Get the whole company involved early, or you and your customers will be frustrated by bottlenecks when the site goes live. Because of this, many pure-play Internet companies look to Fingerhut for fulfillment. Do what you say you will or better. When users can t see you and look you in the eye, the trust factor goes way down fast. Most of us will forgive the honest mistake from our neighborhood shopkeeper, but we re less trusting and therefore less tolerant of an error from a nameless, faceless, impersonal commerce site.
Any slip is an opportunity to prove to that customer that the fear was justified.
Deliver what you say you will, when you promised it, and in whatever condition the customer has reason to expect. If something goes wrong, make it right fast. There are hundreds of examples of e-commerce operations that don t follow this advice, and those are businesses that will have trouble bringing customers back. Interact with the customer the way the customer chooses. Ask each customer and each casual shopper how he or she would like to interact with you, then honor those requests.