By Henry Brown

Entrepreneurs don’t have the advantage of being a known face within an industry or to the general paying consumer. Each time you approach a new customer, they’re absorbing who you are for the first time. A brand image only gets created over time as more and more consumers recognize your name and word spreads around about what you offer. Ecommerce websites are stuck in this position. Consumers don’t really know who you are, but you’re offering them a lot of different products. They get plenty of choices and competitive pricing, but they don’t know if they should trust you. To break the ice, you should show your customers you actually believe in what it is you’re selling. Customers will trust a website if it can bridge the gap of trust.

Encourage customer ratings

Your ecommerce website should have a rating and review system. For this to mean something, you must have a simple way for customers to sign up for an account. You want to trust profile-based reviews left for each product, not a whole bunch of anonymous users. This can be done in a simple two-step process. Just ask customers to set up an account at the checkout, by typing in an email address and password. They’ve hit two birds with one stone, they’ve made a profile and their product is on the way. In your greetings email message, ask them to leave a review of what they think of the products they’ve bought. An internet marketing service such as Feefo can handle this process for you, as they automatically send a link out to customers with a direct way to rate and review.

Product of the week

Ecommerce businesses have to show their customers they have firsthand experience with the products they sell. Nothing can be more disheartening than a business that doesn’t even know how to use the products it purportedly stands behind. By learning how to start affiliate marketing effectively, your multi-level marketing techniques will vastly improve. There’s ongoing active support in the form of a private Facebook group that you gain immediate access to when you start learning. Affiliate marketing is an ecommerce business’ bread and butter. You’re supposed to be reviewing and promoting products that you sell. A product of the week segment whereby you write a review and shoot a short real-world experience video will show customers you are standing behind what you sell.
Customers want you to show them you would be satisfied with having the products you sell. Reviewing a product every week gives customers free content and bolsters their trust.

A generous returns policy

Nowadays many products come with a prepaid and pre-printed returns stamp. This shows the business has a lot of faith behind their products as they don’t wish to make a fuss over the return. It also helps to save customers money and time, but ultimately shows them you have a generous returns policy. This is something you should offer to customers, allowing them to return a product they don’t like free of charge. Also,make sure that a swift refund will occur upon the returns arrival.

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Henry Brown is an online marketing executive. When he isn’t talking shop, he’s roaming the streets of London, uncovering the extra-ordinary in the ordinary.