How To Build Customer Trust In Ecommerce Platforms
Without face-to-face interaction it can be hard to build trust in your ebusiness. We’ve created a guide to help you create warm fuzzy feelings when your business comes up.
Ecommerce websites live and die by the volume of transactions they carry, yet there are many reasons why consumers may not feel confident making a purchase through a particular site. It’s been reported that two thirds of online shopping carts are abandoned, with the remaining transactions expected to total $1.9 trillion worldwide throughout 2016. With almost $4 trillion of revenue being lost through uncertainty and security concerns, it’s clearly vital to minimize the trepidation we all feel when ordering from a website for the first time.
These are ten factors that can help to establish confidence in an ecommerce platform:
Security
First and foremost, ensure your ecommerce functionality is secure. SSL certificates and secure logins are vital, while card verification and a privacy policy are highly recommended. Display trust seals to increase confidence among the public.
Expertise
Customers will be far more willing to hand over credit card details if they feel your website is an authority. Demonstrate this with About Us pages, custom product descriptions, accompanying blogs/ebooks and advice columns.
Professionalism
Spelling mistakes and 404 errors are subliminal warning signs that suggest unprofessionalism. And if a company can’t use apostrophes correctly or display table data without overlapping text, will they deliver the right goods on time?
Honesty
If you’re selling vintage clothes, describe any imperfections in the items. If you have to charge significant postage, make this clear from the outset. Some retailers over-promise and under-deliver, but honesty is always the best policy long term.
Detail
Building on the last point, provide as much detail as possible about items for sale. Multiple photographs, detailed specification sheets and lengthy product descriptions can persuade potential customers that this product really is for them.
Reviews
Enabling online reviews requires good customer service and confidence in the products you’re selling. Unedited reviews provide valuable reassurance to waverers, and they can also boost search engine rankings, in turn delivering more visitors.
Upselling
A camera retailer who only sells camera bodies may struggle to persuade customers to choose their online store over rivals. Selling related items enables clients to get everything they need in one place and one transaction – plus, upselling boosts profits.
Advice
Platforms like YouTube are ideal for offering guidance or instructional videos on more complex products, which can often convince site visitors that the item they’re purchasing isn’t going to be overly technical or difficult to operate.
Names
If you’re a sole trader enterprise, discuss why you founded the company and how your passion inspires you. Upload bios of customer service staff too – potential clients want to know they’re dealing with real people, not a faceless organization.
Accessibility
Can customers send a letter or email if they have queries? Are social media accounts regularly checked and updated? Are phone lines manned after 5pm? People will be more likely to trust a brand if they feel it’s accessible and accountable.
Of course, there are many other things an ecommerce platform should do to demonstrate its integrity. Comprehensive beta-testing of the site prior to launch is essential (on as many different browsers as possible), and effective resolution of legitimate complaints can transform bad customer experiences into good ones. However, if every online trading platform adopted the ten guidelines above, there would probably be a significant reduction in the percentage of abandoned carts littering cyberspace…