11 Ways to Build Customer Trust in eCommerce Business
Winning and sustaining consumer trust is significant to your eCommerce business success. Product conversions online mainly rely on how much a consumer trusts your brand. To establish that reliability, you require being consistent and trustworthy with your business approaches. For that, you need well designed and developed eCommerce store from one best eCommerce development service providers.
Research showcases that 67 percent of consumers say that a superior product image may get them to try it. However, they will stop purchasing it if they don’t rely on the brand behind the product.
Read More: eCommerce Store Optimization Checklist for Holidays Season
In this blog, we will precisely explain to you the proven approaches for cultivating your online business. And in the process make your consumers rely upon you more.
How to Gain Consumer Trust and Reliability in eCommerce Shopping?
1) Beautiful user interface that gives your audience an unforgettable impression
Design is not merely a form of creativity. It also works as an approach to resolve the user issues and make them more contented.
Read More: UX Design Tips for eCommerce Websites to Explode Your Sales
First impressions are 94 percent attached to design. A beautiful user interface offers your audience an unforgettable impression.
In this scenario, the UI designer works on shapes, color palettes, typefaces, fonts, icons, and illustrations. These factors make design solutions precise to the branding concepts of the product.
On the other hand, UI designs are aimed at different types of audiences. They are used across the eCommerce space to win the trust of their users. Beautiful user interfaces have brought effective results for online businesses.
However, too much of an uprising in user interfaces might puzzle the user. Do I really require purchasing this product a user can think that if it is so complex to get it?
Read More: eCommerce Web Design Trends for better User Experience
Explore the interaction patterns for that specific range of audiences to use their lifestyle as your influence to attract them. However, set the right balance amid innovation and usual practices to gain consumer trust across eCommerce shopping.
2) Perfect navigation that makes their browsing and buying seamless
Precise navigation enhances how online visitors find and access information within an eCommerce portal. This scenario comprises the website’s taxonomy, page structuring, and how menus are enabled on desktop and mobile.
The design of these elements can have an enormous effect on the user experience. They impact search rankings, page views, bounce rate, returning visitors, time spent on the site, and finally, conversions. So, perfect navigation makes your user’s browsing, product discovery, and buying seamless.
Best practices for a flawless user experience through the website navigation
- Build a precise, logical, and applicable homepage design
One of the ways of making an immense impression is swiftly communicating what your store is all about. If visitors are not quickly and completely clear about what products you are selling on your website, it will soon cause a disaster.
As per Baymard Institute, 42 percent of mobile eCommerce portals do not have a home page design that allows users to deduce the business category of the portal they have landed precisely.
The bottom line is that your homepage design should be uncomplicated, and visitors should easily understand what products you are providing without much effort.
- Have explicit product categories in the main navigation
Not showcasing product categories directly in the main site navigation often leads to navigational challenges.
Enabling users to find explored and specific product categories quickly offers seamless navigation. This scenario leads to visitors better discovering your eCommerce portal.
- Use the right number of categories
Another slip-up is having either too few or too many categories, which negatively impacts mobile users.
The majority of mobile sites have a category hierarchy that is extremely deep or highly shallow. This scenario makes it quite challenging for the user to navigate the website structure.
- Have internal search
An internal search feature helps when users visit your website with a particular product in mind. And they don’t want to explore more pages to spot it.
Read More: Voice Retail Shopping Market: Next Search Trend in eCommerce
Having such functionality assists in performing a quick search, directly going through product details, and swiftly purchasing it if suitable.
- Provide search suggestions
You can further ease buying decisions by providing search suggestions, so visitors don’t have to overthink about their purchase options.
3) Trust-worthy reviews using the third-party sites
Today, virtually everyone is exploring reviews in the world of eCommerce. Around 91 percent of people go through online reviews, and 84 percent rely on them. These online reviews are measurable and reasonably verifiable.
Negative reviews are equally given importance as positive ones. One of the studies says that 82 percent of those who explore digital reviews explicitly read out negative reviews.
