Three online retailers in Singapore – Boarding Gate, Origin Sleep, and Light In The Box – have been caught using misleading website features to influence consumers’ purchasing decisions.
According to the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCS), the retailers used several tactics commonly known as ‘dark patterns’, such as displaying fake visitor counts, fabricated countdown timers, and false discount claims to create artificial urgency and demand around their products.
Investigations revealed that Boarding Gate’s website used randomly generated numbers to display the number of people viewing a product, creating the illusion of real-time visitor activity and high demand. This misleading feature can pressure consumers into making quick purchase decisions.
Origin Sleep’s website featured similar tactics. It also had countdown timers that implied purchases had to be completed before the time expired, even though these timers had no impact.
Origin Sleep also ran a time-limited sales offering, but investigators found that the supposed flash sales continued for nearly two years under rotating names.
At Light In The Box’s website, there were ‘Almost sold out’ warnings on products to suggest scarcity, but in reality, these labels were applied randomly for promotional effect. The company also showed discounted prices against higher ‘original’ prices that were never actually offered, creating false impressions of savings.
“Dark patterns are insidious as they are difficult to detect and erode consumer trust in the digital marketplace,” said CCS CEO Alvin Koh.
“CCS will continue taking firm action to protect consumer trust and honest businesses from those who choose to compete unfairly.”
The three companies have provided formal undertakings to CCS, ceased their misleading practices, and committed to avoiding unfair trade practices in the future.
Last year, electronics and home appliances retailers Courts and Prism+ were found to have violated trading laws by either charging consumers for products they never selected or using certain website features that create false urgency in purchase.
