Counterfeit, smuggled goods on e-commerce platforms: Current situation and solutions

In the digital transformation era, e-commerce has become a popular shopping trend, offering convenience and a wide range of choices for consumers. However, alongside its benefits, e-commerce is grappling with a common issue: the widespread presence of counterfeit and smuggled goods on online platforms.

This issue not only impacts legitimate manufacturers, but also threatens consumers’ rights & interests and health while causing significant losses to the national economy. The problem becomes even more complex during year-end shopping seasons when consumers’ demand for shopping surges. Due to high profits, counterfeit and smuggled goods not only appear in traditional stores, but also flood e-commerce platforms and social media. These products often target consumers who prefer cheaper options, including items from well-known brands in fashion, cosmetics, functional food and medicine, which are advertised at prices much lower than genuine products.

Sellers often use fake accounts, run enticing advertisements, livestream sales or exploit fast-shipping policies to distribute their goods, making it more challenging than ever to regulate and control these activities.

Images of popular e-commerce platforms today

Accordingly, this situation has caused significant consequences for many stakeholders, particularly resulting in a severe decline in revenue and reputation for legitimate manufacturers.

Originating from the avoidance of costs for quality materials, research and development or taxes, these products easily engage in unfair competition by offering lower prices. This not only reduces the market share of reputable businesses, but also misleads consumers, eroding their trust in genuine brands.

For consumers, the consequences of buying counterfeit goods are not only financial loss, but also great harm to health. Poor quality products, especially counterfeit cosmetics or medicines, can lead to serious complications.

Moreover, the legitimate rights and interests of consumers are not protected as counterfeit goods typically lack invoices, documentation or clear warranty policies. The consequences of counterfeit and smuggled goods are not confined to businesses and individuals, but also have profound impacts on the national economy.

Tax losses from smuggling activities lead to budget revenue shortfalls while an unfair competitive environment diminishes incentive for innovation and creativity among legitimate businesses. Additionally, when businesses go bankrupt or reduce production, due to the prevalence of counterfeit goods, unemployment on sharp incease, causing significant instability in society.

To avoid purchasing counterfeit or smuggled goods, consumers should enhance their awareness and exercise caution when shopping online. First and foremost, they should give priority to choosing official stores or authorized distributors on major e-commerce platforms.

For example, official stores often display verification badges such as "Official Store" or "Mall" which ensure products with clear origins. Therefore, consumers should also be cautious of unusually low-priced products before making a purchase as these are often indicative of counterfeit goods. Checking reviews from other users as well as inspecting anti-counterfeit labels or QR codes on products, can help customers protect their interests.

Additionally, retaining invoices or purchase documents is essential in e-commerce transactions. This not only serves as a basis for protecting consumers’ rights and interests in case of issues, but also acts as a tool to facilitate transparent complaints or product returns.

In order to contribute to building up a healthier business environment, consumers should actively report violations on e-commerce platforms when they detect products that show signs of being counterfeit, with unclear origins.

Images of product reviews from consumers on e-commerce platforms

In addition to the above mentioned solutions, the active and decisive involvement of authorities is a prerequisite for thoroughly addressing the issue of counterfeit and smuggled goods.

Periodic and unexpected inspections on e-commerce platforms need to be conducted frequently, leveraging the advantages of online monitoring technologies to quickly detect violations.

Especially, sanctions such as administrative fines, revocation of business licenses, or criminal prosecution must also be enforced to deter organizations and individuals from intentional violations.

Furthermore, raising community awareness is one of the most sustainable and long-term solutions. Authorities should intensify efforts to educate the public about the harms of counterfeit goods and provide guidance on identifying genuine products through tools like QR codes or anti-counterfeit labels. Enhancing supply chain transparency using blockchain technology is also an effective solution, enabling comprehensive management from production to distribution, ensuring clear product origins.

Finally, international cooperation is indispensable as smuggling often involves foreign supply sources. Strengthening border control coordination, sharing data and tracing product origins will contribute effectively to preventing counterfeit goods right from the import stage.

In general, counterfeit and smuggled goods are not only challenges for businesses or consumers, but also a significant issue for the national economy. Collaboration among authorities, businesses and the community is the key to thoroughly addressing this problem.

By raising awareness, applying modern technology and improving legal frameworks, we can create a healthy, transparent and safe e-commerce environment that protects consumers’ rights & interests and upholds the reputation of legitimate businesses.

Reported by Anh Hao – Binh Duong provincial Center for Trade Promotion and Industrial Development