In Ecommerce, Trust is Key

Info/Context

Type: Longform content marketing
Audience: Ecommerce merchants
Purpose: A statistics-driven report about ecommerce consumer trust, which was written for an inbound marketing campaign that required users to share their name and email in exchange for a free copy of the report (i.e., a gated PDF).

As online retail continues to surge in popularity, with the internet mediating countless relationships between merchants and their customers, earning the trust of your clientele has never been so crucial. For customers, making a purchase online—from someone they've never met, whose products they can't physically see or touch, located hundreds or even thousands of miles away—requires a serious leap of faith.

Trust provides a safety net for that leap. By eliminating unnecessary risk, you can give your customers peace of mind and assure them that it’s safe to take the plunge with your business. And for smaller businesses without a brick-and-mortar counterpart, trust is especially vital to distinguish yourself from the crowd and compete with larger retailers.

Despite the rapid expansion of the ecommerce market in recent years, consumers’ trust in brands is astonishingly low. When asked by buySAFE to rank the most important factors that inform their shopping habits, 85% of consumers reported that being able to trust a website is their most important consideration when shopping online.¹ At the same time, only 34% of consumers said that they trust the majority of brands that they buy from—meaning that there’s a significant gap between expectations and reality.² Without trusted brands to turn to, consumers are perpetually suspicious and live in uncertainty.

Thanks to this trust vacuum, companies who successfully earn the trust of their consumers reap long-term rewards. According to Edelman’s “In Brands We Trust?” report, two out of three consumers said that they prefer to stick with a trusted brand rather than switching to a competitor that may be superior in other ways, and three-quarters of respondents stated that they value long-standing trust more than momentary trendiness.³ Where other companies may scramble to stay relevant, brands who've already built a foundation of consumer trust remain successful simply by continuing to do business as usual.

Given the relative scarcity of trustworthy brands available today, establishing trust is an effective way to distinguish yourself from the competition and assure your customers that they’re safe doing business with you. But building this trust with consumers isn’t an overnight process—it requires time, patience, and sincerity.

What happens without trust

It’s no secret that consumer trust is a good thing for brands and customers alike, yet many companies still fail to properly focus on building that trust. So what happens when consumers lose trust in your brand?

Some bad news for brands: consumer dissatisfaction runs rampant. According to an Oracle study, more than 80% of consumers said they've had at least one disappointing experience with a brand.⁴ When frustration is the norm, consumers hold brands in low esteem and may assume the worst of their actions. Even a well-intentioned mistake can tarnish your brand’s image permanently.

Negative experiences have driven a whopping 43% of consumers to boycott brands on at least one occasion, and more than a third of consumers reported that a single bad encounter would be enough to warrant such an action.⁵ It only takes one misstep to potentially lose a customer, which leaves brands with little room for error. These judgments are swift, decisive, and far-reaching, with damages that extend beyond the initial parties involved: almost nine out of 10 consumers will be vocal about their negative experiences with a brand, exponentially increasing the potential effects of a single bad encounter.⁶

Though negative impressions do the most damage to trust, neutral experiences still aren't enough to capture loyalty. Two-thirds of consumers stated that a positive reputation might entice them to try a new product, but they'll quickly seek alternatives unless they grow to trust the company behind that product.⁷ Relying on positive peer reviews or the quality of your product alone is not adequate to keep consumers happy—not when consumers know that they have other options and can seek better experiences from sources they can definitively trust.

The benefits of trust

While the absence of trust can damage the relationship between consumers and brands, the presence of trust goes a long way toward building your reputation as a company in both the long and short term.

The core goal of building consumer trust is to keep your customers satisfied and coming back for more. And this strategy pays off: although returning customers only comprise 15% of all ecommerce purchases, they spend almost three times as much per purchase compared to one-time shoppers.⁸ Focusing your efforts on this subset of customers can yield significant results. After all, when loyal consumers already hold your brand in high esteem, it’s much easier to remain in their good graces than it is to convince new audiences of your worth.

