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Smart t Consumer umers: s: Wh What at empo empowerm ermen ent t from

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Bruss ussels, Tuesda esday y 10th th July

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Internet use

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✓ As of the beginning of 2017, 85% of all individuals in the EU-28 used the Internet in the last 12 months.

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Denmark Luxembourg Sweden Netherlands United Kingdom Finland Germany Belgium Estonia France Austria Czech Republic Spain EU-28 Slovakia Ireland Latvia Cyprus Malta Slovenia Lithuania Hungary Poland Portugal Italy Greece Romania Croatia Bulgaria

% of individuals who used the Internet in the last 12 months (2017)

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Denmark Luxembourg Netherlands Sweden Finland United Kingdom Germany Estonia Belgium Malta Cyprus Austria EU-28 Ireland France Latvia Spain Hungary Slovakia Czech Republic Italy Slovenia Lithuania Portugal Poland Greece Croatia Bulgaria Romania

Daily Internet usage, 2017 (% of individuals)

✓ In 2017, close to three quarters (72%) of individuals in the EU-28 accessed the internet on a daily basis to work, study, shop

• r

stay connected.

Source: Eurostat

The main Internet activities

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Source: Eurostat 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Denmark Netherlands Luxembourg Sweden Finland United Kingdom Germany Belgium Czech Republic Estonia Austria France EU-28 Slovakia Latvia Hungary Ireland Slovenia Spain Malta Lithuania Poland Portugal Italy Greece Cyprus Croatia Bulgaria Romania

Sending/receiving e-mails (% of individuals, 2017)

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Denmark Cyprus Sweden Luxembourg Lithuania Bulgaria United Kingdom Germany Slovakia Hungary Malta Netherlands Estonia Latvia Croatia Belgium EU-28 Ireland Austria Slovenia Czech Republic Finland Romania Greece Poland Portugal Spain France Italy

Telephoning or video calls (% of individuals, 2017)

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Denmark Belgium Sweden United… Malta Luxembourg Netherlands Finland Hungary Cyprus Estonia Latvia Slovakia Ireland Spain Portugal EU-28 Lithuania Romania Germany Austria Greece Bulgaria Czech… Poland Croatia Slovenia France Italy

Participating in social networks - Facebook or Twitter (% of individuals, 2017)

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Netherlands Finland Sweden Germany Luxembourg Denmark United Kingdom Estonia Belgium Czech Republic Ireland Malta Slovenia France EU-28 Hungary Austria Spain Lithuania Cyprus Portugal Croatia Slovakia Poland Latvia Greece Bulgaria Italy Romania

Finding information about goods and services (% of individuals, 2017)

✓ One of the most common online activities in the EU-28 in 2017 was the use of e-mails (72%) followed by search of information about goods and services (65%) and participation in social networking (54%).

E-commerce

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Source: Eurostat

✓ Millions of European consumers use online platforms (e.g. search engines, social media, e-commerce platforms, app stores, price comparison websites) to access goods and services and these platforms enable consumers to find online information and businesses to exploit the advantages of e-commerce. ✓ In 2017, the share of individuals in the EU-28 who used any website or app to buy online during the preceding 12 months stood at 57%. This proportion ranged from 82% in the United Kingdom to 16% in Romania

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

% of individuals purchasing online in the last 12 months (2017)

Being digital in Europe in 2018

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✓ Internet and digital technologies have been influencing the habits and daily life of Europeans. The impact of these technologies cannot be understated, and reach almost all aspects of society: access to information, communication, work, trade, and the interaction of Europeans with each other, with businesses and with public institutions. Because of the changes wrought by the Internet and digital technologies, European institutions now need to address new issues, including data protection, better access to digital goods and services for all Europeans, and respect for consumer’s rights on the

• Internet. (EU Commission, “Online platforms” Report, 2016)

0% 5% 10% 15% 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 Mobile connection Internet users Social media users Mobile social users Million Growth (right axis)

The Omni-channel approach

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➢ The digital revolution has changed the habits and needs of consumers that want to interact with companies through tools such as instant messaging and chatbots. Therefore, companies that wish to survive in this environment must necessarily change their business model to meet the new demands. Big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning are improving the service experience and helping companies to become the perfect partner. ➢ An important role in this context is played by:

• the social network
• self-caring tools ( App or web self-service portals)
• Chatbots

