SINGAPORE – Online shoppers can soon buy with the same confidence at an e-retailer as they do in a brick-and-mortar shop, if they are both CaseTrust accredited.

Accreditation scheme e-CaseTrust is being rolled out by the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) to e-commerce retailers that are also registered businesses in Singapore.

Lazada shoppers will be among the first to experience these Case-endorsed online outlets, as the shopping platform is working with the association to encourage its sellers to become accredited.

They will also explore ways to improve the visibility of these e-businesses so that consumers can identify them easily.

The scheme should enhance consumer protection at online shops by recognising those that adopt fair trading and pro-consumer practices, such as transparent pricing, customer-friendly policies for handling disputes and complaints, and more secure means of making electronic payments, said Minister of State for Trade and Industry Low Yen Ling.

A deeper dive into the criteria that are unique to the scheme includes a focus on ensuring that customers can review their selected items, confirm their transactions efficiently, and be provided a detailed account of their purchases.

On the issue of security, the scheme requires businesses to provide easy-to-use yet secure methods of payment, sufficient encryption, updated security and a log of events, as well as regular reports and reviews.

Together, these requirements aim to provide consumers with ample peace of mind when they click away on their favourite shopping platforms.

A key reason for the scheme to be put in place is the growth of e-commerce sales in Singapore, which were estimated to be US$8 billion (S$11 billion) in 2021, and will likely hit $19.6 billion by 2027, according to a 2022 projection by Meta, formerly known as Facebook, and management consultancy Bain & Company.

Speaking at the launch of the scheme at Zalora’s South-east Asia corporate office at Suntec Tower 1 on Friday, Ms Low noted that the surge in e-commerce volume was accompanied by an acceleration in the number of customer complaints involving online purchases.

“Common disputes included problems with delivery, defective or non-conforming goods, and misleading and false claims,” she said.

According to Case data, such complaints rose by 14.7 per cent to 2,530 in 2022, from 2,206 in the previous year.

However, the first half of 2023 saw a surge of 54 per cent, compared with the same six months in 2022.

In the first nine months of this year alone, the total number of complaints had already reached 2,486.

While there is already a robust framework in place, the new scheme – which Ms Low described as timely – is expected to complement these existing standards, while also “raising consumer confidence and boosting sales in the long run”.

For e-business owners, they can attend a series of one-day workshops organised by Nanyang Polytechnic’s Singapore Institute of Retail Studies, which had co-developed the accreditation scheme with Case, to learn more about how the scheme works and what its assessment criteria are.

The institute also offers an extensive one-on-one mentorship programme to help business owners identify and address gaps in their policies and systems, and optimise the online experience for their customers, while helping them gain e-CaseTrust accreditation.

There are fees for the workshops and mentoring programme, although these will be heavily subsidised by the Government’s lifelong learning SkillsFuture Movement.

Case president Melvin Yong said: “Being on the CaseTrust white list will help accredited e-businesses differentiate themselves in a diverse e-market space.”

He said he was encouraged by Lazada’s voluntary move to step forward to be the first major e-marketplace in Singapore to work with Case, and hoped that more e-commerce platforms will do the same.

A spokesman said Case will be reaching out to both the platforms and their online retailers through electronic direct marketing to raise awareness about the scheme.

“We welcome other industry players to collaborate with us and encourage their network of e-commerce businesses to sign up for this accreditation,” he added.

Companies wanting to get accredited will have to pay a flat one-time application fee of $324, whereas assessment fees, as well as annual management fees, will vary according to the size of the firms’ sales turnover.