Building positive consumer trust has greater implications than just driving sales—it can also increase the impact of your marketing efforts. The Edelman survey found that less than half of consumers pay attention to ads and other communications from brands they don’t fully trust, but 76% of consumers pay attention to ads from brands that they’ve trusted for a significant amount of time.⁹ An existing foundation of trust paves the way for future outreach efforts and strengthens your message’s effectiveness; consumers who already trust your brand are more likely to listen and more likely to believe what you tell them.

Trust also has other benefits that are less tangible but just as advantageous for your company’s health and longevity. 62% of customers who fully trust a brand stated that they’re likely to stay loyal to that same brand for a long time.¹⁰ Half of consumers who trust a brand are willing to advocate for that brand, spreading positive messages about your company to their friends, family, and peers, which is more than twice the amount of consumers who are willing to advocate for brands they don’t fully trust.¹¹ 43% of consumers will go even further and defend brands they trust, which means your company will have a built-in arsenal of happy customers ready to protect your name against bad publicity and poor reviews.¹²

Once established, trust becomes a self-sustaining force of good. Satisfied consumers will advocate for your brand and bring more business your way, providing you with an opportunity to earn the trust of those consumers as well.

The building blocks of trust

It’s clear that trust is a major component of the consumer-brand relationship has far-reaching effects. But to reap the benefits of trust, you must first sow its seeds—a task that can seem daunting at first glance. Although there’s no magic formula to build trust with your customers overnight, understanding the factors that drive trust can help you make informed decisions when running your business.

According to the 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer Report, three of the main factors that consumers listed among their most important reasons for trusting a brand are:

• Product experience: 87%
• Customer experience: 56%
• Impact on society: 38%¹³

Product experience

To build trust, you'll need to do more than simply create a good product and hope for the best. However, offering a high-quality product still ranks high among the many factors that drive consumer trust. More than four out of five consumers listed product experience among their reasons for trusting a brand, which made it the highest-ranking category overall.¹⁴ Product quality and price also factored into these considerations, at 73% and 49%, respectively.¹⁵ Offering the best possible product with the most affordable price immediately sets your brand apart and provides a tangible benefit to customers. Consumers who are happy with one product are more likely to trust the overall quality of your brand, which opens the door for additional purchases and repeat business.

There’s no way around it: consumers expect the best. If customers trust other aspects of your brand but aren’t happy with the quality of products you offer, they’re unlikely to return. Products are a way to interact with consumers directly and provide a lasting impression of your brand. That said, many other factors that drive and promote trust. Although product experience may be the first step in building consumer trust, you won’t get far off the ground if you stop here.

Customer experience

Consumers look to each other for guidance and frequently share stories about brands—which can turn a single customer experience into a far-reaching narrative. When it comes to shopping recommendations, a study by Oracle found that consumers are twice as likely to trust the opinions of friends and family than recommendations from any other group.¹⁶ This means that a positive (or negative) experience with your brand are often shared throughout a customer’s social sphere. Keeping consumers happy ensures that their friends and family hear positive feedback about your brand, which makes those friends and family members more likely to trust you.

Online reviews are another frequent source of recommendations: 57% of consumers reported that they factor positive user reviews and high ratings into their sense of brand trust.¹⁷ Peer recommendations, whether from close friends or fellow shoppers, carry weight among consumers. Since first-time shoppers usually consult reviews before purchasing from a new business, consumers tend to form an impression of your brand before they even make a purchase. In fact, the average consumer reads at least 10 reviews before they feel comfortable trusting a business.¹⁸ This means it’s especially important to deliver a memorable customer experience and drive positive feedback—an abundance of enthusiastic reviews from past shoppers is more likely to draw in new customers than a handful of lukewarm reviews.

Online reviews also provide an opportunity to connect with consumers on a more personal level. Many platforms offer businesses a chance to respond publicly to existing reviews, and 97% of consumers who read online reviews reported that they go out of their way to read these responses.¹⁹ Any consumers who come across your responses are almost guaranteed to read them, which means all eyes are on you. Responding to customers’ reviews gives you a chance to thank reviewers for their positive feedback, make amends for any negative feedback, and signal to potential customers that you're an active listener.

