Making Your E-commerce Business Credible to Customers
Building trust among customers is crucial if you want your e-commerce business to succeed. Especially with the extreme competition of e-commerce businesses, it can get too easy to lose customers to competitors and lose some earning potential. But when you make your company trustworthy, things can get a lot easier, and more customers might even come your way.
But how can you make your e-commerce business more trustworthy? Below are some strategies you can take.
Offer Genuine Products
The biggest disappointment for customers is to find out that what they have bought is a fake item. No customer would want to purchase counterfeit products from a website. They would always want to receive authentic products made by legitimate manufacturers.
So as much as you can, make sure that what you are giving your customers are only authentic ones. You may want to research your suppliers first and see if their offerings are from legitimate manufacturers with quality seals before selling them online to your customers. A single mistake can break your brand and shoo customers away.
Ship Products on Time
Customers tend to trust websites that ship their orders on time. Shipping on time is a sign of professionalism, maturity, and trustworthiness. Deliveries that are made in a timely manner can lead to high customer satisfaction and superior customer retention.
It is highly understood that sometimes the prompt shipping of items may not lie entirely on your hands. The shipping company that ships your items also plays a part. Therefore, it is crucial to partner only with a courier service with the same work culture. The service you are using should be committed to providing excellent services as much as you do.
Observe Transparency
Being straightforward and transparent attracts customers. When the business is done online, customers cannot expect to see a physical store that they can visit when problems occur relating to their orders.
Often, the only means by which your business can communicate with your customers is through digital means, such as through your social media accounts, your website, and via email. When your business offers transparency, customers are likely to trust you more and purchase from your business. Transparency also leads to better customer relationships, the kind that leads to customer loyalty and retention.
Show Off
If you have something that competitors don’t have or have something you can do that competitors cannot, let the world know! Show off all the things you can offer, and do not hide a thing. It makes your business unique, and unique businesses are likely to gain more customers. Market your business aggressively, and do not stop until you finally see results.
Be Reachable and Approachable
Another thing that encourages customers to purchase from a website is when they know that they can easily contact customer service when they need assistance or have inquiries or complaints. A study done in the UK by eConsultancy shows that 46% of customers prefer to shop in e-commerce stores that show their address and contact details, such as phone numbers, email, and chat accounts, prominently. They are also more inclined to trust websites that offer human chat support capabilities.
Show Online Reviews
Customers often look for real reviews before they finally decide on whether to purchase from a website. Reviews make the website and the business look more trustworthy, and they attract more customers to make a purchase. Testimonials, too, serve as proof of the authenticity of your business and your products.
Be Visible in Social Media
Millions of people use social media every day. These platforms make communication between businesses and customers a breeze. They also allow easy marketing of products and services, reaching more customers than when a traditional marketing technique is used. According to a study by BigCommerce, e-commerce stores with a strong social media presence enjoy a whopping 32% increase in sales compared to those who barely use social media for their ventures.
Make Your Website Secure
While websites offer a seamless shopping experience to customers, they may also put customers in a quandary. Many websites suffer from a hacking, endangering customer information and their own privacy.
To make an e-commerce website more secure and reliable, you should add protection and security features that protect the customers and the business. Customers often look for the green address bar with a padlock symbol on websites to ensure they are secure and protected.
They may also look for trust seals and badges before they make a purchase. Added protection and security can be obtained when you purchase and install an SSL certificate on your website.
These are just some of the many steps you can take to make your e-commerce business credible to your customers. There are still many other ways, and some new technologies may also appear each year for the benefit of both e-commerce businesses and their customers.
