“83% of consumers refuse to do business with brands they do not trust”
- Gartner
Brand trust is a key differentiator for any eCommerce business. It’s not only crucial for a brand’s sales conversions but also for its long term sustainability.
The data breaches are at an all-time high, placing shoppers on the edge. They usually find it hard to trust a new online store with their personal or payment card information. People aren’t comfortable with sharing personal details when they don’t know who they’re dealing with.
Did you know it only takes 3 seconds to lose trust?
According to a recent study by Baymard Institute, these are some common reasons why shoppers find it hard to trust online brands –
High cart abandonment and low conversion rates are the major consequences of such poor checkout experiences. In fact, a 2020 report by Statista shows that 69.8% of digital shopping carts were abandoned without completing the purchase. And that’s not it – the figure kept increasing in recent years.
So, what does this mean?
You need to give your shoppers the confidence that you’ll deliver what you promised. And that your website is safe and secure for their online purchases. In simple words, you need to build trust for your webstore.
This is where small- but impactful- in store nudges like free trust badges come into the picture.
“A trust badge is essentially a seal that tells your potential customer that your business is authentic and legitimate,” said Tyler Quiel, CEO of Giggster.
Let’s dive in to understand how these badges work and how you can incorporate these into your online storefront to build trust!
Build customer trust using trust badges
Trust badges convey the message to customers that your business is legitimate and authentic. You often find them on the checkout page but more and more online retailers are now placing them on the homepage and product pages as well. As per Craig Anderson, Founder of Express Dentist, "These trust seals are especially important for small businesses who do not have brand recognition like Walmart or Amazon."
Benefits of using trust badges in your online store
Reassures shoppers
After testimonials, trust badges are the most effective way of instilling trust in your shoppers.
Reduces bounce rates
These badges also help in calling out secure checkout and winning customer trust in seconds, leading to reduced bounce rates.
Increase conversion rates
With trust badges, you can increase conversion rates by removing customer fears of shopping from a new store. For instance, by simply adding a Verisign badge to the checkout page, Blue Fountain Media’s form conversion rate increased by 42%.
The 5 types of trust badges and what they're used for
There are different types of trust seals that you can implement in your store and each has its own use and meaning. There are badges with third party endorsements like Better Business Bureau or in-house seals like guarantee badges, free shipping, etc. You can decide which type of trust badge to use on your storefront, based on the product category that you deal in and the desired result.
1. Safe checkout
This trust badge maybe the most popular out of the five. It’s the seal that you see when you sign up for purchase from a company with SSL (Secure Socket Layer) certificate. The badge indicates that your checkout process (including credit card information that you share) is safe and secure as the information is encrypted. The most recognized names are VeriSign and Norton.
2. Accepted payments
As you can see in the above study published by Baymard, 8% of respondents had to abandon carts because they were not satisfied with payment options.
Well, nothing instills more trust than seeing a payment brand that one recognizes. Shoppers feel more confident when they can use their usual payment method for making a purchase. An accepted payment trust badge indicates that you accept and work within the payment provider's guidelines.
3. Guarantee/ Warranty
The guarantee badge is different from other trust seals because it does not rely on third parties. These badges guarantee the quality of your products and show that customers can get their money back if they are not satisfied. These badges are important to build customer trust as data security is not the only concern for your shoppers.
4. Free shipping and returns
As the name suggests, this trust badge indicates that you have special offers related to free shipping and returns. These badges have been shown to increase sales by as much as 90% – Red Door saw a 90% increase, 2BigFeet saw a 50% increase, and Comscore saw a 16% increase after they added free shipping trust badges on their sites.
Nowadays, consumers seem to consider shipping costs earlier in the purchase journey too. If you use these prominently in your site’s header, apart from putting badges at the product/checkout page, it will be able to convert new visitors.
5. Category-Specific Trust Badges
There are also other trust badges that can boost the credibility of your products. Badges like 100% Organic or Cruelty-Free help your shoppers make informed choices when making an online purchase.
How to add trust badges to your Shopify store
Adding trust badges to your Shopify online store is quick and easy.
With no-code tools like ModeMagic, you can add various types of trust badges– payment, guarantees, safe and secure checkout, free shipping, free returns, and more –on all product pages of your Shopify store, with just one click.
Step 1 👉 Head over to the Shopify app store and add the app.
Step 2 👉 To see the collection of trust badges, simply click on “Trust badges” on the navigation bar at the top.
Step 3 👉 Select your trust badges (as per your requirement) and click Add to Store.
Voila! You can now see the badges on all your product pages below the Add-to-Cart CTA.
No-code tools like ModeMagic make it easy to customize the look of your trust badges and even adjust their size. Who would not want to make their customers feel comfortable now!
It takes just 3 seconds to lose trust...
First impressions are always critical. Trust badges are one of the best ways to achieve a professional and trustworthy appearance for your website – first impressions count!
Moreover, incorporating these badges take little time and effort – especially with the help of the right no-code tools available today. Selecting the right no-code tool is a little challenging, but you're sure to see a huge increase in your conversions and a positive ROI.
After all, without instilling trust in the brand as an online retailer, one might be in a fractured pursuit of building customer engagement and loyalty.
Like Adam Rogers from Shopify says:
“Trust is the foundation of every successful sale.”
Now that you know, you have approximately 3 seconds to win user trust for your online store. So, go get it. 😉