These efforts pay off in the long run: seven out of 10 consumers reported that they’re more likely to buy from a brand that responds to customer reviews.²⁰ Although no brand is perfect, consumers have an easier time trusting a brand that owns up to its mistakes, makes an effort to solve customer issues, and responds constructively to feedback. Communication is a major component of trust, and remaining open and honest demonstrates your brand’s integrity to both current and potential customers.

Impact on society

Consumer trust extends beyond immediate and quantifiable factors like product quality and customer experience. One of the most overlooked aspects of trust is brand responsibility—an arena that does not immediately or directly affect consumers, yet is gaining more and more influence over consumer habits. As consumers grow increasingly socially conscious, their buying habits have followed suit. Some of these principles can be hazy at first glance: for example, eight out of 10 customers report that they'll only consider purchasing goods from brands who they trust to “do what is right.”²¹ But what exactly is the “right” thing to do?

Though right and wrong are hard concepts to define, many objective factors inform consumers’ perception of brand trustworthiness. Generally speaking, consumers expect businesses to have a positive net impact on the world at large, whether through the goods and services they provide, the causes they support, or the ideals they embody. More than half of consumers believe that brands have a responsibility to get involved with at least one social issue that doesn’t impact their business²²—and consumers can tell if these efforts are contrived publicity stunts or thinly-veiled cash grabs. Pledging your efforts to help some greater cause assures consumers that you care about more just than the bottom line and that they can trust you to make the world a better place. It also lets consumers feel that supporting those efforts by doing business with you is a form of good in itself!

Consumers also take in active role in vetting brands for their behavior behind the scenes: 70% of consumers base their purchasing decisions on ethical considerations like environmental impact and supply chains.²³ To earn consumers’ trust, you'll need to be transparent about your business practices and take responsibility for your actions. Since these factors don't directly affect customers in the same way that product quality and customer experience do, it might be tempting to overlook such considerations in favor of more obvious trust-building methods, but you'd be surprised by how often customers are willing to put their own interests aside to choose a socially-conscious brand.

How to earn consumer trust

Building consumer trust is an ongoing process, not a journey with a single destination. It takes time and effort to cultivate a positive relationship with your consumer base. Once you build this foundation of trust, opportunities to strengthen your relationship with consumers will only increase over time. Think of consumer trust as a bond to continually maintain rather than an end in itself—you may not see immediate results, but the benefits are substantial and long-lasting.

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to trust, but here are some general principles for any brand to follow:

• Be honest. Lying to consumers or otherwise attempting to trick them is the fastest way to tarnish your brand. Brands make mistakes, and that’s okay—what’s important is that you learn from your mistakes and take these lessons in stride. Consumers know that brands aren’t perfect, but they appreciate brands that learn, grow, and make amends for previous errors.

• Be receptive, not defensive. When consumers offer criticism, good or bad, seize this as a valuable opportunity to learn what you’re doing right and what needs improvement. Send out consumer surveys to gather feedback and gauge customer satisfaction. You can even give away small rewards, like coupons or entries for a raffle prize, to encourage more responses.

• Be aware. Stay ahead of the curve by anticipating the consumers’ needs, desires, and goals. If you wait to copy your peers, it’s probably too late—instead, blaze trails and become the leader of the pack.

• Be passionate. If you establish core values for your brand and follow them sincerely, like-minded consumers will follow suit. These core values can be something relevant to your brand (for example, a surfwear company pledging a certain percentage of profits towards beach cleanup) or simply a set of ideals that matters to your team.

Above all else, any attempt to establish consumer trust must be sincere. Though growth may be your goal, it can’t be your only focus. Consumers easily spot the difference between genuine attempts to improve your brand and cheap pandering to improve your bottom line. Instead, make an effort to build a foundation of trust for its own sake—results will follow in due time.

(Sources)

[1] buySAFE; [2] Edelman; [3] Edelman; [4] Oracle; [5] Oracle; [6] Edelman; [7] Edelman; [8] Yotpo; [9] Edelman; [10] Edelman; [11] Edelman; [12] Edelman; [13] Edelman; [14] Edelman; [15] Edelman; [16] Oracle; [17] Edelman; [18] BrightLocal; [19] BrightLocal; [20] Edelman; [21] Edelman; [22] Edelman; [23] Edelman.