The more online reviews, the more traction towards the product, customers want to view at least 40 reviews to rely on star ratings. However, some reviews are more effective in creating consumer trust for online buying than no reviews.
While precise eCommerce business sites would collect their own reviews, it’s more challenging for some online sites to reach a significant review quantity without utilizing providers or using third-party sites.
However, here comes the question of validation and verification of digital reviews. One can manoeuvre consumer reviews on third-party sites.
We also have fake reviews in the online world. It has become a serious business dealing with creating and posting fake reviews online.
So how do customers trust digital reviews?
People today are pretty accustomed to catching fake reviews by the provider’s names and style of content. However, verified reviews offer more reliability. Amazon has been labeling its online reviews, and it labels those where customers have really bought the product from the portal.
That’s the difference between specialized and online reviews from the ‘common consumer.’ So, which categories of reviews should people rely more upon?
Here, a mix of both offers the precise balance for a product to gain popularity and experience more sales.
4) Structured way to provide every product detail
With 55 percent of people spending merely less than 15 seconds on a specific online page, it is pretty simple to conclude that product pages have to be fantastic and crisp.
Develop a product page that generates a consumer experience same as a physical shopping experience. Design the page with striking images, in-depth product descriptions, and catchy CTA’s. Let’s explore and take an in-depth look at the same.
- Enable striking product images
With online stores, consumers cannot feel the product which impacts the buying decision. So, enabling striking product images that showcase all product facets is crucial. Here is a list of precise product image styles:
- Apply a white background: The white background for product images doesn’t clash with the displayed product. It can work well with any color scheme and makes the product stand out.
- Utilize superior quality images: Superior quality images fetch online shoppers’ interest and display what they actually are purchasing. With large pictures, shoppers can easily zoom up and check the product with all the needed details.
- Display diversity of images: Showcase the product from numerous angles and comprise close-ups for a comprehensive product view. Allow the shoppers to move the product precisely and offer an engaging experience. Virtual Reality in the world of eCommerce is the subsequent phase of this consumer experience.
- Utilize useful and helpful videos
Videos can provide extensive information in less time and effort with respect to the online shopper. You can utilize a set of videos to display your product and deliver its functional details. Use high-quality and consistent product images in the videos to catch the attention of the viewers.
- Offer a good amount of product details
Provide online shoppers right kind of details and insights about the product to facilitate informed buying decisions. You need to precisely display product size & dimensions, diverse colors, product alternatives, availability, price, discounts, deals, warranties, and other relevant information. No queries at the end of the product exploration make the purchase more likely.
- Display recommended and related products
Showcasing related products or similar products from diverse brands increases the buying opportunities. The recommended products can be shown on the landing page or in the shopping cart, guiding online shoppers to buy the best products.
Your store can even enable product comparisons so that visitors don’t bounce due to factors like pricing. Also, you can make them prolong their online shopping by displaying products that can cross-sell with the main product they require.
5) Better communication of your brand values
A maturing team must know what their brand stands for; otherwise, they won’t steadily present the same. It doesn’t matter in which department one works, being design, customer support, sales, marketing, or programming, your complete team requires creating trust in their consumers. They necessitate knowing what their business conveys to the consumers so that they can treat them equally.
Moreover, you can launch your business swiftly, but earning the consumer’s trust takes time. However, once reliance is built up, it lasts for a long time. Don’t mess with your brand values by setting rigid and short-sighted objectives.
Also, remember to showcase empathy to your consumers. Make your buying experiences accessible, usable, and steady. And have patience for developing a trusted brand image.
6) Policies to be clearly explained so that customers can find & access them whenever they want
Make your consumers feel secure and relaxed prior to buying your products online. Clear policies will assist in shunning their fears and queries. They will also boost loyalty and contentment.
- Returns & refund policies
Be transparent with your returns and refund policies. Don’t confuse your consumers. Whatever you finalize with your set policies, ensure you have the specific procedures to deal with and assist your consumers comfortably.
