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Internet users seem concerned about how organizations may use or abuse personal information supplied online, whether such information is supplied willingly or without informed consent. This can be a disincentive to online purchasing: website characteristics that convey security and privacy have been found to be the most reliable indicators of purchase intent. Similar attitudes exist within the business community, albeit for different reasons. The picture is also enduring: in a three year survey of online companies it was found that privacy was consistently the most important policy issue. Online personal information There are a number of distinct elements to the fears that people have regarding online capture of personal information. Perhaps the most important is the fear of fraud. Fraud online, as offline, can occur through deception or through data interception. In both circumstances, there has been a failure to apply the principle of informed consent. Other potential misuses of pers...

By Maria Bruno-Britz Bank Systems & Technology Consumers' love affair with electronic forms of payment is stronger than ever, according to a recent report by Boston-based Dove Consulting, a division of Hitachi Consulting, and the American Bankers Association (ABA; Washington, D.C.). The 2005/2006 Study of Consumer Payment Preferences reports that consumers choose electronic payments for the majority of their payments -- whether in stores, online or for bills. Cash and checks account for 45 percent of consumers' monthly payments, down from 57 percent in the 2001 study. "Bill payment is the last bastion of paper-based payments," says Melissa Fox, a Dove senior analyst involved with the study. But, she notes, electronic bill pay is gaining momentum. Indeed, Fox relates, consumers' new favorite forms of e-payments appear to be online bill pay and gift cards. According to the report, checks account for 49 percent of consumers' monthly bill payments, down from 7...

Port City Web, a provider of web-centric solutions announced that Lord John's Footwear, a leader in online sales of shoes, has extended its contract. The new contract, which will extend through 2006, has an estimated value of half a million dollars in revenue for Port City Web. It will continue to cover the eCommerce fulfillment, pick-and-pack, and shipping that Port City Web's fulfillment services division provides, but there will be a significant increase in web services over the course of 2006. In addition to maintaining Lord John's eCommerce website at www.lordjohnsfootwear.com, a new eCommerce website, located at www.myshoestore.com, has been launched to go after a different market. Port City Web will be developing and implementing a large-scale eMarketing campaign to promote both Web sites to their respective demographic groups. " Port City Web did a fantastic job this year helping us convert our website visitors into customers at a rate 3 percent above the aver...

Online color management solutions (CMS) provider eWarna and Yunique Solutions announce an integration and distribution agreement that paves the way for Yunique to market and deliver advanced online color collaboration tools powered by eWarna’s patented Online Color Exchange (OCX) as an integrated component of its popular plmOn solution.eWarna's on demand web services will allow Yunique plmOn customers to seamlessly store, retrieve, compare and share precise digital color information in the eWarna OCX. Using plmOn’s proven collaboration and workflow tools, users can then communicate digitized color standards, receive/submit color submissions (lab or bulk dips) through industry standard file formats, set approval tolerances and keep detailed records of all color approvals. These color-specific capabilities are critical to driving time and cost out of the product lifecycle of apparel and other fashion-related products. By adding color management and collaboration, Yunique will exten...

How the Internet is Affecting Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs): According to a survey of 1,000 small and mid-sized businesses, companies are optimistic about the future and confident in the power of online marketing. The survey shows that SMBs point to the Internet as a primary driver of growth and eighty-three percent strongly agree that the Internet helps them run their companies. The World Wide Web has not only enhanced the channels of communication, but also opened up new markets for business. Already close to one quarter (22%) of SMBs make use of the Web as a marketing tool using email marketing (62%); search engine optimization (56%); banner advertising (36%); and pay-per-click advertising (25%). Among these SMB net marketers, 74% plan to increase their investments in online marketing over the next six months and their peers seem to recognize the benefits they are receiving as an additional 43% percent of SMBs intend to begin online marketing within the next six months. The s...

by Jeff Wyrick ( http://www.mi-websolutions.com ) Does Microsoft care for Webmasters It’s always been a problem with websites appearing exactly the same on different platforms. As a web developer / webmaster it is extremely difficult to make user experiences rich by having the site look the same in any OS / Browser. The biggest problems they have with their famous Internet Explorer browser is security issues and W3C Standards compliance issues. Does Microsoft have a vision of having the world’s most popular browser still? Yes but currently IE is dropping it’s rate pretty fast as Mozilla and Firefox support CSS2 and PNG Transparent Alpha where’s IE does not support. What’s really interesting is IE 5 for Mac supports both CSS2 and PNG Transparent Alpha but IE for Mac development has been discontinued. Makes me think Microsoft likes Apple more then their own Flagship Product “Windows”. So why is it important for Internet Explorer to follow the W3C Standards? • Makes it easier on a develop...

By Arlen Busenitz, Author of " Conversation Magic ", http://conversation-magic.com/ It is extremely important that people have a good first impression of you. Either you make a good impression or you will suffer for it! It is going to effect how your contact views you for the rest of that conversation. It can effect how fast a friendship starts, or how fast business relationships get going. You have got to make a good first impression! What is a "first impression"? Simply it is the first thoughts a person has toward you after seeing you or listening to what you have to say. These are made during the first five seconds and then the first few minutes of a conversation. It has been said that a speaker has 5 minutes to convince the audience that he/she has something good to say. How you act, dress, and talk are all going to effect "the first impression". A customer's first impression of a salesman will have an impact on whether the customer buys . The fi...