Online Purchase: Using Amazon To Ensure Confidentiality And Security
Confidentiality, Security, and Privacy Facilities
After doing some research, the suitable company that can supply the required items though an online purchase is Amazon. It is a global online retailer with offices in Australia so delivery should be cheaper and faster compared to international firms that may deliver from another country/ location. The company’s E-mail address is https://www.amazon.com.au/ref=nav_logo
The home page, for instance is easy to use with a search feature where one just searches for the required product and gets the item, with the price listed.
Explain how the service provider meets confidentiality, security and privacy facilities through the use of secure gateways or other security mechanisms.
Just by clicking the site, one can see the ‘Secure’ sign with a green padlock icon next to it, and that it uses the https protocol.
The green padlock icon shows that any web traffic in and out of the website is encrypted; encryption is a process where data and plain text is converted into an encoded form from the readable form using an encryption algorithm. The data can be decoded only by another entity if they got the key, usually a public key for the website. As such, this is one way Amazon ensures user data remains safe, especially when making online purchases so third parties cannot intercept and steal that information. Further, the HTTPS protocol and secure sign show the website has an extended validation SSL certificate for added security. The extended validation SSL (secure socket layer) is the highest security standard that a website can have. Further the company has a policy of not sharing user information during any interactions as stated in their use policy
Amazon has a robust policy of ensuring sellers provide authentic products: to verify authenticity, I would send a query mail to Amazon customer service and request them to confirm the authenticity of the products offered by the sellers. Amazon would in turn ask the sellers to furnish them with copies of supplier details including invoices to reflect the volumes the seller sells on Amazon. Amazon would verify this information on our behalf and give an assurance on the authenticity of the products before having the product sales concluded and shipped.
To ensure compliance with organizational requirements, the first step will be to read the company policy in the context of making purchases. After doing this, I will do extensive research and evaluate various suppliers and grade them in terms of product availability: do they have the exact specific products that the organization needs? After doing this, price comparisons and the terms of sales will be reviewed; who is offering the best terms (most competitive prices, return policies, offering discounts, and warranty and guarantee terms). Because the purchase is to be done online, another strategy is to look at the kind of products they offer; their brands, the accompanying images, and use these to make the purchasing decisions
Authenticity Verification
Pick the required items and add them to your shopping basket (or through the functionality provided) and take a screen shot of the items required for purchase. Copy the screen shot into a word document and upload the file.
If I had a problem completing the online transaction, the first step would be to use the search window on the website to see if I could get help. The next step, if that did not work, would be to go to the contact us button and send an e-mail depending on the severity of the problem. A final and more direct solution will be to pick the phone and call the company, given that they have regional stores, including one near me. Through the phone call, I would be able to get the necessary responses and even be guided on what to do, such as having to register before I can undertake transactions, such as confirming the order and making the necessary payments
When one wants to make a purchase, they are first asked for their postal or residential address to know their location. Because the company has a nationwide presence, one is directed to select the nearest retailer to them and then directed to their subpage to select the necessary products. After making a selection, they are added to the cart and one can review their purchases and make adjustments accordingly. When they make a conformation, they are taken to a secure pay processor, but one must be registered, so if not yet registered, one is asked to register and a confirmation E-mail sent to confirm their registration. One is then asked to choose a suitable payment method and the address for delivery is specified, including any costs and the method of delivery most preferred by the buyer. When this is done, the payment is processed and one gets a ‘receipt’ to confirm the purchase, the address, and then a confirmation E-mail sent, with terms and conditions and a tracking number. The client can then track the movement of the goods using the tracking number and will know the nominated courier. In case goods don’t arrive, one can send communication to the company and they follow this up on behalf of the client
The records to be maintained include a history, in the website portal, of the details of the online transaction including on product details, payment method used, amount paid, date, and time, and identifier details, as well as the person that served the client. Further, the invoice or the receipt, and the tracking number, as well as the nearest store as sent in the e-mail must be maintained for any future inquiries or issue resolution.
All purchases must be made based on a pro forma invoice sent by the supplier, with the accompanying local purchase order to accompany the purchase.
This would be done by referring to the organizations’ purchasing and procurement rules on the products, such as gram per square meter (GSM) of the office paper, and warranties and guaranties given by the seller as per the rules of the organization. Further, some of the products would have to meet various quality standards (global) either by the suppliers and/ or the products, such as the ISO 216:2007. These would be obtained independently by looking at the labels and asking the seller to provide and verify such quality standards. The goods will also have to be delivered within the stipulated period and guaranteed to be of the stated quality and perform the intended task for a given period of time (warranty and guarantee)
The experience was exciting and highly engaging; I was able to get the products desired by just using the search function and then selecting. Further, the organization provides a means by which one can search for the nearest retail outlet based on postal address, so deliveries can be expedited. Further, the website is secure and calls for help are attended to promptly and handled quickly, especially phone responses. Registration implies any transaction is noted and I as a buyer am informed of anything by e-mail, for the purposes of easy tracking. Based on this, it is a very enriching experience where I can shop from the comfort of my desk; never have to run around physically looking for the products I want, or even taking time to visit the sellers’ stores. And the products can be delivered right my address, so I will be using the site and vendor more in future