Letting your fingers do the typing to help fill your Christmas gift list? Shoppers should keep a few things in mind before they throw themselves into a cyber frenzy of online purchases, advises a national marketing association.

While surveys indicate this could be a banner year for Canadian holiday e-spending, consumers are still concerned about Internet privacy issues, notes Ed Cartwright, spokesman for the Canadian Marketing Association (CMA).

“What it comes down to is consumer trust in the company itself,” says Cartwright.

“Consumers are hesitant to purchase online, or get involved in any kind of an e-transaction, without some type of assurance that the company they’re dealing with is reputable.”

One in four online Canadians will do some Christmas shopping on the Internet this year, each spending an average of $257, says a Canadian Online Retail Monitor study released last week by NFO Interactive Canada, a division of marketing research firm CF Group Inc.

The CMA, which represents more than 800 companies, including major financial institutions, retailers and e-business marketers across Canada, says online shoppers should follow these tips before giving out personal information or making an Internet purchase:

* Deal with companies you know by reputation or experience. If you aren’t familiar with the company, do your research by finding out where they’re based. Don’t do business with a company that doesn’t list a physical address or phone number;

* Look for a privacy policy: some marketers have an “opt-out” policy which allows you to control whether your personal information is shared with third parties;

* Do not enter any financial information if you see a broken-key or open padlock symbol on your Internet browser, which means the transaction could be intercepted by a third party. Remember, e-mail addresses, unlike secure order forms on the Web, are not private;

* Read the fine print and understand the contractual information, including returns and warranties, and terms of payment, before you buy;

* Be careful about disclosing your e-mail address both on and offline;

* Check for endorsement by an association or a quality assurance program. The issue of industry-wide “trust marks,” or national marketing standards, is currently being pursued by the CMA. Cartwright says the association is in early talks to develop a national symbol of marketing integrity above and beyond the current CMA logo, which signifies a member company that abides by the CMA’s code of ethics and standards of practice.

By working with the federal government and other standards-writing organizations like the Canadian Standards Association, it’s hoped that a national “trust mark” for Canadian companies can be developed by next year, he says.

Meanwhile, CIBC has announced it will offer its VISA cardholders a one-time disposable VISA number instead of their actual card number to make their online transactions more secure. CIBC has selected New York-based Aplettix, a provider and marketer of secure e-commerce payment solutions, as its technology partner to deliver this new service.

The company’s system will also provide enhanced security to protect cardholders against fraudulent purchases.

“CIBC is the first Canadian bank to offer this new service,” Brenda Clark, vice-president Internet channel management, CIBC Card Products Division, said in a statement last week.

CIBC will benefit from “end-to-end control” of the entire payment transaction cycle, enabling them to protect their card holders, themselves and e-commerce merchants by detecting and stopping fraudulent purchases as they take place, the company said. American Express offers a similar service.

Other highlights from the Canadian Online Retail Monitor study, which conducted the Internet survey of 1,023 online Canadian adults between Oct. 24 and Nov. 6:

* The predominance of males among online shoppers is subsiding. The proportion of female online shoppers has grown from 40 per cent in May 2000, to 44 per cent today;

* Average weekly Internet usage is an indicator of online shopping. The more time people spend on the Web, and the more familiar with it they become, the more likely they are to make purchases online;

* Books (purchased by 44 per cent of all adult online shoppers) remain the most sought-after online commodity, followed by computer-related items like software, and music.

Web Watch:
www.cdma.org