Category : Important things to note about E-Commerce
Article:
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What are seals of security and trust of e-commerce?
Online shopping is becoming more and more popular with each passing day. This is in part due to the ease, convenience and comfort associated with it. All one has to do is go online. You can buy whatever you choose from the safety and privacy of your own homes with no worries or hassles. E-commerce has thus changed the way business is now conducted the world over, making it more consumer-friendly, quicker and more efficient. Businesses in particular have also benefited from e-commerce, as it helps to reduce costs, eliminate the middle man and gives any business the opportunity to expand their market base world wide.
While the benefits of e-commerce cannot be ignored, one negative is that it takes away the personal contact of face to face sales. This is a very important point as face to face customer interaction helps to establish a bond of trust with consumers. The only way any business can succeed whether it is an online business or a regular brick and mortar store is if it attracts more customers and retains old ones. However in e-commerce, since everything is done online with no human interaction whatsoever, it becomes rather difficult to establish a bond of trust with a customer.
Gaining the trust of an online customer is thus of the utmost important to any e-commerce business. So how does a business go about doing this? How does a business convince its customers that they are real and that whatever information a customer provides, it is safe private and encrypted? The answer is actually quite simple through the use of seals of security and the building of trust.
Today the most common worry for online shoppers is the fact that their identity or personal information might be stolen and used for illegal purposes. According to a recent study over 80% of Americans are worried about becoming identity theft victims by shopping online, while a further 65% feel that they do not get a sense of security when they make online purchases. What this shows is that with the recent increase in identity theft and stolen credit card information many people are becoming weary of shopping online.
So how can a business deal with this problem? How can an e-commerce website assure its customers that their personal information is safe and encrypted? Well the best way to do this is by having a clear cut privacy and security policy posted visibly on a website. Another way is to show that your e-commerce website is secure with an SSL certificate that appears in the form of a tiny padlock at the bottom of the browser. Many consumers nowadays also look for third-party business identity authentication such as the VeriSign Secured Seal, which provides proof that this website is indeed a legitimate one. Another popular privacy and security seal that consumers look for is the TRUSTe sign which symbolizes that the website owner has committed to disclosing their privacy practices to the general public and is backed by TRUSTe's assurance process.
Some current seals of security and trust certificates for e-commerce websites are listed below:
TRUSTe - (www.truste.org)
TRUSTe is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to helping build consumer confidence and trust online. By having their sign on your e-commerce website you are committing to uphold privacy and disclosure principles. This seal is only awarded to those sites that follow TRUSTe's privacy policy for disclosure, access and security.
BBBOnline (www.bbbonline.org)
BBB stands for the Better Business Bureau and this organization is part of the Council of the Better Business Bureau, whose mission is to promote trust on the Internet through its Reliability and Privacy Seal programs.
VeriSign (www.verisign.com)
VeriSign is a private organization that provides e-commerce websites with a seal of assurance for meeting its disclosure, integrity and protection criteria.
WebTrust (www.cpawebtrust.org)
WebTrust is similar to VeriSign; however it provides only public accounting websites with a seal of assurance.
Chamber Seal (www.chamberseal.com)
This seal is issued by the Chamber of Commerce and assures people that the websites with this seal are legitimate businesses with a physical presence and that this information has been verified by the concerned authorities.
