Rachel Begg
The fact that more and more consumers are heading online to shop for goods and services provides an excellent opportunity for businesses of all sizes. Companies like yours are able to share their message and communicate their value proposition to a wider audience, which means capturing sales and increasing revenue. For the consumer, the advantage is avoiding crowded malls and overpriced boutiques. They also have more options available to them and supply is almost limitless.
However, as with any ray of sunshine, there’s a dark cloud that threatens to spoil it. As your potential customers hit the internet to make purchases, the opportunities for criminals to capitalize on identity and other types of theft increase. Compromising personal security is one of the biggest threats to your customers and, therefore, your company. Smaller businesses especially suffer if they’re not able to prove their site security upfront.
Providing a secure shopping experience is absolutely essential to giving your prospects peace of mind, and you’ll convert more sales with that warm and fuzzy feeling. Show them that your e-commerce website is safe and sound with a few tips from security pros.
- Obtain a third party verification seal and display it prominently on your website. Consumers consider Norton, Symantec, Comodo, and other security companies highly trusted sources, and that stamp of approval will give them the confidence to visit your site and make a purchase. It’s also possible to display the verification seal in the listings when potential customers conduct a search, so they’ll know you’re reliable even before they click to visit your site.
- Avoiding the use of pop up ads is key to providing a secure shopping experience for your prospects. Web hackers are using more sophisticated scamming tactics every day, including installing viruses and other malware into the display ads that bombard consumers. If you’re using a third party advertising company to publish ads, make sure that they’re protected from scammers and are scanned for viruses before presentation.
- Consumers continue to maintain confidence in businesses with physical locations because of their tangible, concrete qualities. Providing a secure shopping experience means giving them a similar experience on your website. Include a mailing address, phone number and email information to earn their trust. You should also offer returns on your products and clearly state your policies.
- State your privacy policy under your company information, on the shopping cart page, and other relevant places on your website. Consumers want to know that their credit card data and personal information won’t be shared with other companies. The last thing you want is spam; so let your customers know their email address won’t be sold either.
- Get a Secure Socket Layer certificate and display it on your site. Put simply, an SSL certificate is a level of security provided by web browsers to safeguard the transmission of data during a transaction. Does your Website URL have "https" in front of it? It should; https means you have a secure website. The "s" stands for secure. Be sure to get that in place.
Finally, be sure to offer reviews and testimonials from previous customers. Nothing conveys the sense of trust to your prospects than hearing about the experiences of others who have purchased from your company. Many consumers scan through customer reviews before buying, so use your satisfied customers as your biggest cheerleaders. Whether you are making your existing online store is secure, doing a website re-design, or just starting up, keep all of these tips for giving your consumer peace of mind while shopping your products.
