E-COMMERCE

Overcoming E-Commerce Security and Customer Trust

Overcoming E-Commerce Security and Customer Trust

Introduction

Use of the Internet for commerce or E-business is a popular topic of research efforts and mass-media press reports. Just as the Internet has changed the way people communicate and share information, shopping activities have also been dramatically affected. Online shopping has been touted by some researchers and the press as the replacement for traditional retailers that sell via physical storefronts (Bharadwaj 2000, p.169). The promise of a new, preferred retail commerce channel is juxtaposed to the reality that in the second decade of use, electronic commerce has been able to achieve less than four percent of total retail sales. This paradox between promise and reality has created a fertile ground for investigation into the motivations and concerns of online shoppers and how E-businesses can allay the fears and concerns of consumers (Bharadwaj 2000, p.169).

In less than two decades Internet has been used as a shopping medium, attitudes, assumptions, and perceptions concerning the viability of online-only storefronts and mixed-channel operations that offer a combination of offline and online capabilities have evolved. Central to the changing landscape of retailing via the Internet is a growing understanding of consumer motivations and concerns, especially online shoppers (Bharadwaj 2000, p.169). Research into the psyche, motivations, and concerns of people who use the Internet for commerce and other purposes is a popular topic of studies by academics and 2 practitioners. How online shoppers select which E-businesses to patronize and why has resulted in the development of multiple theories, concepts, and models (Bharadwaj 2000, p.169). Numerous studies report consumers are concerned with how they can determine the trustworthiness of online stores that may not have an associated physical storefront, uses an anonymous medium, requires the sharing of personal and sensitive information, and offers interaction many times only with an intangible object, an E-business site (Bharadwaj 2000, p.169).

Online store owners are concerned with how they can make their sites appealing and valuable to consumers as well as how sites can demonstrate a level of legitimacy and trustworthiness sufficient to convince shoppers that purchases can be made with assurance. Researchers agree that for online shopping sites, the development of trust is a critical and a vital factor that significantly influences the purchasing decisions of electronic shoppers (Graham 2008, p. 771). For some online customers, their only or primary interaction with an online store is through its website. If consumers evaluate an online-only store as untrustworthy and elect to not patronize it, the economic impact to an E-business can be substantial. Various trust models have been conceptualized typologies have been espoused, and dimensions of trust have been explored (Graham 2008, p. 771). In this connection, this paper will attempt to analyze the methods to overcome e-commerce security and how customer trust can be retained.

Research Aims and Objectives

The primary objective of the overall study is to provide a clear understanding of what methods online companies should follow in order to obtain customer trust by enhancing e-commerce ...