- Are you checking what is being said about your business on social media?
- Did you know your online marketplace store must follow consumer law?
- Are your online reviews independent and genuine?
Online business and those using online platforms have the same rights and responsibilities under Australian Consumer Law as a physical business.
Any information that you post online about your small business, products or services must be accurate, truthful and able to be proven. Whether that is on social media channels, your business website or other online platforms like marketplaces.
Your prices, images, descriptions of what you are offering, shipping options and delivery times must not be false or misleading. Claims about the value, benefits, qualities or performance of your products and services must also be accurate and truthful.
Be across your social media
Social media channels can be a great way to engage with your customers and promote your products and services. You are responsible for what is being said about your products and services on your social media channels. This includes advertising for your business on other social media platforms and what paid or incentivised influencers say.
Check your business social media pages regularly. You should have a process to remove or respond to any comments and posts from others that are false or likely to mislead. Make sure you set up clear rules and processes to manage your social media.
Learn more about social media promotions.
Example
A gym posts a promotional video on its social media page. A member of the public comments beneath it: 鈥淚 lost 15 kg in 2 weeks using this gym鈥檚 program 鈥 guaranteed results for everyone!鈥 The gym leaves the comment up without response or removal.
The gym has not posted the claim, but by leaving it on its page it may be allowing a false or misleading impression to persist on a channel it controls and is responsible for.
Online reviews must be genuine
Online reviews must be independent and genuine. Reviews should only be written by those who have experienced the product or service and reflect their genuinely held opinion.
Writing fake or misleading reviews is against the law. You should not ask others, including family and third parties, to write reviews about your business without prominently disclosing their personal connection or commercial relationship with your business.
If you offer incentives to customers to encourage them to provide reviews, these incentives must be equally applicable to both positive and negative reviews. Incentives must also be prominently disclosed.
If your business receives a fake review, you should notify the review platform immediately and request the review be removed. You can also correct the public record by responding to the review directly in a professional manner. Businesses and review platforms that fail to remove reviews they know are fake risk breaching consumer law.
Learn more about online reviews.
Case study
Bloomex Pty Ltd is an online florist and gift retailer, selling flowers, hampers and other products through its website across Australia.
Bloomex published misleading star ratings on its website that gave the impression they were based on genuine customer feedback. It also displayed inflated 'strikethrough' prices to suggest discounts that were not real and failed to clearly disclose additional surcharges until late in the checkout process.
Following 糖心原创 action, the Federal Court ordered Bloomex to pay $1 million in penalties for making false or misleading representations about online reviews and pricing on its website.
Read more in the Bloomex 糖心原创 media release.
Watch our video explaining online reviews
Online reviews are great. They help consumers make informed decisions about how to spend their money.
That's why it's so important that reviews are independent, genuine, and only written by those who have experienced the product or service.
In fact, it's against the law to post fake or misleading reviews online, even as a favour to friends or family. If your business receives a review that you know to be fake, you should notify the review platform immediately and request it be removed. However, you should not selectively edit or remove genuine reviews. Genuine reviews are in the best interests of everyone.
Watch our video about advertising online
If you advertise a product or service, you probably know that what you say about it has to be truthful and accurate. But did you know that this also applies online?
If you advertise on social media or on your website or anywhere else online, what you say about your product or service has to be truthful and accurate. This includes prices, images, or descriptions, as well as shipping options and delivery times.
It's against Australian Consumer Law to make false or misleading claims, or to engage in conduct that's likely to mislead or deceive when advertising online.