COLOGNE, Germany, April 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Europe's market leader in the certification of online shopping sites, Trusted Shops, has extended its leading position and currently guarantees safe purchasing at over 5,000 affiliated member shops. The best-in-test in the Computerbild (03/2009) test also provides a search platform exclusively for products from safe online vendors on its website at http://www.trustedshops.com .

Over the course of just 18 months we have doubled our membership, comments Jean-Marc Noël, Managing Director of Trusted Shops. The considerable intake of new Internet retailers is not least a result of the fact that our seal of approval enjoys a very reputable status amongst consumers. They know that Trusted Shops stands for exceptional security when it comes to online shopping.

Trusted Shops checks and certifies the affiliated online retailers on the basis of a comprehensive and rigorous catalogue of criteria, thereby helping to ensure that the certified legal rights of consumers are upheld. Consumers also benefit from Purchaser Protection in the form of a money back guarantee which applies, for example, when a shop does not deliver an article that has already been paid for in advance.

redcoon GmbH becomes the 5,000th member

The 5,000th member of the Trusted Shops family was redcoon. The trade discounter of consumer electronics, white goods, computers, photographic items and sports equipment is one of the giants in the sector - it operates Internet shops and sales subsidiaries in Germany, Austria, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Poland.

Purchaser security and confidence have been core elements of our company's philosophy since it was founded in 2003, explains Reiner Heckel, Managing Director of redcoon GmbH, which has approximately four million monthly visitors to its online shops during peak periods. We are therefore especially pleased that these aspects will now be documented by the Trusted Shops seal of approval.

Guaranteed safe purchases on the Trusted Shops shopping platform

The seal of approval highlights online shops that meet the high security requirements. A further aspect, which is not quite as well known among consumers, is that the Trusted Shops website itself forms a practical search and shopping platform on which searches for suitable offers can be made exclusively among secure member shops.

Due to the multitude of affiliated shops, it is now possible to find almost everything at http://www.trustedshops.com . The platform offers consumers a free text search function and they can also simply browse through the selection and choose to look at suitable shops or to display offers relating to certain brands and categories.

About Trusted Shops:

The company is based in Cologne and was founded in 1999. It is now the leading certifier of online shops in Europe - Trusted Shops checks retailers on the basis of more than 100 individual criteria, including creditworthiness , price transparency, customer service and data protection. Those passing the review are awarded the coveted seal of approval, which is now proudly held by over 5,000 online shops. Detailed background information can be found at:

http://www.trustedshops.com/merchants/press-centre.html

Press contact: Trusted Shops GmbH Colonius Carré Subbelrather Str. 15c 50823 Cologne Germany Jean-Marc Noël Tel.: +49-221-775366 E-mail: presse@trustedshops.com PR agency: http://www.prdienst.de

Press contact: Trusted Shops GmbH, Colonius Carré, Subbelrather Str. 15c, 50823 Cologne, Germany. Jean-Marc Noël, Tel.: +49-221-775366, E-mail: presse@trustedshops.com