Build customer confidence to boost ecommerce sales

Published on January 19, 2009 Build customer confidence to boost ecommerce sales

Something as simple as ensuring you have your correct contact details on your website could help your ecommerce sales soar.

More customers than ever are buying online, but they are wary and savvy too because online they can’t see you or your store or physically look at your merchandise before they buy. So they often look for other indicators of credibility. For example, does the website have a secure checkout? Is there a clearly defined returns policy? Are the site’s terms and conditions clearly posted and easy to read? Does the website look professional and function easily? Is the site on a fast performing server or is it very, very slow? Online, trust can be a crucial factor to sales success. So what are you doing?

One of the absolute key factors above the ones just listed is whether the website’s management is easy to contact. A big customer fear, and a reason why some people shy away from auction sites, is that they fear thy will buy something online, receive it broken and not be able to return it for a replacement. Customer service is absolutely essential in an online world, so if you want to be successful you need to make it easy for customers to contact you and be up front about who you are. So if you’re going to publish a telephone number for example, don’t make it a mobile phone number. Make it a 1300, 1800 or landline number with an answering system so they can still leave a message and you get back to them if you are not available.

Here are six key tips for your ecommerce website’s contact details to help you build consumer confidence and trust:

• Publish your business name and PO Box or address.
• Publish your Australian business number (ABN) if you are in Australia, business number if in Canada or USA, your GST number if you are in New Zealand.
• Offer a 1300 or 1800 number instead of a mobile phone number.
• Put a link to your terms and conditions clearly on your site. Read them and ensure they do not sound too complex or legalese. You can still write clear, concise and legally binding terms and conditions using sentences with short words and full stops!
• Publish your privacy and returns policy on your website.
• Publish your policy about information security – how do you protect customers? Is your business and website PCI DSS compliant? What does that mean for them?

Remember always write in terms of benefits to customers – what’s in it for them from buying from you?