For small and midsize businesses without an instantly recognizable brand name, customer trust has to be earned. And it's not enough to run your business right, your Web site has to instantly convince potential customers they can trust you.
For small businesses that sell online, the importance of protecting customer data is a given. Unfortunately, the best security and privacy practices in the world are useless unless you first secure the customer's trust--no easy task in today's world. Increasing rates of identity theft and other types of online fraud have left many consumers gun shy when it comes time to pull the trigger on an online shopping cart, especially when a site lacks the reputation of industry giants such as Amazon.
Fortunately, there are some basic best practices for presenting your business Web site as safe and reputable.
1. Reassure Visitors With Third-Party Verifications One of the first hurdles small businesses face online is obscurity; new customers are unlikely to have any previous knowledge of them, good or bad. That's where trust marks come in, says Fran Maier, CEO of TRUSTe.
Generally speaking, trust marks are linked graphics certifying that a site's security or privacy practices have been independently verified. Such verifications can go a long way toward reassuring potential customers that an unfamiliar business is legitimate, Maier says.
"They want some confidence that they're not going to be ripped off ... that they're not going to be subject to some sort of mishap with their data," she says.
TRUSTe's Privacy Service for small businesses helps e-commerce sites develop a custom privacy policy that spells out how the business safeguards customer information. Participating businesses are audited each year to ensure compliance with the policy, which earns them the right to display TRUSTe's privacy seal on their site. The service starts at $49 per month.
According to Maier, businesses see an average sales increase of 7% to 12% after enrolling in the program. Not all businesses pass the audit; Meyer estimates that one in five are expelled. Any visitor who feels that a participating business has violated its privacy policy can request that TRUSTe investigate and resolve the dispute.
"The TRUSTe mark means that a company can't share your information ... that if something goes wrong you can complain to us," she says.
Among online shoppers, the fear of something going wrong is widespread and well-founded, according to a number of surveys and studies. A study released in February by Javelin Strategy & Research found a 22% increase in identity theft from 2007 to 2008. A second Javelin study released in March found that online retailers missed $21 billion in sales due to online shopping fears, security among them. And a recent survey by Marketing Sherpa found that 60% of online shopping carts are abandoned before completing a purchase, often because of worries over identity theft.
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