Online buyers can be skeptical about buying from your store especially when it is a new store with almost no sales history and no existing customers. How then will they measure your customer service or know the authenticity of your products?
That is most likely the dilemma of a store just starting out with no customers. You might be faced with the challenges of how to gain customers as a newbie Shopify seller and also retain them. When this is the case, all you need to do at first is to get customers that can trust and stay loyal to your store.
It is important that you place yourself in a position where potential customers can trust you even without any sales history. When you are able to meet your customers’ needs, you are closer to gaining their trust.
That is why this post is to help you prep your store as a newbie online seller with no sales or customer history with marketing strategies that can help you grow your business. How then can you match customer expectations with your product promises?
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1. Good product quality
The first step to gaining customers’ trust is to keep up with your promises. And part of doing that is offering your customers quality products and not using magnified product photography to gain sales that do not show the true picture of the product.
This is an error you should avoid as a seller. Using a perfect picture to sell a low-quality item would put customers or potential customers off the trust’s radar. So to boost customer trust, you need to keep to product quality promises, discounts and offers promises as well.
2. Store aesthetics
Your store’s design is a crucial part of gaining sales on your Shopify store. Online buyers are easily attracted to stores with beautiful and aesthetic designs.
The psychology behind this is what makes them trust stores even with no sales record. Customers get attracted to stores with beautiful layouts for displaying products.
The saying the first impression lasts longer works for this strategy. You can capture customers at first with these and keep them as stable customers with quality service and offers.
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3. Grow the bond with contents
Regular communication channel with potential customers registers your store in their minds. And when there is a chance to get an item that you sell, it is easy to remember that seller who is always reaching out to them.
That is why you cannot discard every visitor that comes to your store. A visitor who does not buy today can buy another time. To capture customers in this category, you can create welcome pop-ups that can help you capture customers’ email addresses or phone contact.
Another chance you have to create this bond with customers using social media pages to gain a connection with customers. With this, you can build a connection with customers with your content.
4. Show your human side
There are so many activities where human-to-human communication has been replaced with chatbots. This is to ease store owners’ stress of attending to a large number of customers at the same time which is even almost impossible. Hence, the reason why Shopify merchants use bots to engage customers at some points.
But for a newbie starting out in the e-commerce space, you need to make your customers know that they are chatting live with a human figure. This way they can build trust for your store.
Online buyers see authenticity when they can talk to either the store owner directly or some representative who is human and not just a bot. Aside from being available for support messages, you can share your brand story with a very personal touch of how the idea came to you. This helps buyers feel more connected to the idea behind the business.
When customers read content like that, it shows them your level of expertise and how dedicated you are to offer a quality service when they attempt to make a purchase.
5. Use the trust badge
How much trust or attention you can get from people as a person depends on your physical appearance, especially for the first few minutes. Dressing nicely and coordinated makes it easy for others to take one seriously.
That is applicable to your store as well. As dressing well is a badge for gaining others’ trust, making your store appear trustworthy is a strategy you can bank on.
Trust badges are of the things online buyers look out for especially to fish out scam sites who just want to rip them off their card details. So to make customers not see you as one of those sites, you need to use the trust badges.
One of the ways is to use a Shopify plug-in for badges like this. This badge will be displayed in your store to show that a well-known and respected company has certified that you are authentic. This can help you improve the level of trust you get from potential customers.
6. Quick customer support response team
Being able to respond as soon as possible to support chats from customers can build trust. It shows customers that you are passionate about giving good service and does not keep them waiting for too long.
Customer service is one of the ways to gain customers’ trust. It makes them comfortable knowing that there will always be someone who would attend to them.
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7. Multiple payment options
As common or normal as this may seem, it is one of the ways customers recognize trusted sellers.
A payment channel like Paypal makes it very difficult to be used for scam projects especially when it comes to buying and selling.
Some customers believe that certain payment gateway service providers are better at protecting their card information compared to others. That is why having multiple channels like this will make customers comfortable using their cards in your store.
You can research payment gateways that are more trusted and popular among online customers.
Wrap
Building trust with potential customers as a new sellers can be a challenging process, but it is essential to the success of any business.
By following the tips discussed in this blog post, such as providing excellent customer service, keeping offer promises, showcasing social proof, and being transparent about your policies, you can establish credibility and build strong relationships with your target audience.
Know that gaining customer trust takes time, effort, and consistency. However, it is a worthwhile effort that can help your business thrive in the long run. So, take the time to focus on building trust. In a short while, you will see the benefits of having loyal and satisfied customers who will continue to support your business.