A new initiative, the Standard for Internet
Commerce, was launched Monday by a coalition of more than 200
e-commerce industry leaders and publisher Ziff-Davis in an effort to establish a set of merchant practices and policies.
The group’s charter aims to garner high levels of customer satisfaction,
service, security and privacy, as well as increase e-merchant innovations
and profitability. Currently the group is calling for public comments to be
considered for the first draft of the standard, due in November.
The public
is also invited to vote on this and subsequent drafts, which are scheduled
for annual updates that include changes in customer needs, merchant
practices and related technology issues.
Topics in Draft 1.0 include: merchant information, product availability,
charges and fee information, warranties, product support, search
capabilities, privacy, security, payment and billing, receipt of order
notification, order status and history, shipping delivery and order
execution, cancellations, returns, refunds and customer support.
