The Effectiveness of Online Dispute Resolution in Resolving E-Commerce Disputes.
ODR can be a disruptive technology that can change and re-engineer the process of dispute resolution. One of the more visible uses of ODR is virtual mediation.
Mediation on the internet has become a popular alternative to litigation and is only going to expand exponentially in the near future.
Faster and more convenient
Online dispute solution can be used to settle e-commerce disputes quickly and easily for a minimal cost. Along with being economical, it could also be simpler than litigation and open to a wider audience. In addition, it can even be individualized to each of the parties’ needs for best-resolution of such conflict.
ODR (Out-of-Court Resolution) is the new legal theory for settling cases outside the court through technology and ADR. ODR is a new technology for legal industry since it offers an open alternative to courts – particularly now that globalization is increasing and might lead to disputes that arise across borders that cannot be effectively resolved by traditional courts.
ODR is especially attractive because it provides an early resolution period when compared to the other avenues of dispute resolution such as litigation. Traditional litigation can be months long; ODR settles matters in days so people can return to work or spend more time with their families and friends. It’s also cheaper because ODR involves no lawyers, travel, and meeting times that don’t work for everybody — an advantage especially for people who can’t afford the expense of a lawsuit.
More affordable
Not only is online dispute resolution faster and more convenient for the companies involved, but it’s cheaper as well. This can become very expensive for e-commerce companies who have multiple consumer claims on their books.
E-commerce sites also have turned to ODR systems as another way that their customers can arbitrate conflicts less expensively than by litigating, which helps to build customer trust and lower business costs and timelines when pursuing it (Matsum et al, Citation2022).
The other reason online dispute resolution is more accessible than other forms of Dispute resolution is that more people can get access to its services than before, especially via e-commerce sites where it is easy and affordable to get the services even in distant places – more people can have access to justice than ever before.
You can also obtain ODR through other dispute resolution entities, which provide advisory and adjudicatory processes such as online case appraisal and mediation and arbitration/adjudication/virtual hearings.
More flexible
In the era of e-commerce, transactional disputes are increasing. If traditional litigation can be expensive, time consuming and not feasible in terms of dispute resolution, then alternative methods like Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) are effective technologies.
Mediation is the process by which parties come into contact with a third party outside of their respective company, in a formal but collaborative manner. Mediation gives parties more freedom than traditional methods of disputation because it can occur at either side’s request. Mediation sessions could be conducted through text message, or even in real time with all the participants from around the world interacting at the same time.
For instance, if a customer complains that his product was sent damaged or not as promised, his online retailer could recommend arbitration to resolve his complaint and contractual terms more quickly and inexpensively than litigation process will require less time and cost less.
ODR will be viewed by some as less than trustworthy, because it has been thought to be ‘useful only in situations of mistrust and dehumanisation of one side or another in a conflict’. Such mistrust could be repelled, for example, by making ODR as open and accessible as possible, while also providing equal weight to all parties in its negotiation.
