Building Credibility Online: The Value of Ecommerce Identity

As anyone who’s shopped online can attest, it can often be a very impersonal experience – you have an item in mind, you browse, you click, and hopefully, the item will be shipped to you in a reasonable amount of time (and look as good as it did on the web page). However, there’s always the off-chance that you might need some customer assistance– maybe you need help determining the size of a particular sofa you’re shopping for, or are not sure if the shoes you’re shopping for are going to fit properly. But when they look for a contact page, all too often, they are faced with limited options – so, they either click & hope for the best…or go to a more credible or trustworthy-looking site. Obviously, this scenario can be avoided by ecommerce businesses, but how?nnAs we’ve explored, customers are frequently faced with an anonymous-looking site: often without any sort of contact page, visitors are left to fend for themselves. Occasionally, one might sift through pages and pages of a site, only to find an “About Us” section buried at the bottom of the webpage. But why should it be so difficult?nnCreating a viable name for yourself online and clearly identifying your business – both as a brand and as an accessible company or organization – will bridge the gap between you and your customer base. In this day and age, there are too many ecommerce websites who are either anonymous or provide very limited contact opportunities – a major disadvantage when it comes to online credibility. Simply put, customers want to know who you are! Building a successful ecommerce website includes many ecommerce success factors, but when it comes to credibility, be sure to include the following:nnn• Provide real names when possible – pseudonyms (such as ‘webmaster’) don’t countnnn• Supply easily-accessible information about your staff & your company in a place that’s easy to locate – for example, on your home page where it’s highly visiblennn• Build credibility by including a photo of yourself or your staff – when customers have a face to attach to the name, they’re more likely to trust you (and shop on your site)nnn• Provide clearly-marked contact information, preferably on the home page of your site – chances are, if it’s buried on the bottom of the page or listed in tiny font, customers will feel less trustworthy about your sitennIt’s important to build relationships with potential customers by making your customer service information a prominent feature of your site: for example, you may want to put an 'About Us' and a 'Contact Us' or 'Customer Service' link on your ecommerce website's navigation menu and include it on every page.nnAdditionally, be sure to create content to go with the pages: for example, if you’re going to list a ‘Customer Service’ page and all that’s there is a single e-mail address, your credibility will plummet. Many ecommerce websites use FAQs (frequently asked questions), which provides answers to common questions, such as how to order, shipping charges, and return policies. Online shoppers need to see a fully developed customer service policy to feel comfortable about their online shopping experience.