The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) presented its best practice guidelines for marketing goods and services through the Internet at an industry forum last night. The DMA`s aim is to encourage effective self-regulation among companies operating in the e-space, and build trust between business and consumer.
The guidelines focus on the issues of disclosure, information practice, customer satisfaction and the protection of children.
Disclosure
Information about the company behind a Web site is of critical importance, says the DMA. It suggests that in keeping with the requirements of the Companies Act, Web sites should clearly state among others, the full identity of the company, its physical address, telephone and fax numbers, and a contact e-mail address.
In addition, details pertaining to delivery costs and alternatives should be clearly spelled out, and kept up to date.
Price information should be all-inclusive, ensuring that customers know before the order is completed exactly what and how much he or she is paying for any particular product or service.
Terms and conditions on the site should include essential elements such as a returns and refunds policy, payment and delivery terms and cancellation and cooling-off rights. It`s important that while the terms and conditions be written in easily understandable language, the customer should be able to identify that this is the legal part of the contract.
The site design should allow the consumer to quit the purchase process at any time.
Information practice
The issues of privacy and security are addressed in-depth; the DMA recommends that consumers should be made aware of the type of information captured, and how it will be used. In addition, consumers should have the right to review and correct any of the information held about them, and should have and understand their right to refuse further communication from a company.
In terms of accountability, there should be a named individual within the company with whom customers can deal directly in matters of data protection.
Companies should actively seek out their consumers` permission to pass data on to third-parties, says the DMA, instead of that option being a negative default.
The guidelines suggest that sites should offer information about security issues such as payment methods, the status of an environment in which personal information is being volunteered, and the consumers` legal rights and liability for any losses.
Sites should also have a clear policy regarding the use of cookies, and importantly, consumers should be given clear information on opting out of having their information used for e-mail solicitations or other forms of marketing.
Feedback
Any feedback to or comments on these guidelines will be considered by the DMA before it drafts the final version of the code. Interested parties can submit feedback at www.dma.org.za, or mail Davy Ivins, the DMA executive director, at exec@dma.org.za