• by Ray Schultz , September 2, 2021

Email marketers may be faced this holiday season with a high level of consumer suspicion. A poll by Red Points shows that 56% of consumers believe they have purchased a fake item during the holidays. 

Another 40% contend that brands are responsible for removing fakes from online channels. 

But consumer gullibility clearly knows no bounds: 25% of the victims say, “Yes, I knew it was a counterfeit when I purchased.” And 18% suspected it was fake, but weren’t sure. In addition, 6% don’t know and 1% prefer not to say. 

The leading channels for buying fakes were social media (35%), the marketplace (25%) and ecommerce, at 17%.

What would consumers do after receiving a fake item? They would: 

• Ask for a refund — 52% 
• Leave a negative review where they bought the product — 47% 
• Complain to the original brand — 44% 
• No longer buy from the brand — 39%
• Use it anyway — 21%
• Post on social media about it — 20%

Who is responsible for removing fake items online? Consumers say:

• The brand — 40%
• Platforms — 32%
• The law — 22%

One antidote — for brands selling by email — would be to employ BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification). Authenticated emails can include the brand logo with the subject line, showing they are genuine.  

In general, 72% of consumers plan to shop on marketplaces like Amazon and eBay. And 60% say reviews and ratings are the most important factor in reaching a decision — more so than price. In addition, 40% plan to start shopping online for holiday before September ends. 

Red Points surveyed 2,000 U.S. shoppers between July 28 and August 3, 2021.