500 1000 1500 2000 2500 KAKAOTALK BBM VKONTAKTE TELEGRAM YY PINTEREST LINE REDDIT SNAPCHAT LINKEDIN VIBER BAIDU TIEBA SKYPE TWITTER SINA WEIBO QZONE TUMBLR INSTAGRAM QQ WECHAT WHATSAPP FB MESSENGER YOUTUBE FACEBOOK

Active users of key social platforms

Source: State of chatbots 2018; Digital in 2018

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Communication channel used by consumers

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European Commission's initiatives

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Online platforms (e.g. search engines, social media, e-commerce platforms, app stores, price comparison websites) provide opportunities for innovation and growth in the Digital Single Market but, at the same time, they could pose significant challenges to consumer protection and market competition. Today, 1 million EU businesses are already selling goods and services via

• nline platforms, and more than 50% of small and medium enterprises selling through online

marketplaces sell cross-border. For 2017, the European Business-to-Consumer (B2C) e-commerce turnover was forecasted to reach around €602 billion, at a growth rate of nearly 14% (Source: EU Commission). The European Commission drafted various proposals to foster an environment in which online platforms thrive, where consumers are protected whilst competition is enhanced.

➢ Communication “Online Platforms and the Digital Single Market - Opportunities and Challenges for Europe” (2016) ➢ Mid-term review of the Digital Single Market strategy ➢ Recommendation on measures to effectively tackle illegal content online (2018) ➢ Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on promoting fairness and transparency for business users of online intermediation services (2018) ➢ New Deal for Consumers (2018)

Communication “Online Platforms and the Digital Single Market - Opportunities and Challenges for Europe”

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In the 2016 Communication “Online Platforms and the Digital Single Market - Opportunities and Challenges for Europe” , it is stated that the “future internet cannot succeed without the trust of users in online platforms, and without online platforms respecting all applicable legislation and the legitimate interests of consumers and other users”. This Communication identifies the following guiding policy principles: A level playing field for comparable digital services Ensuring that

• nline

platforms behave responsibly to protect core values Fostering trust, transparency and ensuring fairness Keeping markets open and non-discriminatory, to foster a data-driven economy

Measures to tackle illegal content online

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In the mid-term review of the Digital Single Market strategy, two principal follow-up actions specifically concerned online platforms: 1. to ensure better platform dialogue coordination within the Digital Single Market focusing on the mechanisms and technical solutions for the removal of illegal content, in order to enhance their effectiveness in fully respecting fundamental rights; 2. to prepare actions to address the issues of unfair contractual clauses and trading practices identified in platform-to-business relationships, including exploring dispute resolution, fair practice criteria and transparency. To ensure transparency and consumer protection in

• nline platforms on 1 March 2018, the Commission

issued a Recommendation

• n

measures to effectively tackle illegal content online. This Recommendation builds

• n

an earlier Communication

• n

"tackling illegal content

• nline,

towards enhanced responsibility

• f
• nline

platforms", adopted

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28 September 2017.

New Deal for Consumers

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• More transparency in online market places. Consumers will have to be clearly informed if

they are buying products or services from a trader or from a private person, in order to know if they have rights that protect them if something goes wrong. The Commission also proposes to clarify that all online platforms must clearly distinguish search results based on payments received from other traders from 'natural' search results, and online marketplaces should provide the main parameters determining offer ranking.

New Deal for Consumers aims at strengthening consumer rights online

• More transparency on search results on online platforms. When searching online,

consumers will be clearly informed when a search result is being paid for by a trader. As well,

• nline marketplaces will have to inform consumers about the main parameters determining

the ranking of the results. The New Deal for Consumers also seeks to modify consumer protection in free digital services (cloud storage, social media and email accounts), as consumers provide their personal data, instead of money, for these free services. Parallel to the GDPR, consumers will also benefit from certain information rights and will have the right to “terminate the contract for digital services within the 14-day right-of-withdrawal period”. This will “remove the contractual basis for the processing of personal data…” and “…trigger the application of the rights provided by the GDPR, e.g. the right to be forgotten and the right to data portability.”

EU survey on online platforms

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According to a survey1 published by the EU Commission in the study “European Commission, BEHAVIOURAL STUDY ON THE TRANSPARENCY OF ONLINE PLATFORMS” (2018), about 82% of respondents said that knowing how results were ranked made them more confident and trusting in the platform. Moreover, 83% of respondents think that all platforms should include information on the way they order the results of a search as this would make users more confident and trusting in platforms and, in general, would lead to a better service for users. Related to contractual party identification, 84% of those interviewed declared that all platforms should include information about who is actually selling the goods or services presented in the platform.

