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Requesting Feedback: I am building an “Anti-Virus for E-Commerce Agreements”

By Aayush Srivastava on 12 Comments / 2917 views

Hello Rodinhoods,

I am working on a project that will solve the problem of long and complicated Terms & Conditions while shopping online.I am focusing on specifically solving issues such as auto-renewal of subscriptions, difficulty in keeping track of return dates and the complicated process of return cancellation. More information is available on the website.

Features: 

Amicus is a browser extension.

Every time you buy a product, software or service online, Amicus scans the website for hidden terms and conditions. Amicus then uses machine learning to summarize the agreement so you that know exactly what it is that you are agreeing to.

It doesn’t stop there, to protect you Amicus keeps track of all your purchases and sends you a reminder when your free-trial ends or when it is the last date of the your product warranty. And when it’s time to cancel subscription, it shows you the easiest way to do it.

Here is a peek into the proposed features of the product: 



 

All sort of feedback, legal, technical or strategic is welcome and appreciated. Anyone interested in being a part of the project is more than welcome to contact me directly. 

Twitter: @aayush1990sri

I am exploring revenue models similar to anti-virus softwares such as Norton which charge B2C. I am also considering e-commerce referral monetization. 

Which model is better suited?

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12 Comments

  1. hey aayush,

    i’m gonna give some super fast feedback – 

    THIS IS THE BEST EXPLAINER VIDEO I’VE SEEN IN RECENT TIMES. who made it? i like that it clearly describes everything that is missing from the post :)))) and explains it well!

    quick observation – in your heading you’re saying anti-virus for e-com agreements (which is an interesting preposition). but on the video – you’re saying ‘online shopping assistant’ – which lots of other folks say as well in different ways 

    check – https://www.therodinhoods.com/forum/topics/fabence-com-your-personalized-fashion-discovery-engine-and

    what i would suggest is, try to keep your positioning/tagline/descriptor uniform to avoid confusion. sometimes saying different things (or too many things) messes the single most communication you need to send across.

  2. This is remarkable. Huge potential to scale.

  3. Hey Asha,

    Thank you for your kind words. I did the scripting, story-boarding and visualization of each frame myself and outsourced the animation. 

    I am actually trying to split test the two taglines. Which one do you think fits best and clarifies the value proposition better? In fact it embodies the two possible business models I am exploring: B2C (paid app) or B2B (affiliate revenue) monetizations.

  4. Thank you Deepak. 

  5. Loved your idea Aayush. Even the video is pretty neat and simple to understand. Well done!! Scanning and summarizing key points of t & c is a great tool. Besides, comparing it with similar/same websites and rating it…best!! This would be a great empowerment tool for customers.

    In my opinion, this is the differentiator and focus needs to be on differentiator. Rest of services such as reminders, can be ‘value added services’ to make this package sweet. (there’re others giving reminder service..though not aware they are still around) Hence, brand positioning should be around differentiator and/or a problem this platform is solving.

  6. Thank you Prashant.

    Our aim is to empower the customers beyond just Ts & Cs but to extend this to all types of manipulations used by marketers and advertisers. Many times you see an ad which is too good to be true and think: “What is the catch?” These include crazy discounts, special offers and deals.

    But then we ignore it and go ahead and buy the product or service, because it is too good to ignore. We later realize that it was infact too good to be true and the truth was written somewhere in fine print.

    We want to change that. 

  7. I find it extremely difficult to reconcile between Eric Ries’ school of thought (lean methodology) and that of Peter Thiel’s (blue ocean strategy). The former suggests finding an existing problem and talking to the consumer to solve a problem, while the latter is about building a new market. The latter disregards asking consumers because they will only want “more for less” of existing features provided by the existing players in the market.

    You can reply to this in theory or in context of a project I am working on.

    The market here has existing players focusing on providing solutions after disputes (such as Gripe, Yelp etc) and not preventive solutions. Should I go by consumer demand and also give solutions after a dispute or go on a limb and build a purely preventive solution? The latter will mean free the revenue comes from consumers like anti-virus softwares (higher user acquisition cost) and the former will mean revenue comes from businesses – Google, Facebook etc. (compromise neutrality and privacy issues).

  8. In my limited view – no one reads the T and C at all.

    Its quite meaningless for most consumers.

    We all try to trust or not by several other factors such as :

    1) opinions of users on media

    2) our friends experiences.

    3) the founders story , background , our interactions with them.

    4) consumer complaints forums.

    5) check key terms like money back guarantee etc on their website.

    after the purchase – if problems comes the customer service team solves it or akosha solves it .

    The T and C comes into play only after a case is filed and being played out.

    I dont see this as a technology problem at all. Its a human nature , habit problem and too remote of a habit to change or invest to change.

    TC,

    Karan

    9820011185

  9. I like preventive value addition like this

    Soon the e-com guys should demand a ‘seal of approval’ by you…

    make this formidable

  10. Thank you Alok sir. Means a lot coming from you.

    My focus is on problem solving and bringing joy to consumers. I hope I can do this while maintaining transparency and neutrality. Monetization will follow suit. 

    I will make this formidable. I am a lawyer by education and integrity and precision comes naturally.

    Any advise from you on how this technology can have other case-uses will be extremely helpful. 

  11. https://siftscience.com/

    check this.

  12. happy b’day aayush!

    how’s amicus doing? do update us!!!

    have an awesome day 🙂

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