If you own an eCommerce store and want to enjoy the benefits of modern technology, you must build a trustworthy eCommerce website. Safety and trust are the initial steps required to nurture the consumers’ loyalty.
The World Wide Web has been continuously evolving. The change has obviously been for good. With the global connectivity, the corporate got better avenues to reach a wider clientele. Sadly, the hackers got a new avenue to explore their skills of theft as well.
Hackers and attackers do not steal your information to enjoy their skills. They sell stolen private information to the highest bidders. To build a top eCommerce website on which consumers can rely on is a challenge. However, an online business developer must be able to build a trustworthy eCommerce website if he wants to be successful.
The Concerns:
When the organizations are concerned about to build a wider consumer base, they should also mull over about their online safety. In order to gain trust of the consumers, responding their concerns is obligatory.
While we are still looking for answers of a few questions about web safety, the connectivity has touched level next with the smartphones. Business is moving from eCommerce to mCommerce. Are your consumers ready to pay for shopping via mobile phones?
Data and data security are obviously one of the biggest concerns of shoppers as well as the eCommerce site owners. Hence, here is a list of nine key points to build a trustworthy eCommerce website:
- Security Certifications
Identity theft or financial theft is the main concern of online shoppers. An SSL certificate turns your address bar into HTTPS from HTTP. By now, most online shoppers are aware of the encryption power and they will look for address bar. If they see the HTTP, they know the site is not safe. Similarly, “HTTPS” gives them the peace that you take their safety seriously. Hence, a Secure Sockets Layer not only brings peace of mind to your online customers, it also nurtures their trust in the online store. If you wish to build a trustworthy eCommerce website, get an authentic SSL certificate.
For the consumers who are not aware of the “s” that appears in the address bar, can trust your online store when they see a secured seal on your website. Online shoppers would see the signs of Thawte, DigiCert, or GeoTrust at most online stores. CAs not only make the consumers feel safe, but also help in protecting their data by encrypting it. 256-bit certificate will help you keep your data safe and your consumers protected.
- Authentication Layers
The way you allow a consumer to access their logins, it represents that his/her data is safe. Highly secured passwords, unique username, two-step verification, and security codes enhance security level of your website.
Your consumers will be readily able to believe in your eCommerce business, if you provide them a highly secured environment to login.
- Transparency and Honest Information
Transparency and honesty are not just important in online ventures; it is a fundamental requirement of any relationship. If you want consumers to have a trustworthy relationship with your business, they deserve honesty and protection. Ultimately you are the guardian of your data.
A report of Business Insider stated that the most prominent reason for the customers to abandon their shopping carts at the checkout point is an additional cost. If you have paid shipping, taxes, or any other charges then, inform customers about the right price. You cannot trick them into buying by adding hidden or additional charges in carts. Be honest about pricing and policies.
- Contact Details
Add the physical address of your store, email id, live chat support, and proper contact details that will help customers to reach you easily in case of any query or complaint. Provide your online shoppers with reliable and genuine contact information.
- Respect Customers’ Privacy
When they verify their email address, they already have taken a step ahead. They have placed their trust in you and you must never ever breach their trust. Respect your consumers’ privacy. Ensure your customers that their information will remain confidential and encrypted. Do not send unnecessary information to your customers.
- PCI Compliance
Payment Card Industry compliance is mandatory for all the eCommerce sites. When you decide to build a eCommerce website, your site needs to pass the PCI compliance testing. Your site cannot accept payments via credit cards without PCI compliance. Irrespective of the size of your online business, if you want to accept online payments via cards, the online stores ought to comply with the PCI Data Security Standard. It even assures your consumers that their money is going through a safe channel and their hard-earned money will not be stolen.
While many eCommerce sites use third party sites to process the payments, all the major eCommerce sites process payments on their own. Both the possibilities have their own issues that you will have to deal with. However, when you want to build an authentic eCommerce website, it is always better to work a bit hard that makes third party site trusted.
- Minimize Redirects
Too much redirection on your website can irritate your customers so it is nice to avoid too much redirection. Pop up message regarding warnings and alerts create doubts in customers’ mindset, they tends to leave instead go ahead. Use optimum security with SSL certificate and do not redirect consumers to unsafe zones when it is not required.
- Payment Options
As we have already seen earlier, the scarce availability of the payment options is not a very happy experience. All consumers are not comfortable paying upfront and online. Adding services such as PayPal or offering cash on delivery can help them believe in your genuine products and services.
- Efficient Antivirus
Always get paid version of authenticated antivirus program, it is just not optional when you want to build a trustworthy eCommerce website.
Apart from a paid and efficient antivirus, you need a bunch of other security tools like Anti-Malware software and vulnerability scanner. The security tools, the eCommerce theme, and the antivirus must be updated on regular basis.
Taking care of your customers’ privacy and data security is the responsibility of an eCommerce website owner. Putting such valuable information into attacker’s hand can cause damage to your business credibility as well customer trust.
Survey from: Statista & WalkerSands.
