The Value of Internet Commerce to the Customer

Internet commerce has the potential to offer customers a better deal compared to purchases by conventional methods in many situations. To make this potential a reality, businesses must focus on the values of their customers. We interviewed over one-hundred individuals about all the pros and cons of using Internet commerce that they experienced or envisioned. The results were organized into twenty-five categories of objectives that were influenced by Internet purchases. These categories were separated into means objectives and fundamental objectives used to describe the bottom line consequences of concern to customers. These results are applicable to designing an Internet commerce system for a business, creating and redesigning products, and increasing value to customers. The set of fundamental objectives also provides the foundation for developing a quantitative model of customer values.