- Shipping & taxes
Your shipping policy should comprise all relevant details about shipping your products. Many times, consumers suddenly find higher shipping costs that were not showcased until after they had put extensive efforts to find suitable products for purchase. This scenario can affect their loyalty and trust towards your online portal.
Also, sometimes increased charges are supplemented in other sections like global shipping or perishable food product shipping, which when shown later impacts consumer trust.
In any of the instances, you should convey additional charges properly on the relevant pages. For location-based orders, you should enable shoppers to enter their explicit postal code to get actual product delivery costs right on the product page.
- Payment policies
Let your consumers know how to make payments on your eCommerce portal using extremely clear and plain language.
Explain to them which payment modes, debit or credit cards, net banking, and gift vouchers you allow on your online portal. No fancy lines are required here. A brief description or a video of how to pay will be helpful.
7) Quick and secured checkout
Have you attempted to cross-check your checkout processes or abandoning your cart, their procedures in most cases are quite annoying?
Follow this brief guide to turn your checkout process quick, simple, and secure:
- Make the procedure user-friendly
- Remove redundant content, buttons, and navigations
- Offer a swift guest checkout
- Provide multiple payment alternatives
- Offer easy mobile access
8) Offer better customer support
Self-service is considered an undervalued tactic in the world of eCommerce. However, more than 60 percent of USA consumers opt for self-services on a web portal or mobile application.
Further, 77 percent of consumers have utilized automated self-service support solutions. Many eCommerce portals even use FAQs for trimming down customer support volume.
Today, many online businesses are associating consumer retention with customer support services, and the approach has helped them retain their customer base.
9) Be social and engage at every level
In the marketing domain, social proof generates positive connections and helps building engagements around your business brand.
When it comes to your product’s social reviews matched to a company’s description of the same product, consumers are more likely to believe in the social proof. Here are some prime factors that enable social proof for your products on social media channels:
- Product testimonials
- Product acceptance statistics
- Social media mentions
- Third-party promotions
- Endorsement by influencers
These factors not only add genuineness to your product adoption but also offer positive business impacts and credibility.
10) Be responsible, collect feedback and act on them
Around 20 percent of missed sales opportunities are caused by meager product details and feedbacks that show off your products rather than offer genuine product benefits.
For every product function, you are excited to promote, think of a connected advantage to your consumer.
Around 93 percent of buyers don’t mind giving positive feedback if the company asks for the same. The systematic approach of asking for feedback is through an email after the product purchase. However, avoid asking your consumer to write feedback.
Let your customers offer feedback with or adding to an already created write-up from your marketing team. Else give them an option to easily click on numbers or stars to express their contentment level.
11) Finally, don’t push visitors and keep it simple
With people slimming down their budgets and cautiously assessing each purchase in this new-fangled economy, pushing sales will not work out. Being pushy expresses you don’t care about your consumer’s interests and merely focus on the bottom line.
So though being a pushy salesperson will let you sell products in the shorter term, it will leave a poor impression on your consumer’s taste, and the consumer will not come back to you in the future.
If you want more people to purchase from you blissfully all over again, you need to make them rely on the substantial value of your products. That means you have to provide valuable insights that assist them in resolving their challenges or accomplish their objectives with your products.
So, by offering immense information and value through your product, you generate lifelong consumers who purchase from you and even refer more customers without your pushy sales tactics.
Read More: How Mobile Commerce can increase sales and customer engagement?
Wrapping Up
While with effective marketing approaches, you may make sales, a brand that showcases its care will create a divergence for long-time business success.
Consumer trust today is more than offering products on time or excellent customer support service. They feel happy to back business brands that prove they care about them.
Being truthful while conveying your business values and making sure the entire company presents them makes an immense difference.
This scenario will enable you to generate genuine consumer experiences and help in creating a powerful brand image, which will pay you profits in the end.
So having enhanced products on your online store are not sufficient. How you showcase them to your consumers makes or breaks the reliability of your customer base. For showing your eCommerce store in the best way, you need to develop or design your eCommerce store from one of the best eCommerce development companies.
Contact us for eCommerce development services.
Originally published at https://www.techtic.com on May 26, 2021.