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Large digital multisided platforms, or MSPS, such as Amazon.com and Apple’s App Store, have made it much easier for sellers to reach new customers. But as thousands of companies large and small have discovered, conducting business that way carries significant risks and costs. The platforms sometimes exploit sellers’ dependency in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. They raise fees. They change their recommendation algorithms to put more emphasis on price.

Companies have been using cookies — small text files stored on computer browsers that keep track of website visits — to monitor consumers’ online behavior for years. Cookies can provide rich data that helps brands get a better sense of who their customers are and enables them to target those customers with more relevant offerings.

Companies have long faced reputational risks from harmful and abusive working conditions in their supply chains. The pandemic is placing a new spotlight on such dangers. One strategy that many companies adopt to avert such problems: Impose codes of conduct that stipulate minimally acceptable working conditions in suppliers’ factories. Numerous firms also periodically audit their suppliers to assess compliance.