TRUST IS KEY TO ONLINE-BASED BUSINESSES

By Abigail Grace

There is a rapid integration of digital space in business including in businesses that were never thought of being carried out from a distance.  In the beginning of the millennium nobody thought of being diagnosed of a disease from a distance, imagine being in a Ugandan hospital and being diagnosed of a disease by a doctor located in New York, America.   The digital space is increasingly unraveling many opportunities that were never thought of. In business sphere, brick and mortar operations were crucial in the last century; however, in the current era, it is the digital space operations that would be dominating the business operations.  It would not make economic sense to rent fabulous expensive show rooms in various cities to display products and services, when such show rooms can be everywhere, anytime and cheaply in the digital space.  As a worker at Business Connections East Africa, I have never visited a brick and mortar store to buy laptops or other office accessories yet the organization buys them.  The   whole idea is as more people are integrated within the internet system by having smartphones and other internet enabled devices. And as governments and private sectors such as banks and telecommunication companies install the necessary infrastructure to support internet connectivity and operations, the more the people prefer operating within their convenience and at lower costs to moving to brick and mortar stores.

The success of such transactions and their sustainability is based on the trust between the retailer or service provider and the consumer.  The   retailer builds the trust by consistently providing the specified items or offering the specified services within the specified cost and timeline. The consumer on the other hand trusts that the online retailer will pack and deliver the ordered product based on the specifications.  Business Connections East Africa, for example offers its services to clients across the world, yet it has only one office in a remote area and employees across the world. The employees work for the organization yet they have never visited its office based on the trust that they will be paid on time. The organization hires the far and wide employees based on the trust that they will represent and safeguard its interests.  Essentially, it is trust that works for e-commerce.  What is very interesting is that due to the transparency of the digital space, its users easily give feedback based on their experience with the retailers. Imagine a retailer with 60% negative feedback; such a retailer is essentially destroyed.