EBizInsider

If you could put a price tag on trust, what would you be willing to pay? Trust plays a leading role in any business, but this is particularly true for e-commerce. People are connected to your business by the thin filament of the Internet. Trust is the core of its strength. Every interaction that you have with your customer, directly or indirectly, affects their perception of you and your company. Customer expectations and experiences have changed what we all knew as e-commerce into TRUST-commerce.

Whether someone has been to your website or not, they have a basic perception of you. Once you understand how to mold that perception into something which attracts them, you will create a loyal customer. Recently, the owner of Zappos.com was interviewed and gave his top ten lessons learned in over 8 years of online business. 75% of Zappos.com orders come from repeat customers. Not surprisingly, 5 of his 10 lessons dealt directly with trust.

Because customers cannot walk into your store and talk to someone directly, or hold the product in their hands and examine it closely, you have to go to great lengths to make your online business transparent. It goes beyond a simple e-mail address listing or explaining your privacy policy. In order to gain their trust you will need to put your business out on a limb. Without the risk, you can�t expect any reward.

Building Trust on Your Website. Clear shipping methods and rates, toll-free phone number, e-mail address and mailing address should already be part of your website. Here are three things that may not be on your website, but will play an important role in building trust:

1. Product Reviews - Amazon has had it for quite some time. Wal-Mart and Staples just added it to their online business. Do you have it? If you�ve spent a lot of time online you may be noticing that businesses are paying a premium for community-oriented websites such as YouTube.com and MySpace.com. The community is playing a larger role online than ever before and online consumers trust one another more than you, the �expert.� Put the peer reviews up on your site. Make it easy to build that trust.

2. Highlight Secure Shopping - One of the main reasons that customers abandon shopping is because they don�t feel �secure� in placing the order through your website. If you�re an experienced internet user you may see the little �lock� in the bottom of the browser, but not every shopper will notice. The best way to alleviate fears is to prominently display security information such as SSL encryption, cookie management, etc. Put a large graphic on your shopping cart that says �SECURE SHOPPING (read how)�. Take out the guess work and you�ll get that extra order.

3. Clear Return Policy - If you do accept returns, tell the customer exactly what to expect. Do not try to wiggle around the issue with some fancy terminology or hidden fees. If you can�t afford to refund the return shipping cost, tell them. To minimize the number of returns, create a return window by only accepting returns with 30 days of the purchase, or some other reasonable time frame. Your customers will appreciate how easy it is to return an order and you will minimize any customer service issues that may arise.

Your website can play a vital role in building trust with consumers. In the 2007 E-commerce Benchmark Guide from MarketingSherpa, one study showed that 58% of online consumers preferred customers reviews when shopping online. Use the trust that consumers have for one another to your advantage by adding features such as Product Reviews to your online store and continue building that trust through secure shopping and a clear return policy. Build trust in your business one piece at a time, one secure customer at a time.

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