Removing rotten apples will help e-commerce sites court consumers

ON WEDNESDAY, Fengxian district court in Shanghai ruled that a seller of fake products compensate Alibaba's online marketplace, Taobao, on which the defendant ran his business, 120,000 yuan ($17,824). Legal Daily comments:

Although the compensation is small compared with Taobao's revenue, the case - the first in which the e-commerce company took the initiative to sue one of its online retailers - is of symbolic importance as it marks the transformation of the relations between the e-commerce company and its contracted merchants.

Admittedly, most of the online retailers try their best to provide customers with quality products and services. But it is undeniable that there are some retailers selling fake and substandard products on e-commerce sites.