The internet has become the symbolic pulse of the planet: approximately 4.5 million people are connected to internet representing about 60% of the global population. Businesses that have gone online have been rewarded with an exponential increase in online transactions (growth of more than 1.3 million consumers in 2020).

This transformation is no longer limited to multinationals; many SMEs and cottage industries are also taking advantage of the opportunities presented by digital selling points by using online contracts. It goes without saying that such an increase has also had a direct impact on the number of complaints (on average, one out of every five consumers encounters problems after having made a purchase online).

To reap benefit from these previously unimaginable moneymaking opportunities now available to all, there are new challenges to be addressed: primarily that of ‘distance’ between suppliers and final customers. Previously distance was a concept measurable in kilometres whereas its online definition also encompasses different commercial practices as well as the absence of a common language to communicate in.

Companies who wish to showcase their products and services online require an efficient e-commerce platform able to simultaneously manage complaints and resolve disputes in an economical, efficient and advantageous way. The platform should also be configured with a view to generating customer loyalty through the provision of a satisfying customer shopping experience  which consolidates the company’s good reputation in the marketplace.

Fortunately, these systems already exist: in just a few clicks customers can access a free extrajudicial procedure (voluntary and alternative to the judicial one) on the supplier’s website. Indeed, this was the notion behind the creation of the European Commission’s ODR platform (introduced by way of art. 14 of the EU Regulation n° 524/13) which provides a unique, multilingual access point for all EU users where so-called ‘B2C’ after-sales disputes can be resolved. Access to the ODR platform can be included on a company’s website by inserting the relevant URL (NB ‘company’ in this sense indicates the entity with whom the purchase of services or goods is transacted).

Living in the current climate of social distancing has stimulated a vertiginous increase in online purchasing which has evidenced the need for an alternative procedure to resolve any disputes both digitally and quickly as an absolute priority for consumers (also in view of the announced sanctions stipulated by art. 18 of the aforesaid EU Regulation).

Iusintech strives to connect man and machine by cooperating with the foremost software houses to create an optimal e-commerce experience which is equipped with integrated online dispute resolution systems that are both GDPR compliant and able to manage the generated flow of potential contentious procedures. 

Furthermore, we are also here to assist companies who are faced with online disputes by evaluating risk and advising on the most innovative and revolutionary platforms to resolve such disputes that can also lie outside of the B2C paradigm.