Memories

 I found an old textbook yesterday. It reminded me of my master's program at UMBC. I especially remember that I prepared a paper on the furniture industry for my Electronic Commerce course. I discovered that the industry is fiercely competitive. I remember furniture businesses were closing all around Maryland. Years after, I wrote a signature assignment on IKEA, a dominant player in the US furniture industry.

Back then, I preferred the physical books. I did not use/purchase a single electronic textbook during my program.

Trust in Web Retailing

Trust is important. Customers are more likely to purchase items (such as food) from a retailer he/she trusts. In the area of online reviews, users are more likely to act on a recommendation from a review he/she trusts (thinks is fair and balanced rather than one-sided, is from a recognized expert, provides pictures, and so on).

In web retailing / electronic commerce, customers are more likely to trust a retailer that has more security features. Security is a big issue. If the customer suspects that his/her information could be compromised during transmission or when in the possession of the retailer, then he/she is less likely to purchase items.

I found research that showed the quality of the user interface of a website also impacts trust in web retailing. The research found there is a strong relationship between interface quality and trust. Here is the paper:

The impact of interface usability on trust in Web retailers
By: Marie Christine Roy, Olivier Dewit, Benoit A. Aubert
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/10662240110410165/full/html