Alibaba sues website over fake sales records to boost merchants’ ratings
E-commerce giant moves against website as earlier administrative penalty ‘not enough’ to deter ‘brushing’ activities
E-commerce giant Alibaba Group has sued a technology website in the People’s Court of Xihu district in Hangzhou for faking sales records for online vendors, Xinhua reports.
Alibaba had sued Shatui.com for 2.16 million yuan in compensation over hurting market competition order, according to Xinhua.
High sales volumes and good reviews helped online vendors move up in search results and attract shoppers on Alibaba’s platform. Many vendors turn to agents such as Shatui who operate online storefronts to fake orders for merchants.
On April 5, the Market and Quality Supervision Commission of Hangzhou had cracked down on Shatui.com over fake orders that helped merchants improve their sales volume on e-commerce platforms, including Alibaba, the report said.
Authorities fined the operators of the website 100,000 yuan for making profits of 2.16 million yuan from the artificial sales since last year.
According to mainland media, merchants wired the agents money to cover the purchase price plus a fee. Using that money, the “customer” then ordered the product and the vendor would ship an empty box or things of little value to them, thereby completing the transaction and allowing the “customer” to write a positive review for the vendor. Such “customers” were called “brushers” in the mainland.