Are you looking to improve your business by gaining costumer confidence on a new ecommerce website? People don’t typically trust businesses in today’s environment. According to Cohn & Wolfe, 87% of customers think it is critical for brands to “act with integrity at all times.” When it comes to what consumers care about, integrity and authenticity come ahead of innovation and product uniqueness. It is important to gain and maintain customers by gaining their confidence.
We all know that consumer feedback and social proof can be beneficial in encouraging purchases and developing customer confidence. But what happens when your ecommerce store is just getting started, without any client comments?
Earning trust (and sales) for your new ecommerce website
Here are four strategies for gaining confidence and sales for your new ecommerce business.
1. Share your brand’s story
Every online store has a brand, and every brand has a story. Do you know yours? Similarly, do your consumers know it? Storytelling is an effective marketing tool that can assist merchants in connecting with their customers. Your company’s narrative extends beyond product descriptions and website design; it symbolizes the business’s purpose and values. Here’s how to create a brand narrative that will help you attract consumers:
A good tale establishes ethos, or a emotional bond, with the audience. Brand stories are no exception. You want your potential consumers to have empathy for your tale. What is the mission, history, and aim of your company? Make it something that people can connect to and care about by sharing that information with them.
In addition, use your digital marketing efforts to educate and inspire consumers about who you are and what you stand for. Regardless of the channel, be transparent and honest in all customer interactions. The desire to fulfill a need for anything is one of the most compelling brand stories. Your customers will understand and be able to relate to that need.
If a startup is looking for something more specific, an offering like this would be overkill. For small companies in particular, that need is most likely rather narrow; you are probably addressing a very special problem or pain point for a certain group of people.
Establish your brand as a specialist in this field. Make your own rock climbing expertise and expertise a part of the tale you tell to connect with consumers if you sell rock climbing shoes, for example.
2. Create and share quality content
At its most basic level, content may be a potent instrument for educating, amusing, and engaging potential consumers. Content marketing not only helps customers feel connected to your business and narrative, but it can also help you improve your search engine rankings, raise brand recognition, and establish yourself as an authority in your field.
Make sure that the majority of your postings are not only about your goods; instead, go back to the target audience you identified earlier and produce content that is beneficial to them.
A blog article titled “10 Best Climbs on the West Coast” is more effective content marketing than “Why You Should Purchase Our Shoes,” using our rock climbing shoes example from earlier. The quantity and quality of your content should be in balance. Make sure that your material is unique, interesting, and trustworthy.
3. Showcase your site security
Customers may connect with your company on an emotional level, but they must still be confident that their personal information and payment data are secure when they buy from you. According to Yieldify, 37% of online customers in the United States have abandoned an order due to security concerns, suggesting that if you don’t make your security standards clear, you might be losing out on revenue from one-fifth of consumers.
Using “trust signals” across your website and checkout to increase consumer confidence and sales. The following are examples of trust signals:
- Recognizable security badges, such as those from McAfee or GeoTrust. Customers said they didn’t buy because they didn’t recognize the trust logos employed (over 75 percent).
- A digital certificate, or an SSL certificate. When you visit certain sites, your browser is prompted to display a padlock symbol in the address bar to indicate that your website is secure and encrypted.
By offering well-known express payment choices such as PayPal and Apple Pay, you may entice consumers to put their faith in your checkout. These trusted payment options not only provide convenience, but they can also help to assuage consumer anxiety by requiring only login information rather than credit card data.
4. Be transparent and upfront about all costs on your new ecommerce website
Transparency is an important component of the ecommerce customer experience, from browsing to purchase and beyond. Make sure your product pages are descriptive and honest, as well as including high-resolution, accurate images.
According to a recent Shopify study, 83% of consumers care about detailed product information. Giving honest product data right away can help you avoid returns later on.
Shoppers are increasingly inclined to “try before they buy” when it comes to fashion. This style allows customers to “try on” your items, much the same as they would in a physical store. However, this may result in a far higher return rate.
Make sure your return policy is simple and transparent. Because ecommerce frequently encourages customers to make a choice without ever having seen an item in person, having a solid return policy is important for building client confidence.
In fact, before purchasing goods, 66% of customers examine a company’s return policy. There should be no extra costs involved with returns. If there are any shipping charges associated with returns, 74 percent of consumers will abandon the purchase, so if possible, we recommend providing free returns.
Last but not least, be up front and honest about your delivery options and shipping costs. Make sure you give clear delivery date predictions and tracking updates to your clients.
If you choose to outsource ecommerce fulfillment to a tech-enabled third-party fulfillment provider, you’ll be able to access a detailed view of each order from the moment it’s placed online until it reaches your customer’s doorstep and automatically provide tracking information. This helps guarantee greater accuracy, transparency, and trust in the long run.