Usability of Websites Contributing to Trust in E-Commerce

Abstract

Lack of security and trust is considered the biggest barrier to the increase of business-to-consumer e-commerce. In this chapter the authors aim at gaining insights of how online vendor design and usability relate to people’s opinions of the trustworthiness of shopping online. Additionally, common concerns regarding trust and security are explored both theoretically, based on existing literature, and empirically in a pilot study. The results showed that the most common concern among the respondents is online payment. The respondents valued detailed information of the products, of the processing and delivery of orders. Also the familiarity of products and vendors and easy-to-use online stores were appreciated. In e-business, quality design and good usability of vendors’ websites can be seen as a means to diminish the customer’s potentially risky situation. From the customer’s viewpoint, in turn, these can be taken as the indicators of quality and the vendor’s competence which reduce uncertainty and predict trust in e-commerce environment.