If there’s no trust developed, then there’s no sale. What are they key factors in determining how a customer will build trust in a brand for Online Store they’ve never tried before? Or purchase a product they’ve never bought before? What elements need to be existing to ensure that the customer can trust your brand and ultimately make a purchase?
The Shopify team has come up with extensive research regarding this subject and what it really takes to build trust with a customer and it all boils down to the following factors:
- Building a good homepage
- Providing customers with all the necessary information
- Share stories and the history of your company
- Prove customer satisfaction
- Easy to carry out transactions and transparency
Now let’s look at each of these in turn.
BUILDING A GOOD HOMEPAGE
Create an attractive looking and easy to navigate homepage. Shoppers often judge the overall layout and design of your Online Store regardless of whether they want to buy a product from you or not. First impression is the last impression, so make sure you have a killer homepage to build rapport and trust with a potential customer.
Here is a list of Must-Haves that your homepage absolutely needs. Keep checking and adding in stuff to ensure that your homepage makes a good impression, because that’s the first place any potential customer will come towards.
- Good content and high quality pictures
- A simple and clean layout
- Navigation that is easy to use across all devices
- Fast loading pages
PROVIDING CUSTOMERS WITH ALL THE NECESSARY INFORMATION
After they’ve scoured the homepage, the customer will usually go towards the product page. Again, the layout and design of the page really matters here. It will give them an idea of the product’s value and what they can expect. High quality images, descriptions, stock & inventory details as well as shipping and tax information will always draw attention so make sure that all of this information is present in the product pages. There is no hard and fast rule over what your product page needs to look like however these elements can help amp up the trust level with your customers and these include:
- Diverse Product photos for each type of product
- Product descriptions
- Up to date Product reviews on your Product page
- A product video on the product page
SHARE STORIES AND THE HISTORY OF YOUR ONLINE STORE
You need to reassure the shopper that your business is legitimate and recognized. It is very important that you share your brand story as well as why your brand started. Sharing personal stories and reflecting your values and what your business stands for could prove to be something that emotionally moves the customer and resonates with them.
An About Us page will help the shopper learn about the brand and answer questions that they’re curious about. Also, customer’s want to be sure that a business will be around for a while and won’t close up. Therefore it is important to have a Contact Us page by listing contact details such as Phone number, email as well as the shop location (if there is one). This often offers customers reassurance and know they can contact you easily if they have any queries. Therefore it is important that you have:
- An About Us page
- A Contact page
- Contact details (Phone number, email) on the Contact page
- A story about the brand on the About Us page
PROVE CURRENT CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
Customer feedback about your brand and your products really do matter. Research has found that shoppers find the reviews and feedback of previous customers really reassuring and it gives them an overview of the credibility of your brand. When a customer is making the decision to purchase a product, they want to read up on the reviews before they make a final decision. They also want to check these reviews or any other feedback given about the brand to ensure that the brand value’s and services are in line with what they actually say they are.
If a customer knows that your current customers really enjoyed your services, loved your products and back up your core values and mission, then they are highly likely to purchase your product.
Here is what you’ll need:
- Positive product reviews
- Positive reviews on social media
- Descriptive product reviews and customer ratings
- Social media following (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)
EASY TO CARRY OUT TRANSACTIONS AND TRANSPARENCY
While high-quality pictures and descriptions help communicate the value of the product, shoppers also want total transparency over the total price they’ll actually pay, (which includes discounts and fees) as early on in the Payment process as possible. Although price is straightforward, there is always subjectivity over how it is perceived by the customer. Avoid any unnecessary surprises and keep things as honest as possible, so that the customer can trust you. Don’t forget to fulfil these requirements:
- A return policy that is easy to understand
- If shipping Internationally there needs to be a shipping policy that clearly states who is paying duties and taxes
- Payment methods that people use frequently
TAKEAWAY
Trust is a valuable asset for a business and in particular for those businesses who are just starting out. You can slowly but gradually build trust by offering satisfactory services and products and a good word of mouth which amps up the reputation of your Online Store. For a woocommerce store, Over time you wouldn’t have to focus on your site when you start building up solid customers, however it’s still good to keep up these proven good practices to make your site look good and easy to use. It will put the shoppers at ease, make the user experience fun and exciting and take your business to a whole new level.