Guerrilla Marketing

by Charles Rubin

The Worldwide Web is exploding because sellers around the world are rushing to offer their goods online. But the sales won't materialize until buyers feel comfortable about the process, and today, few of them do. Ask anyone on the street about shopping on the Internet and you won't have to wait long before the issue of security comes up. With news of the Netcom security breach fresh in their minds, typical buyers are holding off on the assumption that hackers across the world are sitting beside their PCs just waiting for credit card numbers to come dancing down the Net, or that they're working through the wee hours cracking into servers that store card numbers by the thousands.

Security is a problem on the net, but it's just as much a perception problem as it is a technical problem, if not more so. Secure server software is here today, and proxy-based payment systems like First Virtual's have been around for months already. Most major banks are at least thinking about the problem. Consumer fears about widespread viruses invading their PCs haven't been realized, either, and they're not likely to be. I suspect that by year's end, the fundamental security problems of Net commerce will be basically licked, but the perception of danger will remain long after that.

Yet despite the role of buyer perceptions in the Net's current security problem, few Net marketers are taking steps on their own to help change the situation. Looked at from a buyer comfort perspective, "security" becomes something all of us can do something about. For example...

• If you've implemented your storefront on an encrypted server, tell people about it. Don't assume they'll notice that the little key icon in the lower left corner of the Netscape window is whole instead of broken; announce right at the top of your home page in boldface lettering that you now offer encrypted transactions.
• Explain how to use your order form, including how and when information is transferred and how to clear the entry boxes on a form. Don't assume your customers know all about it; most of them don't.
• If you accept credit card numbers via your Web site or e-mail, include a statement about the relative security of the process. Our secure and insecure order forms have such a statements, but too few order pages do. If you know that customers are leery about transmitting financial information, it makes good sense to anticipate those fears and address them right at the point of sale.
• If you accept orders via the Net, check for orders several times a day and confirm them as quickly as possible (within 24 hours at the latest). Remember, until you confirm an order, your customer is trusting personal information to the black hole of cyberspace.
• Offer a no-nonsense guarantee on what you sell, and spell out your return or exchange policy clearly right on your order form.
• Offer as many payment and transaction options as you can, including an 800 number, fax, snail mail, checks, purchase orders, proxy-based payment, and credit cards. The range of options will grow dramatically within the coming year, so keep on top of what's available and implement improvements as they become available.
• Ship the order as quickly as possible, and keep the customer informed if there's any delay. Better yet, give customers the ability to check on the status of any order.

If every Net seller did these things, we could make Net buying a great experience for anyone who tried it, the first time and every time. And with service like that, the security perception problem would melt away. So what are we waiting for?