Singapore\u2019s consumer watchdog has taken action against consumer electronics and home appliance retailers Courts and Prism+ for using website design features that mislead consumers.<\/p>\n
Courts was found to have automatically added unsolicited items into consumers\u2019 shopping carts, the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCS) said in a statement on Dec 8.<\/p>\n
Prism+ used fake countdown timers and misleading stock indicators to pressure consumers into purchases.<\/p>\n
\u2018Sneak into basket\u2019<\/h2>\n
CCS said that following a consumer complaint, it found that Courts had engaged in an unfair trade practice by charging consumers for products they had never selected.<\/p>\n
During certain promotional periods, Courts\u2019 website would automatically add items to consumers\u2019 carts without their consent.<\/p>\n
For example, an Acer vacuum cleaner was added to a consumer\u2019s cart after the buyer selected an Apple iPad for purchase.<\/p>\n Screenshot showing the desktop view of the product landing page for an Apple iPad.<\/p>\n Photo: CCS<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Screenshot shows what happens when the \u201cadd to cart\u201d button is clicked. A window pops up showing that the iPad has been added to cart. Nothing is mentioned about an additional Acer vacuum cleaner being added in the window. The \u201ccart total\u201d also does not include the cost of the Acer vacuum cleaner.<\/p>\n Photo: CCS<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n The screenshot shows what the consumer sees when clicking into the cart. The vacuum cleaner is shown as a \u201cPromotion item\u201d (as indicated in the red box in the middle), and its price is included in the order total (as indicated in the red box at the bottom-right). The consumer may unknowingly pay for the vacuum cleaner if he does not notice and remove it before checkout.<\/p>\n Photo: CCS<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n The consumer watchdog said that this practice could cause consumers to unknowingly pay for unsolicited items if they do not notice or remove such items before checking out.<\/p>\n It added that Courts did not make any changes until CCS intervened in June 2025, despite receiving customer complaints about this practice in 2024.<\/p>\n Courts, which has given an undertaking to CCS to stop this practice immediately, has since agreed to change its website and refund affected customers.<\/p>\n In a separate investigation, Prism+\u2019s website was found to have design features that created false urgency among consumers to pressure them into making hasty purchases.<\/p>\n The features were fake countdown timers, misleading stock indicators, unsubstantiated shortage claims and inflated discounts.<\/p>\n The Prism+ website had messages stating \u201cPopular items are selling fast! Purchase within the next (timer) minutes to secure stock and avoid losing out.\u201d on checkout pages.<\/p>\n However, these countdown timers had no technical function and were not linked to any of Prism+\u2019s inventory systems, said CCS, which added that the timers would simply reset after reaching zero with no effect on the checkout process.<\/p>\n There were also stock indicators saying that stock was running low on product pages on its website, even when inventory was available.<\/p>\n For one product, the indicator was displayed even though monthly sales figures represented only 7 per cent of Prism+\u2019s total available stock, CCS said.<\/p>\n CCS captured this screenshot on the Prism+ website, which had a message stating \u201cPopular items are selling fast! Purchase within the next (timer) minutes to secure stock and avoid losing out.\u201d on the checkout page<\/p>\n Photo: CCS<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Prism+ said that this indicator was used for any product with inventory levels above 100 units, but the CCS noted that this threshold was not clearly disclosed to consumers.<\/p>\n Additionally, there were statements on Prism+\u2019s product pages that said other brands were out of stock because of supply chain disruptions or that there was an industry-wide shortage.<\/p>\n When asked by CCS about these statements, Prism+ could not substantiate the shortage claims and said the statements were made in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n The consumer watchdog also found that the discounts for 10 products were listed as up to 67 per cent.<\/p>\n However, the actual discounts provided did not amount to 67 per cent of the undiscounted price of the products, said CCS.<\/p>\n Prism+ attributed this to technical errors.<\/p>\n It has rectified these website issues and provided an undertaking to CCS that it will not engage in any unfair trade practices.<\/p>\n Responding to CCS\u2019 findings, a Prism+ spokesperson said the company had reviewed and amended its website in line with the watchdog\u2019s guidance \u201cwithin days\u201d.<\/p>\n No recent customers were affected, the spokesperson added.<\/p>\n Prism+ said that these were \u201ca small number of legacy marketing practices\u201d, which included \u201cgenuine unintentional errors in our internal stock metafields, legacy Covid-period shortage messaging that was not updated and website-level discount claims that were not always aligned with specific product offers\u201d.<\/p>\n Since May, all prices and discounts displayed on its website have accurately reflected the offers available, and real-time stock availability is based on current inventory levels, it added.<\/p>\n \u201cWe regret any concern caused to customers in the past and have strengthened our internal processes to uphold the highest standards of transparency,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n In its statement, CCS said that businesses should ensure consumers agree to the purchase of any product and provide clear disclosure of the price and nature of any add-ons before checkout.<\/p>\n Statements made about products, including those on stock availability or price discounts, should be truthful and factually accurate. Countdown timers should reflect only genuine timelines given to consumers.<\/p>\n Consumers should review their shopping cart for unexpected items and verify that payment amounts match intended purchases when shopping online, said CCS.<\/p>\n Those who would like to report cases of unfair trade practices by errant businesses may contact CCS on 6277-5100 from 9am to 5pm on weekdays or do so via\u00a0 crdcomplaints.azurewebsites.net<\/p>\n Note<\/i><\/b>: This article was written by Wong Man Shun and first appeared in The Straits Times on 8 December 2025.<\/i><\/p>\n Source: The Straits Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\nCreating false urgency<\/h2>\n