Automated retail bots are taking over the online shopping experience. For many consumers it has been a challenge to secure purchases of merchandise at online retailers. What are bots? bots are programs that monitors online retail stock. When a high demand item goes live on the retailer’s website, the bots will buy up all the stock before potential buyers. These high demand items end up on resell sites or stores for double or triple the retail price. This is a frustrating and costly experience for consumers. Bots are managed by an induvial and/or group. This unfair online shopping experience must end now! Let us grab the attention of the public officials on this problem and secure a proposal that brings back secure and fair online shopping experience for all.

Facts:

- Automated retail bots bypass protective measures of online retailers (Nike, SNKRS, Footlocker, Walmart, etc.)  to purchase bulks of merchandise, making it unfair for other buyers.

-Online retailers use raffle-based systems, but automated retail bots take advantage of this system by entering mass entries.

-  The pandemic has intensified the problem, with lockdowns forcing retailers to shut stores, thereby preventing them from making people queue in person to buy one item per customer.

- In demand retail items are selling out within just a minute, especially during the holidays.

-  Online customer experience is a nightmare for many buyers.

In 2016 the senate and house of representative passed a bill called, BOTS Act of 2016. This bill prohibits the sale of or offers to sell an event ticket obtained through circumvention violation. A similar bill as this can be drafted for the purpose of ending  automated retail bots. 

More information on this bill can be found here...

  S.3183 - 114th Congress (2015-2016): BOTS Act of 2016 | Congress.gov | Library of Congress