Caroline Crawford, former director of Britain's advertising watchdog the Advertising Standards Authority, will put new sites through their paces before they are launched to potential online shoppers. And others become frustrated because they cannot make the site work and give up without making a purchase. Many sites are littered with graphics and confusing layouts.
Little attention is paid to how the site actually works and to customer care.
Crawford, who spent 15 years at the ASA, the last five developing international policy on regulating Internet advertising, says a surprising number of companies fail to carry out a strict assessment of their sites from the shopper's point of view. They are not helping consumers adjust. It has been christened after the last letter of the Greek alphabet because Crawford says it should be the last set of checks before the site goes live. These include ensuring the company gives a full postal address and phone number - for shoppers uncomfortable ordering online if they don't know where the company is physically based.