open Letter To End Consumers

The direct-to-consumer (DTC) eCommerce model has been hugely successful for online brands. By cutting out the middleman, manufacturers small and large have been able to increase their margins, just as consumers have been able to get comparable products at a much lower price. 

One of the main reasons why this model has been so successful is the greater transparency which extends up and down the DTC supply chain. Manufacturers operating under the DTC model are revealing much more about their manufacturing process and supply chain relationships, such that consumers are able to find out exactly what their payments go toward and to whom their payments are made. At the same time, manufacturers are finding out direct insights about consumers in ways that were never before possible, particularly as the DTC model is evolving into the C2M model in which consumers are collectively approaching manufacturers to dictate what the latter should produce. 

The direct interaction between end-consumers and end-producers has been greatly beneficial for all parties involved, but certain individuals have been abusing this system for their own benefit. Online fraudsters are taking advantage of the trusting relationship characteristic of DTC brand-consumer relationships and setting up shell online stores that serve no other purpose than to bilk trusting consumers out of their hard-earned money.  

SHOPLAZZA is adamantly against the occurrence of this type of fraudulent activity on our platform. 

While SHOPLAZZA serves a large community of international businesses and individual shop owners, the end-consumers that ultimately purchase products from stores created using our platform is the lifeblood of, not only, our business but, also, eCommerce as an industry. Nothing pains us more than the idea that our good name and the eCommerce industry are being exploited by individual actors or shysters working together to portray themselves as legitimate businesses when, in fact, they are pulling bait-and-switch schemes, publishing non-existent products, and/or pressuring trusting online shoppers to accept less than ideal arrangements when disputes arise in relations to their online purchases.  

SHOPLAZZA does not engage in the sale of goods or services, other than the software solutions for eCommerce that we provide through our proprietary “software as a service” (SaaS) platform. We also utilize automatic and manual methods to identify, investigate and eliminate stores that engage in suspicious transactional activities. Additionally, we rely on the help of consumers like you to report any and all activities that may violate our policies and your sense of propriety. 

We strongly encourage you to report any suspicious or inappropriate activities taking place on websites that display “Powered by Shoplazza” here.   

We care what happens on our platform, please help us take care of SHOPLAZZA. 

Sincerely, 

SHOPLAZZA