Small Business Technology News
Building Trust With Online Customers
Written by Tim Morral
Published: 2/19/2014
KISSmetrics serves up a quick and easy roadmap to help small e-commerce businesses create and maintain trust with customers.
Trust. It's an ingredient in every business transaction. If a consumer or B2B buyer trusts that the company's product or service will do what it's supposed to do, they will open their wallets and make a purchase. If trust doesn't exist, the buyer will simply move on to a company that seems a little more trustworthy.
The trust hurdle is especially important for young e-commerce businesses. Over time, solid e-commerce brands establish a customer base, develop their reputation and enjoy a certain amount of trust from the marketplace. But early on, it can be difficult to establish trust with consumers and buyers. In many cases, the only gauge the buyer can use to evaluate trustworthiness is the e-commerce provider's website.
KISSmetrics recently released an infographic outlining several steps e-commerce brands can take to overcome a trust deficit. Highlights from the infographic included:
- When the customer first hears about your company: Mention the total number of orders shipped, customer service hours, contact information, number of customers and other information that establishes your credibility as an established business.
- When the customer browses your website: Make sure you provide high quality images, product reviews, thought leadership materials, policies and additional content designed to help them make an informed purchase decision.
- When the customer moves to checkout: Offer the location where the items will be shipped from, the delivery date, security information and anything else that reinforces the customer's decision and makes it easy for them to complete their purchase.
Conveying trustworthiness in e-commerce isn't easy, but it's not impossible. By following a handful of simple strategies and guidelines, you can improve the level of trust you communicate to your customers and achieve a measurable increase in on-site conversions.
Share this article
About Our Business News for Entrepreneurs
Our reporters cover all the news that pertains to entrepreneurship. Our coverage is all about giving you news you can use to start and grow your business.
Additional Resources for Entrepreneurs