Trust

Provide access to a privacy policy from every page, and highlight it whenever users give personal information

Develop a policy explaining how you use customers' personal information, and provide access to the policy on every page. Display the link to the policy statement very prominently wherever users provide personal information. Access to this policy helps engender trust, especially if your policy is to never share a customer's personal information with other organizations without that customer's permission.

Include the following types of information in your privacy policy statement:

• what information is gathered/tracked

• how the information is used

• with whom the information is shared

Explain the benefits users receive from sharing personal information

When asking users to provide personal information, explain how sharing this information will benefit them. For example, if you prompt users with an opportunity to register with the site, be sure you explain the advantages registration offers, such as personalized content, reduced prices, fast-path purchasing, or a record of previous purchases. Present the explanation of the users' benefits, or at least a link to it, wherever and whenever you ask for personal information. Users will feel more inclined to provide information if the advantage in doing so is clear.

Provide mechanisms for controlling how personal information is used

Enable users to control how their personal information is used, and to change their preferences at any time. Provide this control whenever and wherever users provide personal information. Specifically, enable users to control:

• whether this information is shared with other companies

• whether they receive updates about products they have bought from your company

• the medium or media through which they would prefer to be contacted about promotional offers (e.g. phone, e-mail, and/or postal mail)

• whether they receive promotional information and offers from your company

Providing this control engenders trust and increases customer satisfaction.

Be sure that the control mechanism you give users is consistent with your overall privacy policy. For instance, don't tell users in your privacy policy that you NEVER share their personal information with other companies, and then elsewhere ask them if you can share it.

Use a secure Web server to collect customer data and complete transactions

Use secure servers wherever you collect personal information such as addresses and credit card numbers. Secure servers are essential to meeting customers' expectations for security and to establishing trustworthiness. If a site does not use a secure server to collect personal information, then many users will shop elsewhere. Also, collecting sensitive information via an insecure server may expose your company to litigation.

Communicate that ordering online is secure

Inform users that transactions on your site are secure. Below are some good strategies:

• Provide third-party validations of security, such as from VeriSign^TM (Cheskin Research & Studio Archetype/Sapient, 1999)

• Guarantee that customers will not be held responsible for paying unauthorized charges that appear on their accounts as a result of shopping at your site

• Use encryption and explain that purchase data are encrypted and thus securely transmitted

Questions about security may arise at different points in the shopping process. For this reason, include brief security statements on appropriate pages, such as the store front, order list page (or shopping cart), and order form page. Display a simple phrase such as "Guaranteed Secure" that links to more detailed information on a page specifically about security and privacy.

Display endorsements and affiliations that create a feeling of trust and security

To increase the credibility of your site and products, display validations from third-party sources. One type of validation is Web-based seals of approval for security and privacy, such as VeriSign^TM and TRUSTe. Research shows that these seals help establish trustworthiness (Cheskin Research & Studio Archetype/Sapient, 1999). Similarly, product validations, such as third-party reviews, product awards and honors, and customer testimonials, are useful in communicating the quality of your products.

Third-party validations are important for all sites, but particularly for companies and sites that are lesser known. Shoppers are wary of doing business with companies they do not know, and third-party validations add legitimacy and credibility to your site and products.

When citing endorsements and affiliations,

• Display seals, awards, and third-party validations that your users recognize and trust

• Republish articles, press clips, etc. from third-party sources on your own site so that users do not have to leave your site to read them before completing a purchase (make sure you receive permission from the original source)

• Provide links to the original article (if there is an online copy from the original source) so that users can verify its legitimacy and read the full article

• Avoid randomly littering pages with seals and links to reviews; rather display seals in a consistent location, and neatly group links to reviews and awards

Provide background on your company

Provide a company history and brief mission statement to help establish credibility. Shoppers want to do their online business with companies they can trust, and they are more likely to trust a company they know something about.

Providing this information is particularly important for sites of lesser known companies that need to create a feeling of trust. It also introduces prospective employees and investors to your company.