Weekly news: the 10 commandments of Internet safety, Amazon’s best practices, EC’s investigations
The 10 commandments of Internet safety
Our friends from the European Consumer Center Romania – ECC Romania issued their 10 “commandments” to ensure safety online, with the occasion of the Internet Safety Day (February 7). Here are the first of them: 1. On social networks, thou shall not post photos without asking for your friends’ permission; 2. On Facebook, thou shall choose wisely the security settings; 3. Thou shall read carefully the Terms and Conditions of the dating site in Romania or Europe, before subscribing.
Read all 10 commandments on Facebook
Amazon, best practices in 2016
What were Amazon’s key strategic milestones in 2016? 1. Amazon Prime expanded (UK members benefited from free Amazon Music Unlimited for the first time in 2016); 2. Innovations (from the opening of the Amazon Go store in Seattle to the first Prime Air drone delivery and the Alexa voice service, the retailer has used technology to make huge changes to the way retail happens); 3. Internet of Things (Amazon launched its Dash Button in new markets from the UK to Japan during 2016).
More details at Internet Retailer
European Commission opens three investigations
The European Commission has launched three separate investigations to assess if certain online sales practices prevent, in breach of EU antitrust rules, consumers from enjoying cross-border choice and being able to buy consumer electronics, video games and hotel accommodation at competitive prices.
The Commission is investigating whether Asus, Denon & Marantz, Philips and Pioneer have breached EU competition rules by restricting the ability of online retailers to set their own prices for widely used consumer electronics products such as household appliances, notebooks and hi-fi products.
Check your knowledge about the e-commerce laws!
After the consumer test, TRUSTED.ro came back with a test tailored for e-shop owners. The questions are based on the TRUSTED standards and on the best practices and the laws of the market. Check your knowledge about legislation and best practices in e-commerce and see if you would qualify as a professional online shop owner in Romania! And if you still have energy, do the consumer test too!
The mobile is the ideal tool for payments
According to the latest survey of mobile money from the Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF), 18% of people globally saying they have used their mobile phone in a shop in 2016. The research findings do show that in a year the use of mobile in stores to pay for things has jumped from 8% to 18%, largely driven by Apple Pay in China. What is important about mobile payments: the convenience; the security; the management of paying across the web, stores, anywhere. What people want – and what retailers need – is payments that are as seamless as possible and that they trust. And this is where mobile payments come into their own. They enable one or two click payments that are secure and instant.