If you purchased a product recently (whether online or offline), there are 3 general things that had to happen for you to have a good shopping experience. Aside from your happiness or unhappiness with the particular product you purchased, your experience with the merchant that sold you the product had to have certain characteristics for it to be a good shopping experience for you. The success of your online shopping experience depends completely on the occurrence of all 3—without any given one and, I believe it is safe to say, you would be one unhappy customer.

No Fraud. For starters, in the online world, a good experience begins with your product being delivered (i.e., you did not order your product from a fraudster who took your money, but failed to deliver your product). Nothing is worse than learning that the special gift that you purchased for that special someone is never going to arrive because you have been defrauded.

Good Customer Service Experience. There are 3 hallmarks to a good online shopping experience, so just because you were not defrauded doesn’t mean you get to pass Go and Collect your $200. So, you didn’t buy from a fraudster, something told you that since every other word on the merchant’s website was misspelled that this particular merchant would only fool the unsuspecting. As a result, you find a reputable merchant that has your product in stock and doesn’t plan to take your money and run with it. However, while your selected merchant is not fraudster, they are not the most punctual or responsive merchants around. Nothing is worse than waiting forever for a product that was promised to be delivered next business day or getting the product, but only to discover that the merchant failed to package that special someone’s Christmas gift and now that special present has been shattered into hundreds of small pieces. It would have been invaluable information if you only knew that 30 out of the merchant’s last 100 customers had similar purchase experiences.

No Misuse or Misappropriate of Your Personal Information. Ok, so let’s say you were fortunate enough to get your product delivered on Christmas Eve and in perfect condition. You wrap the present, place it under the tree and anxiously await to see the surprised look on that special someone’s face when they open your present on Christmas day.

The only problem is that your merchant (the one that delivered the exact product you order on time and in perfect condition) failed to use an SSL certificate when they were collecting your information, or worse, they used an e-commerce provider that did not properly secure and encrypt your personally identifiable information. Imagine the surprised look that will be on your face when you discover that some fraudster (unbeknownst to your merchant) gained access to your personally identifiable information and now they are using your credit card and personal information to assume your identity and be Santa Claus to the whole world.

Know Your Merchant. In this age of fraud and identity theft, it is extremely important to not only research WHO you are doing business, but also HOW they conduct their business. Please take the extra time it may take to do the necessary research and analysis to ensure that all of your online experiences meet and pass the 3 hallmarks.

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This entry was posted on Monday, October 5th, 2009 at 3:57 pm and is filed under Data and Information Analysis, KikScore & KikReport, Online & Small Business Resources, Small Business Tips, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.