Byrne: trust is vital to allow e-commerce to blossom

Date: 13/02/03

By Peter Chapman

MANY people will be reluctant to buy goods on the internet until they feel they can trust online traders in the same way as their local high-street store, according to David Byrne, the EU consumer protection commissioner.

Doubts about internet purchases persist, he warns, despite a huge boost to the EU market for e-commerce since the launch of euro notes and coins last year.

Byrne said the impact of the single currency had been underlined for him by Meg Whitman, president and CEO of online auction firm eBay, who revealed last month how its cross-frontier trade had flourished in the past year.

But Byrne, a former attorney-general in Ireland, insists that good business practice is crucial if the online market is to really take off.

"Consumers are concerned about issues such as getting the right information about what they want to buy, the privacy of data they supply, delivery of their purchases and how to seek redress if something goes wrong," he told European Voice.

Consumers were confused by the array of codes of conduct and industry 'trustmarks' - seals of approval for firms that abide by agreed levels of after-sales care and redress, for example if goods arrive faulty or are never delivered at all.

"While there are many codes, trustmarks and other schemes attempting to address these issues, their sheer number and variety make it difficult for consumers to decide whether they can be confident about dealing with any particular site.

"So consumers are still wary of shopping online, even if the introduction of the euro made it easier to compare prices across borders and facilitates e-commerce in Europe," said Byrne.

In a bid to remove some of the doubts among customers, the European bosses' group UNICE and consumer counterpart BEUC agreed last year to establish common criteria for such industry schemes.

The initiative followed an earlier attempt by Byrne himself to broker consensus among a hand-picked selection of industry and consumer representatives.Byrne hoped they would have settled the basis for a recommendation to EU governments on approved criteria to boost e-confidence. However, the group was dubbed unrepresentative by others who were not invited and failed to reach an accord.

Although a Commission recommendation is not legally binding on member states, it would give governments a benchmark for industry schemes.

"A common European standard for online codes and trustmarks will enable consumers and business to take full advantage of e-commerce in Europe and of the internal market," said Byrne.

Many people will be reluctant to buy goods on the internet until they feel they can trust online traders in the same way as their local high-street store, according to David Byrne, the EU consumer protection commissioner.