Important myths about E-commerce?

If I Launch a Site, Customers Will Flock to It

• Some Entrepreneurs think that once they set up their Web sites, their expenses end there. Not true! 
• Without promotional support, no Web site will draw enough traffic to support a business.
•  With more than 785 million Web sites in existence and 51 million added each year, Getting a site noticed in the crowd has become increasingly difficult.
• Listing a site with popular search engines does not guarantee that online customers will find your company’s Web site. Just like traditional retail stores seeking to attract customers, Effective companies have discovered that drawing sufficient traffic to a Web site requires constant promotion—and lots of it!
• Setting up a Web site and then failing to drive customers to it with sufficient promotional support is like setting up a physical store in a back alley: You may be in business, but nobody knows you’re there!
• Entrepreneurs with both physical and virtual stores must promote their Web sites at every opportunity by printing their Uniform Resource Locators (URLs; a company’s address on the Internet) on everything related to their physical stores—
• In print and broadcast ads,
•  on shopping bags,
•  on employees’ uniforms, 
• and anywhere else their customers will see.
•  Quick-response (QR) codes allow smart phone users to go directly to a Web site’s relevant page without having to type in a long URL.
• Entrepreneurs also use social media such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and others to drive traffic to their Web sites and purchase ads on high-traffic sites such as Google and Facebook, both of which allow companies to establish maximum expenditures based on the number of people who click on their ads. Using these tools, companies can aim their ads at specific target customers.

exploration of websites

Online Customers Are Easy to Please

• Customers who shop online today tend to be experienced Internet users whose expectations of their online shopping experiences are high and continue to rise.
•  Experienced online shoppers tend to be unforgiving, quickly clicking to another site if they cannot find the products and information they want. Because Web shoppers are increasingly more sharp, companies are finding that they must improve their Web sites constantly to attract and keep their customers. 
• To be successful online marketers, small companies must create Web sites with the features, such as 
• Simple navigation (direction-finding);
• Customer reviews;
• An efficient checkout process;
• Multiple payment options;
•  Quick access to product information
•  Videos
• In addition, when customers have questions about or experience problems with an online shopping experience, companies that provide easy access to customer assistance and support have the advantage. 
• Giving customers easy access to service representatives through multiple options, such as 
• A toll-free telephone number
• Live chat,
• Click-to-call, 
• Live video chat
• and texting (for the growing number of customers who shop from their smart phones and other mobile devices) 
• Increases the probability that they will complete their transactions and return to shop again. 

The payoff for creating a positive online experience for shoppers is significant

• Customers are more likely to trust the company 
• Complete their purchases
• Buy from the company again
• Recommend the company to someone else
• and mention it favorably in social media posts.
• Conversely, a poor online shopping experience translates into shoppers who abandon their shopping carts,
• Have a negative impression of the company 
• Lose trust in the business,
• and as a result, purchase from a competing Web site.

Governmental regulation

In the United States, certain electronic commerce activities are regulated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). These activities include but not limit to the use of commercial e-mails, online advertising and consumer privacy. The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 establishes national standards for direct marketing over e-mail. The Federal Trade Commission Act regulates all forms of advertising, including online advertising, and states that advertising must be truthful and non-deceptive. Using its authority under Section 5 of the FTC Act, which prohibits unfair or deceptive practices, the FTC has brought a number of cases to enforce the promises in corporate privacy statements, including promises about the security of consumers' personal information. As a result, any corporate privacy policy related to e-commerce activity may be subject to enforcement by the FTC.

The Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2008, which came into law in 2008, amends the Controlled Substances Act to address online pharmacies.

Conflict of laws in cyberspace is a major hurdle for harmonization of legal framework for e-commerce around the world. In order to give a uniformity to e-commerce law around the world, many countries adopted the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce (1996).

Internationally there is the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN), which was formed in 1991 from an informal network of government customer fair trade organisations. The purpose was stated as being to find ways of co-operating on tackling consumer problems connected with cross-border transactions in both goods and services, and to help ensure exchanges of information among the participants for mutual benefit and understanding. From this came Econsumer.gov, an ICPEN initiative since April 2001. It is a portal to report complaints about online and related transactions with foreign companies.

There is also Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) was established in 1989 with the vision of achieving stability, security and prosperity for the region through free and open trade and investment. APEC has an Electronic Commerce Steering Group as well as working on common privacy regulations throughout the APEC region.

In Australia, Trade is covered under Australian Treasury Guidelines for electronic commerce,[30] and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission[31] regulates and offers advice on how to deal with businesses online, and offers specific advice on what happens if things go wrong.

In the United Kingdom, The Financial Services Authority (FSA)was formerly the regulating authority for most aspects of the EU's Payment Services Directive (PSD), until its replacement in 2013 by the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority. The UK implemented the PSD through the Payment Services Regulations 2009 (PSRs), which came into effect on 1 November 2009. The PSR affects firms providing payment services and their customers. These firms include banks, non-bank credit card issuers and non-bank merchant acquirers, e-money issuers, etc. The PSRs created a new class of regulated firms known as payment institutions (PIs), who are subject to prudential requirements. Article 87 of the PSD requires the European Commission to report on the implementation and impact of the PSD by 1 November 2012.

In India, the Information Technology Act 2000 governs the basic applicability of e-commerce.

In China, the Telecommunications Regulations of the People's Republic of China (promulgated on 25 September 2000), stipulated the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) as the government department regulating all telecommunications related activities, including electronic commerce. On the same day, The Administrative Measures on Internet Information Services released, is the first administrative regulation to address profit-generating activities conducted through the Internet, and lay the foundation for future regulations governing e-commerce in China. On 28 August 2004, the eleventh session of the tenth NPC Standing Committee adopted The Electronic Signature Law, which regulates data message, electronic signature authentication and legal liability issues. It is considered the first law in China's e-commerce legislation. It was a milestone in the course of improving China's electronic commerce legislation, and also marks the entering of China's rapid development stage for electronic commerce legislation.\Courtesy of wikipedia....