Strategies for eCommerce Success

ed Traditional Mail Order Speech Act Face-to-face Invitation Store display Catalogue or to treat advertisement Offer Selection of Filling out and merchandise and posting the order presentation form, or requesting to cashier item over the phone Acceptance Cashier accepts Delivery of payment goods 82 Signalling Intentions and Obliging Behavior Online cent of mail order purchases. Merchants could also mark submission buttons as ‘Submit order’ or ‘Submit offer,’ rather than the ambiguous ‘Yes’ or ‘OK.’ Presentation of terms – In order for standard terms and conditions to be valid, online merchants need to present them to customers prior to or at the time of ordering. Currently the most effective method is to create a dialogue box where customers must scroll down and then click a button signifying that they have reviewed the terms. In any case, the key concern is that standard terms should be available and prominent. Acceptance – In most cases, digital services will require automated acceptance and performance, since transfer of the digital information will commence immediately. However, where possible, such as in the case of subscription services, merchants should delay acceptance to maximize their ability to screen customers. In these delayed cases, acceptance would follow from later notification (probably through e-mail), and thus any confirmation web page should clearly specify that it is an acknowledgment of the order only and not an acceptance. Consideration – For most web sites, consideration will not present a problem. However, providers of digitized services should ensure that prices Figure 3: Semantic Analysis of contract formation Backhouse & Cheng 83 are displayed and credit card numbers (or electronic cash) are received before transmitting data. Intent – If all the above steps are rigorously followed, intent is probably unquestionable. However, as a final safety catch, the web site might provide the consumer with a ‘last-chance’ page. On this page, the consumer can verify all the details of his/her order and then either submit the order or cancel it with no residual legal ramifications.