How To Get Customers to Trust an e-Commerce Store

Article Contributed by Megha Parikh

Is your ecommerce store not getting the expected traction?

Is your conversion rate very low?

Are the visitors of your site not exactly the target you had in mind?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then most likely you have either:

• Just launched your new ecommerce website or
• You haven’t exactly been making the right moves in terms of marketing your new site since its launch

Either way, we are here to help you.

Whether it is to get more traction to your site or to increase your conversion rate, the ultimate challenge lies in getting more customers to trust you. And all efforts should be made towards this one goal.

Why Customers Have Trust Issues –

Now considering how you have just started out on your ecommerce website, it might be fairly difficult for you to earn the trust of customers who are not really interacting with you in any way. Because let’s face it, the truth is that no one would actually want to purchase anything or give their credit card information to a company that they are not familiar with.

On top of that there is the growing prevalence of phishing attacks, malicious software and other kinds of cyber-crime that makes people fear unfamiliar sites. Sometimes it can be just the fear of bad customer service that makes people shy away from online shopping.

While we are on the subject of earning trust, it would be worthwhile to address another major problem that you may face as the owner of an ecommerce site; shopping cart abandonment. It basically refers to the habit of adding products to the shopping cart and then abandoning it when it comes to the payment page. This could be a more serious problem as it means that your website is getting the attention you need, but does not generate the much needed trust in your customers. This could either be because your payment page does not seem safe and secure enough to your customers or because you ask for a little too much information from them. It could also be because your shipping and handling charges are a little too high.

According to several studies, high shipping and handling costs have always been the number one reason for shopping cart abandonment, while fear too is not far behind.

With all these problems, it might seem like a herculean task to get your customers to trust you. But trust me when I say, it is only a matter of a few simple right moves.

Let’s get into that now.

Moves To Get Your Customers To Trust You –

Look at it this way: right from the launch of your new ecommerce website, every single contact a visitor or a potential customer has with your site is a great opportunity for you to build trust in them.

So the first point will be when they first hear about your website or see your advertisement. What can you do?

1. Have a well thought out and designed ad –

That’s right. You ad has the potential to create a lasting first impression if it has the right information. Here are some things that you need to include in your ad to make it effective:

• Have a simple domain name
• List out all your phone number so that your customers can reach you
• Mention the customer service hours
• If you are a verified and approves reseller of any particular brand, do include that
• Use a commonly used and trusted payment partner and mention it
• Have a credible publication quote you and mention it in your ad (this might need you to shell out some money)
• If you have been ranked by any recognized ecommerce rating service  like Stella Service for instance, mention that as well

The second point is when the customer visits your site, having seen your ad, and browses through. What can you do here?

2. Add a human element to your site –

By this I mean, putting a face on your site and giving them a solid idea of who you are, through an “About Us” page so that they know you are real and legit. You can put your CEO’s picture and go on to describe in the simplest way what your company is made of. And while you do that, make it relatable to the customers so that they feel you get them. You can even include a “Meet Our Team” page with pictures and short bios with names of your staff.

Add professionalism – While keeping the content of your site easy to understand and relatable, it is also important to maintain professionalism. You need to include all the regular things that make people feel they can trust you. Just like an “About Us” page, you also need to have a few necessary elements on your website such as:

• A contact page with your headquarters address, your phone numbers, your email address etc.
• Reviews of products in your store by customers
• Customer testimonials with their pictures and tweets if possible to show that other people trust you.

 

• Marketing specialist Dan Kennedy of GKIC says, “What others say about you and your product, service or business is at least 1000 times more convincing that what you say, even if you are 2000 times more eloquent”.

 

The third customer point is when they put items in to the shopping cart and proceed with purchasing them. What can you do here?

3. Show them that your website is secure –

This is the most important part of an ecommerce website and this is where you need to invest in some good website developers.

You need to secure your site with an SSL Certificate (Secure Sockets Layer certificate). Having SSL security is the one this that is going to help you reduce or even eliminate shopping cart abandonment.

Online businesses demand user’s trust and protection for their website, EV SSL Certificate is an ideal solution in both conditions. Customers have this habit of trusting websites which are secured with HTTP encryption.

What this means is that the data that customers enter in to your site while making payments, gets encrypted and will not be readable by any other networks between you and your server. This reduces the chances of phishing scams and identity theft. Get a high end SSL Security certificate such as Geo Trust SSL security so that it covers all aspects of security and show it your customers. You will have a green address bar and you can also mention is in your payments page.

So that is how you can build trust in your customers, right from when they first see your website. Be sure to follow these moves and you will be well on your way to getting high conversion rates in no time.