It’s a chicken-and-the-egg problem, you need sales to build social proof and you need social proof to get sales. Here are some ways for new stores to start building trust from the ground up 👨👩🧓.
-Be Human: Consider introducing yourself, the “person behind the curtain”. You will add authenticity and credibility to your brand.
-Foster Relationships through content: Blog regularly to show that you are invested in your business, your industry, and solving your customers problems.
-Security is priority: Customers want to feel safe. Display badges, like Shopify Secure Badge or McAfee on your site.
-Excellent return policy: Highlight the fact that you make it easy to solve customers issues. Have a page and link on your footer that outlines your policy.
-Be available to talk to customers: People want instant gratification these days and not wait for days to get an answer to their questions. Consider a live chat app for your site.
-Detailed product information: They can’t touch or feel the product in their hands, so it’s important to have exact measurements and materials with some great photos, and even better a video for them to get perspective.
-FAQ – address all buying concerns up front: Customers use this to get more familiar with your brand and make them feel more comfortable and alleviate concerns without requiring your input. Use this opportunity to remind users why you are different and why they should be your customer.
-Fix Mistakes: Make sure small things like spelling and grammar are fixed, they erode trust.
Every business has to start from somewhere, and these ideas will help you get started from the ground up and grow your customer base.