1 Survey involved 4802 respondents in the four European countries (Germany, Poland, Spain and UK)

47% 43% 44% 37% 40% 38% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% All platforms should include information about who is actually selling the goods or services presented in the platform All platforms should include information on the way they order the results of a search Knowing how the platform ordered the results of the search made me more confident and trusting in the platform Strongly agree Agree Indifferent Disagree Strongly disagree

EU Regulation on promoting fairness and transparency for business users of online intermediation services

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On 26 April 2018, the Commission proposed an EU Regulation on promoting fairness and transparency for business users of online intermediation services trading together with the creation

• f

an Observatory on the online platform economy. The Regulation aims to create a fair and predictable online environment for businesses by setting obligations for online platforms and search engines to provide business users with appropriate transparency and to offer effective redress possibilities. The proposed Regulation covers the following areas:

• Terms and conditions;
• Ranking methodologies;
• Grounds for suspension or termination of services;
• Access to data;
• Differentiated

treatment — vertically integrated

• nline platforms;
• Redress procedures

The use of comparison tools

Digital comparison tools

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➢ Faced with increasingly complex information and choices online, consumers are increasingly using digital comparison tools that guide them in making a decision. ➢ According to the report, “Digital Comparison Tools Market Study” (2017) of the Competition and Markets Authority in the United Kingdom, these tools offer two types of benefits:

• 1. They save time and effort in searches and make comparing easier and

more appealing, above all for household services that are

• ften

complicated and not of immediate interest.

• 2. They make suppliers compete more to provide lower prices and better

consumer choices. ➢ In general, four types of comparison tool models can be found in Europe: 1) commercial websites run by the private sector; 2) commercial websites run by the private sector but certified by a public authority; 3) non-commercial websites run by consumer and/or industry associations; 4) non-commercial websites run by public authorities.

Digital comparison tools in the insurance sector

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➢ The comparative sites also represent a new frontier for distribution in the insurance sector, able to stimulating consumers to find the best prices and products, thus encouraging market competition dynamics. Insurance comparison websites especially play an important role in the French, UK and Italy insurance market

Compare The Market Limited is an insurance intermediary, which is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority The Single Estimator for motor liability insurance (“Tuo Preventivatore”) is an information service set up IVASS on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Development.

Key questi tions ns

Key Key quest stions ions (1/3)

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• 1. What strategies could encourage the use of online platforms in Europe?
• 2. How can greater consumer and business awareness be achieved regarding

their rights and obligations relative to online platforms? How can business and consumer interests be balanced so that no one is a “weak contractor”?

• 3. Consumers must be the first to defend their rights, but most consumers are

misinformed in this regard. How can consumers be educated about the importance of knowing their rights and acting consciously when they disclose their personal information online? How can companies be held responsible regarding the use of consumer data?

• 4. The

European Commission has drafted a regulatory framework to strengthen the trust

• f

consumers and to improve

• nline

platform

• transparency. How can the European Commission actions be evaluated? Do

you think other actions could be taken?

Key Key quest stions ions (2/3)

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• 1. Online comparison tools are being increasingly used. What is your opinion

about them? What future do they have? What is the advantage for consumers? What are the highest risks?

• 2. What regulations could guarantee the use of comparison tools in Europe?

How can European Commission actions on comparison tools be evaluated?

• 3. Several models of online comparison tools can be found in Europe -

commercial websites run by the private sector; commercial websites run by the private sector but certified by the National Authority; non-commercial websites run by consumer and/or industry associations; and non-commercial websites run by public authorities. In your opinion, what is the best model? Why?

Key Key quest stions ions (3/3)

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• 1. What are the benefits of “online” customer care? What are the technological

and regulatory barriers to be removed for the development of these new forms of customer care?

• 2. How is the business organization changing according to the online migration
• f customer care?
• 3. How can artificial intelligence and machine learning systems be used in

customer care? To what extent can chatbots substitute human interaction?

• 4. The Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) Platform is provided by the European

Commission to help resolve disputes with online customers without going to

• court. It can be used for any contractual dispute arising from online

purchases of goods or services where the trader and consumer are both based in the EU or Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein. How do you evaluate this means to resolve online consumer problems?

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info@i-com.it www.i-com.it www.i-comEU.eu 22