Building E-commerce Trust

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1. Write a short essay discussing ways to build trust over the Internet.
There are many suggested ways to build trust over the Internet, which it vital to sales and e-commerce sites. As Jakob Nielson writes in E-Commerce User Experience, "Trust is hard to build - and easy to lose". This is especially true for an online business, where your clients will likely never see your face or be able to trade in cash. However, there are quite a few things that you can do to build up a sense of trust, and many things not to do to keep the trust you have earned. (1) In other words, trust is closely associated with credibility. And establishing credibility is a great challenge by itself. This challenge is even more daunting for internet business owners because of the lack of face-to-face interactions. Prospective customers often operate on a level of paranoia and distrust because of bad experiences with scammers over the internet. Simply put, in order to boost internet sales, it's imperative that you establish your credibility in order for people to trust you; otherwise, they'll not do business with you. (2)
For example, in an article titled, How to Build Trust on Your e-Commerce Website, Dorey (n.d) provides an excellent summary of several strategies that help to build consumer trust:
1. Have a Professional Website
A professional website is to an e-commerce website what a suit is to a salesman. Make sure that information is up to date, free from spelling and coding errors, and free from missing images and broken links. Also important to keeping trust (and clients) is making sure that each page loads quickly, not giving them time to get bored and leave.
2. Tell them about yourself
Show detailed company information, normally in the form of an "About Us". Users also like to see that you have your address, phone number and even a company history on the site, even if they are never going to make use of them.
3. Build on the trust customers have for existing companies
We all learn to trust certain brand names over time, and this can translate over to other companies endorsed by them. This can be taken advantage of by building links (especially hyperlinks) with reputable companies, possibly with a seal of approval logo, carrying trusted and well-known brands, or through actually linking to reputable, independent sources.
4. Give Complete Information About the Product
Customers, understandably, want to know as much as they can before giving their credit card details away. Give them everything they want to know about the product, including quality photos that show it in detail, availability, and extremely importantly, the full and correct price. Have you ever gotten angry when you have seen a product advertised for a certain price, only to find that the shipping essentially doubles the cost? Tell your customers early what the shipping is likely to be, and save them the heartache (and mistrust) later on.
5. Give Them Security
Security of information is very important to people who trade on ...