How to build trust with online customers?

Publication date: 13 Jun 2019

You sell on the Internet, but for some reason people do not buy from you. Your product seems good, your ad campaign is set up correctly, but you have zero orders. Maybe customers find your store a suspicious place to buy from. Consider the below-mentioned characteristics that make sellers seem potentially unscrupulous.

• Price

First of all, you should pay attention to the price of the product. It should not differ much from the price of similar products in other online stores. The most common practice among scammers is to set prices substantially below the market price.

• Lack of contact information

Concerns should rise if no pickup or delivery options are available and no information about the seller is provided on the website. The customer becomes suspicious if the seller is not connected to places or documents.

• Prepayment requirement

To pay for a product in advance in a new store means to take a big risk. There is almost no guarantee that the buyer will receive the product, and it might become a reason for refusal.

• Pushy sellers and managers

If the manager hurries the customer into placing the order, insists actively on making the payment urgently, behaves aggressively, the customer is most likely to be deterred from completing the purchase.

• Requirement to send the scanned copy of the passport to verify the customer’s identity

The passport is a document that can be used in various fraud schemes (for example, fraudsters can use it get a loan from a bank). Therefore, websites asking for seemingly unnecessary personal information are treated with suspicion.

The Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor) recommends considering worthwhileness of the purchase in case of any of the above-mentioned characteristics. If two or more characteristics fit the description, the customer is advised to refrain from contacting the seller or the store. Look thoroughly at your website. Does it have any of these characteristics? If yes, make changes and try to build customer trust.