Survey: 80% Shoppers Consider Themselves Knowledgeable About Online Shopping Scams

Alex Cheong Pui Yin

6th October 2023 - 3 min read

A recent #ShopSafewithShopee survey by the popular e-commerce platform has revealed that 80% of its customers consider themselves to be very or sufficiently knowledgeable regarding online shopping scams. This comes as Shopee strives to build a safe and secure environment for its users to shop online.

Meanwhile, 20% of the survey respondents said that they have unwittingly purchased counterfeit products before, in addition to interacting with suspicious sellers and generally being in a situation where they were susceptible to scams. 30% of them also said that they have fallen victim to online scams in the last year, while 70% said they were lucky to have avoided being scammed.

Additionally, it was found that the highest number of individuals were scammed when shopping for home and living products, followed by fashion and lifestyle items, then electronics. Of these victims, 38% reported the incident to Shopee Chat’s Live Agents to obtain immediate assistance, and they also alerted relevant authorities like the Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID), the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), and the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC). 10% went on to post their experience on social media to inform the public, while 20% do not report these incidences.

Against this backdrop, Shopee’s survey further indicated that nine out of ten Malaysians prefer Shopee for safe online shopping, and eight out of ten feel that the platform provides the best scam support when shopping online. This comes as a majority of shoppers between the age of 35 to 49 noted that security factors will greatly influence their preference for a particular e-commerce platform, such as secure payment methods, clear return and money-back policies, authentic/verified products, and great customer service.

This is in comparison to younger shoppers aged between 18 to 34, who are more inclined to choose based on the popularity of a platform and the assortment of products on sale. The underlying assumption is that the platform is safe if many people are using it.

Shopee’s survey also highlighted several key features on the platform that gave shoppers the most peace of mind, including:

Platform features: High store ratings, live demos on Shopee Live, and seller chat functions (34%)
Shopee Mall features: Genuine premium brands, money-back guarantees, and Authentic Deals Circle (33%)
Shopee Guarantee: Releases money to sellers only when the customer confirms receipt of goods (29%)

Other notable findings from the survey include the way Malaysians decide whether a seller is trustworthy or not. These include looking at testimonials and reviews (33%), store ratings (24%), number of followers (12%), and top sales for the keywords searched (4%).

In revealing these survey findings, head of marketing at Shopee Malaysia, Kenneth Soh stressed that the e-commerce platform is committed to providing its customers with a secure online shopping experience. “We have a number of initiatives in place to protect our shoppers, including Shopee Guarantee, Shopee Mall, and our dedicated scam support team,” he said.

The #ShopSafewithShopee survey was conducted between August and September 2023, with a total of 1,643 respondents. Of these, 1,095 respondents were buyers while the remaining 548 respondents were sellers.

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Alex Cheong Pui Yin

Previously covered recruitment-related stories and had a short stint as a copywriter for the property industry. She subsequently developed an interest in investment and robo-advisors.

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