As in the case of traditional businesses, customers who have had good experiences with a particular e-commerce site and developed trust will be inclined to return. After all, it's easier to visit a Web site you are familiar with than to go elsewhere. On the other hand, competing businesses are just a mouse click away, and companies must continue to innovate and provide incentives to keep customers returning. None of the usual cues are there, like faces and physical premises. Part of trust is about security, confidentiality and transaction integrity.
Part is about transparency, disclosure and good business practices.
Because e-commerce takes place in a sphere removed from national borders, there is, understandably, a great deal of pressure for harmonized approaches to trade policies, commercial law, securities regulation and accounting standards. Moreover, what's legal in one jurisdiction may be illegal in another. And, thus far, many remain unanswered. The Internet and e-commerce are very new, and they are unleashing an explosion of energy and innovation. But they are also destabilizing, creating uncertainty and high-velocity turbulence.