Cart abandonment, customer conversion, and generating traffic are some of the key problems experienced by e-commerce businesses.
The big question is, why are customers visiting your site and dropping off at the checkout stage?
Well, there are several reasons, but it could be that they don’t trust you enough. Building customers’ trust should be your top priority; it fosters an ongoing relationship that is good for business. Wondering how to go about it? We have compiled a few tactics for you.
Easy Website Navigation
Did you know that easy navigation is a top feature most people look for when they visit your website?
In fact, according to studies, most people will visit your website only if it is easy to maneuver around. No one wants to spend hours trying to find a product or understand the description of a product.
Having a clear menu structure that makes it easy to scan through pages is essential. Visitors will only stick to your site if it is clear and engaging. Always have a user- mindset when building your website. Before you add tabs, ask yourself, is this useful?
Tip:
- Avoid irrelevant menu links. Make good use of internal links (shortcuts) and search bars for easy user navigation.
Encourage Existing Customers to Write reviews
Most E-commerce merchants do not like to display customer reviews on the website because of fear of negative reviews. What they fail to understand is that most consumers feel confident about their purchase after reading customer reviews.
Reviews strengthen brand loyalty, influence the decision-making process, and generate sales. Do not hire copywriters to write glowing reviews for you; customers can distinguish perfect reviews and real reviews.
Encourage your customers to leave reviews after making a purchase. Well, although gaining customer reviews organically is slow, it is useful in the long run.
Tip:
- Always follow up to ensure your customer’s queries are solved. It makes them feel special and increases their trust in you.
Secure your website with SSL certificate
Securing your website is very important when it comes to building your customers’ trust. Think of it like this; no one wants to buy from a shop where they risk losing crucial information i.e., credit card details.
An SSL certificate will secure your website with strong encryption. It shows a padlock before the domain name, which increases your customers’ trust. It is an assurance that they are dealing with a legitimate business.
On the other hand, when a client receives a prompt of “this site is unsafe’ they might not buy or proceed to your site. The good news is there are great and affordable SSL certificates in the market.
A cheap wildcard SSL Certificate, for example, secures websites with multiple subdomains pertaining to the main domain. This is good because you can secure customer support, customer checkout, or the sales subdomains of your website.
Safe and Secure Checkout Process
Building a safe and secure checkout process increases your customers’ trust. The more visible layers of security on your site, the more confident your clients feel about sharing their personal information with you.
Please note safe and secure checkout does not mean complicating the process. You do not want your customers to abandon their cart and not complete their sales because of the complicated checkout process.
First, you only need to request essential information, don’t demand membership, and always provide a wide variety of payment options.
Use a trusted Third-Party Payment Vendor
Did you know some clients might be skittish about completing a transaction if they do not see a third payment vendor? Well, customers are different; some like to exercise extreme precaution.
To satisfy these groups of customers, you might want to bring in a certified and reputable security brand to back up your online payments.
Go ahead and feature the symbols, i.e., the padlock or the company logo (PayPal, PAYTM, and Amazon) in the checkout process. This gives your client the confidence to go forward with their purchase.
Easy return and refund policy
According to a survey, 81% of online consumers are likely to buy from e-retailers with flexible return policies. Customers define flexible return policies as those that allow them to return a product at any time for a given reason i.e. wrong product, damaged product, etc.
Remember, your customers cannot examine the product before making a purchase; it is essential that you have a simple and easy return policy to convert more visitors to customers.
Sample of easy return and refund policy
- We allow return of a product for up to 30 days from the day of purchase
- If you are not 100% satisfied with your purchase, please return the product and get a full refund or exchange the product with a similar one
Transparency in the website policy
Online thefts have become rampant, prompting online shoppers to observe extra caution before making a purchase. One way to win their trust is by letting them know that their private data is safe and secure.
Make them feel safe using their credit card on your site. The checkout page and the contact page should have a brief statement of your privacy statement, emphasizing that all personal and payment information is protected.
Remember, your privacy policy must comprehensively inform its users what information will be collected, how their data will be used, and how it will be kept safe. You might also want to include the company’s contact information in your privacy policy agreement.
Wrap up
There are many challenges with online payments that peg back businesses. Talk of data breaches, identity theft, hacking, and many more. This means as an entrepreneur, you have to work to make your checkout secure and easier.
