Building Customer Trust in Your Online Business
Trust is everything in e-commerce. With so many scams and shady brands out there, you have to work harder to show your business is legit. From honest product claims to clear policies and responsive service, these trusted strategies help convert visitors into believers.
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Frankly, earning trust is hard when you have few to no customers. However, you need to establish your business as trustworthy before people choose to buy from you. Luckily, with the right strategies, building consumers’ confidence in your brand is easier than you’d think.
Why Is There a Lack of Trust in Online Shopping?
Fraud fear may be to blame if you get a decent amount of traffic but no one is checking out. Research shows online companies lose an estimated 28% of sales because of customer uncertainty. All signs point to scams and shady business practices eroding trust.
The larger the e-commerce market grows, the more frequent illegitimate sale prices, inaccurate delivery estimates, doctored product images and widespread dropshipping scams become.
Despite everything, digital is still the primary purchasing method for around 55% of consumers, according to the National Retail Federation. Although over half of people shop online, they often stick to the same few websites for their needs — the platforms they trust. You need to give them a reason to venture out.
Don’t feel disheartened — this fact suggests people trust online shopping in general but need a push to explore new brands. If you can reach them, you may be able to secure their business.
Factors That Influence Customers’ Confidence
Several factors go into building customer trust. It’s not just about your products or services — it’s about how you treat the people who want to do business with you.
Product Quality
To buyers, product quality is a reflection of your company as a whole. It is one of the most significant deciding factors. After all, who would feel confident in something that looks fake, fraudulent or cheaply made?
Corporate Responsibility
You may run a small business, but corporate responsibility is still important. According to KPMG, 80% of consumers prefer buying from brands whose actions align with their values. How you contribute to society, the environment and the economy influences how people perceive you.
Security and Privacy
E-commerce has entered the digital age. A Forbes survey found that around 53% of consumers use digital wallets more often than traditional payment methods. Unfortunately, this means scammers and hackers see online stores as valuable targets.
Is your website protected from hacks? Do you have an easy-to-understand privacy policy describing how you collect, use and store personal data? Are strong passwords required during account creation? People need to feel reassured you’ll safely handle their information.
Communication and Transparency
Individuals will only trust your company if they believe your claims are transparent and truthful. Is your return policy fair? Are your product images genuine or Photoshopped? Is your privacy policy clear? People shouldn’t have to hunt around your website to find this information. They’ll move on to other online stores if they think you’re hiding something.
Others’ Experiences
If buyers don’t trust you, they’ll seek information from others through reviews, social media posts or testimonials. In the United States, around 98% of consumers read online reviews. If your brand has few reviews, even a single negative comment can sway their opinions.
Customer Service
How soon do you respond to shoppers’ complaints? Are you available to answer questions when needed? To provide exceptional customer service, you need to be courteous and proactive. People don’t want to feel abandoned after completing the initial transaction.
Why Is Customer Trust Important in E-Commerce?
Although you can technically still make sales without building trust with every website visitor, you can only build credibility and lasting customer relationships by presenting your company as fair and transparent.
A good reputation can help you firmly establish yourself in your niche. You stand to extend your reach and enhance your brand perception, increasing your profit margins.
Even if trust does not immediately translate into profit, it builds business value. Remember, price and value are not always the same — price represents the amount you pay, while value sums up all the benefits of ownership in a single number. You don’t have to have a market value as large as Amazon’s to be worth something to online shoppers.
Ultimately, since scams, fakes and fraud are so rampant in e-commerce, you have to put more effort into building trust. Your store isn’t like a brick-and-mortar building — since people can’t see or feel the product before checking out, they’re often more cautious than usual.
Ways Customer Trust Affects Business Growth
People will only buy your products if they believe in your offerings and claims, which can have downstream effects on your business.
Brand Loyalty
Shoppers who trust you will remain loyal to you, increasing your brand’s resilience in uncertain market conditions or periods where business is slow. Knowing they’ll choose you over the competition can make business ownership simpler. You won’t have to worry about losing money on sales to attract new customers.
Revenue Growth
You’re more likely to make sales if your website visitors view your product page as trustworthy. Your advertisements will be more likely to convert and your social media posts will have a higher chance of attracting attention.
Your revenue growth won’t stop at the initial sale, either. Those who took a chance on you and were pleasantly surprised will likely return for more, guaranteeing you more sales in the future. Brand confidence drives profit.
Brand Reputation
Your brand reputation is the public’s perception of your company’s image, products, values and performance. It facilitates word-of-mouth marketing, driving more people to your online store. The higher their opinion of your business is, the more your brand awareness will grow.
Telling Whether Your Online Store Is Trustworthy
How can you tell whether your website, blog, social media page and product listings seem trustworthy to online shoppers? What about your business as a whole? Safety, credibility, accessibility and privacy are key. People want reassurance while providing personal information during account creation or entering financial information when checking out.
Start with the basics — fast loading speeds, proper grammar and a clean layout — first. From there, consider adding a message during checkout explaining how secure your online payment processing system is.
To remain payment card industry compliant, you must leverage password protection, cardholder data encryption and access log monitoring, among other security measures.
Even if you’re no cybersecurity expert, you must make an effort to protect website visitors’ privacy and safety. How you collect, transfer and store their data matters. Would they continue doing business with you if their information was leaked through your online store?
As a mom, you may feel intimidated by the prospect of dedicating this much time to gaining buyers’ confidence. However, it is possible. Take a page from the other women-owned businesses in the United States — they made $1.8 trillion in sales in 2024, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.
If you have a lot to do, tackle your workload in segments. Prioritize secure payment systems and privacy protection measures.
Do you prioritize immediate strategies over longer-term ones? About 63% of small-business owners say they plan one year ahead at most. Whether you’re just starting or have been running your business for years, you should consider the future impacts of today’s actions.
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6 Strategies to Gain E-Commerce Customers’ Trust
Use these proven strategies to gain customer trust. The results may not be immediate, but they’ll be lasting.
- Create and Maintain Good Habits
Get the fundamentals down first — publish easy-to-understand company policies, provide quality customer service and provide in-depth information on all your products. Prioritize the main factors that influence buyers’ confidence.
- Be Honest With Your Customers
Everything from your delivery estimates to customer reviews should be truthful, even if they aren’t ideal. People value honesty and transparency. Besides, even bad reviews can be seen as positive if you respond well.
Provide detailed product information, take pictures, add dimensions and explain the uses for each listing. The more data online shoppers can see, the more likely they are to believe you will deliver on your promises.
- Keep Employees on the Same Page
If you have employees, ensure they follow procedures and align with your brand’s mission. They are the face of your business, after all. All of their interactions with potential and current shoppers should be positive.
- Take Care of Your Customers
Sometimes, you can’t deliver on your promises. Say a snowstorm delays a delivery right before the holidays. Given that 20% of package deliveries fail on the first attempt, there will eventually be a time when something like this happens.
Your first response should be to make it right. Whether you send an apology or offer a partial refund, you secure more consumer trust and repeat business. Fixing a bad experience is an easy way to show you value them.
- Show the Person Behind the Brand
You’re a business owner, but you’re also a mom. Even if motherhood doesn’t tie into your brand identity, you should build a clear picture in their minds of who you are. Share the human side of your operation with online shoppers to help them understand there’s a person behind the brand.
Convincing E-Commerce Consumers to Trust You
Earning customer trust is key to driving success. You should gain more visitors if you implement the fundamental changes needed to make your online store secure, private and transparent. This change may not happen overnight, but your hard work and dedication will manifest as business value.
