November 2002 saw online trading hit the £1 billion mark, and Christmas 2002 was the biggest to date for online shopping. However consumers have been left feeling uneasy about shopping online again after the shock announcement of the closure of The Which? Trader Scheme.
The scheme was set up by the Consumers' Association in July 1999 as a voluntary code of practice for online traders in the UK to promote consumer confidence in online shopping. Since the announcement of its closure many online consumers have been calling for a substitute to aid them in safe online shopping.
Shopsafe.co.uk is a consumer guide for online shoppers and has been running for over 3 years. The site guarantees that all of the shops listed in the shopping directory have passed high safety checks. In addition, Shopsafe.co.uk will help the consumer should anything so wrong in the transaction.
Graham Miller, from Shopsafe said: "I am stunned that the Which Web trader scheme is closing down. Shopping online is all about trusting the retailer, and if a site conformed to a safe shopping scheme such as Which Web Trader or Shopsafe.co.uk you knew it was safe to shop there. It was a very useful service that helped promote online shopping in this country and it will leave a big gap."
Miller said "I don’t think this will put people off online shopping, shopping on the Internet has become as commonplace as buying goods over the phone. Most of the shopping sites that were accepted by the Web trader scheme are listed on the Shopsafe.co.uk site. There are over 1200 safe shops on Shopsafe.co.uk and we’ve checked their security, delivery, range of goods and prices. You can shop with confidence at any of the shops listed on Shopsafe.co.uk and we’re hoping that we can help provide the safety net for online shoppers that Which have removed.