Key dimensions of business-to-consumer web sites

The rapid growth in the electronic commerce over the Internet has fuelled predictions and speculations about what makes a business-to-consumer (B2C) web site effective. Yet, there are very few empirical studies that examine this issue. We examined the key characteristics of a B2C web site as perceived by online consumers. Based on a questionnaire survey of 214 online shoppers, we empirically derived four key dimensions of B2C web sites: information content, design, security, and privacy. Though all these dimensions seem to have an impact on the online purchase intent of consumers, security and privacy were found to have greater effect on the purchase intent of consumers. The implications of the findings for online merchants are discussed.