Customers Confidence in E-business : An evaluation of Australian Practice - A case study

Many Internet users perceive that there is a large risk to their privacy and security when they buy products and servicesor submit personal information online. Although the perception of risk may be greater than the actual risk, it is still acause for concern. An e-business must address customers' perceived risk just as much as any actual risks. In otherwords, the issue of trust is fundamental as security and privacy issues are of major concern for many users. Customersare looking for security policies and procedures businesses are implementing and their responsibilities in keepingcustomer information secure.This paper deals with trust e-businesses can create through their websites. A comprehensive set of criteria had beenused to evaluate Web sources with a high level of meticulousness. Criteria include accuracy, authority, currency, scope,and relevance. A methodology has been developed and two main industries actively operating in e-business withinAustralia, namely, the Banking and Retail industries have been chosen. Under each industry, two businesses wereidentified and sources evaluated. It is presumed that using such criteria would help to gain customers confidence.Findings are reported.