The Ecommerce Forum South Africa (EFSA) has launched its Safe.Shop Trustmark.

This has been an exceptionally busy month for us at EFSA, However, the main achievement has been the launching on 23 Oct of our Safe.Shop Trustmark after a successful 6 month testing period with the Edcon websites, following a  verification process by the legal firm, Legalese, who we have engaged.

Legalese verifies that applicant e-shops are compliant with EFSA’s South African Code of Conduct Checklist, which covers the appropriate regulations required of online shops in SA (eg. CPA, POPIA, ECTA). The e-shop can then carry the Trustmark for a year, renewable after it has proved that it has not reduced its safeguards for buyers. An ecommerce Trustmark is “a seal, image or logo found on an ecommerce website that indicates that the site is a member of a professional organisation or has passed security tests”. We are using Safe. Shop, a well-known European Trustmark which also provides an alternative dispute resolution system in the (rare) case that the seller and buyer cannot come to a satisfactory conclusion on a complaint. Research has shown that consumers will buy more if they feel they are dealing with a trusted website.

Details are available on the homepage of our website (https://ecomafrica.org/ ) or directly from me ([email protected])

On this issue of trust in online retailers, according to a recent IPSOS study, South Africans value upfront transparency. Local consumers are aware of the increasing loss of privacy and they seek to understand how information is being collected about them and how companies – and the government – are using that data. But, the report concludes,  as much as they have concerns around privacy, there’s also a willingness and comfort to share information for personal exchange, driven by the need for more tailored experiences. Our Trustmark helps to build the necessary trust and ensure that e-shops are compliant with the law.