Food Web sites score three out of ten

Citation

(2001), "Food Web sites score three out of ten", Work Study, Vol. 50 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/ws.2001.07950caf.004

Food Web sites score three out of ten

Food Web sites score three out of tenKeywords: Quality assurance, Food industry, Internet

A study commissioned by quality assurance organisation, SGS, suggests that e-commerce firms operating in the food sector are not addressing the security and confidentiality concerns of the Internet consumer.

The first of a series of "E-commerce 100 surveys", in which one hundred UK-based Web sites selling speciality foods were rated against ten criteria to determine their ability to guarantee the security of transactions and the confidentiality of personal information, reveals that just 11 percent make any reference to Data Protection. Over two thirds have no stated policy for safeguarding the privacy of personal information. Overall, the average Web site scored in just three of the ten categories.

The sample of Web sites was drawn from directory listings supplied by five of the best known Internet search engines and included vendors of confectionery, dairy products, meat, seafoods, organic products, gift and gourmet merchandise. Supermarkets and online grocery sites were excluded from the survey.

The ten criteria chosen to measure the level of customer assurance included the existence of a terrestrial address and contact details, a reply form, data protection for personal information, a customer promise or charter, use of security systems (such as Trustwise), visible accreditation logos, complaints procedures, information security systems and an online privacy policy.

The key findings were:

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  10 per cent made no mention of their terrestrial address or contact details;

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  just one in nine made reference to the protection of personal data;

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  only 15 Web sites made use of e-commerce security systems such as Trustwise;

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  just one in five made a statement about the level of service which could be expected;

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  just 17 per cent posted details of other accreditations e.g. ISO 9000;

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  five out of six had no formal procedures for customers to register complaints;

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  just one site made reference to information security management systems (BS 7799);

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  two thirds had no stated privacy policy.

A copy of the full report can be found at http://www.sgs.co.uk/download/ebusiness.

SGS has developed some of its traditional, terrestrial verification services to provide assurance of transactions taking place over the Internet. Its suite of eBusiness services includes a Web site certification scheme, SGS Qualicert along with assessment and registration against information management security systems and certification and supply chain management services in the burgeoning online business-to-business (B2B) market under its SGSonSITE brand.