Page 33 - CBM09

~ Coffee Corner ~

offee or tea? audience. In the UK, for example, next day delivery is now
Tea with milk in the morning, flat white in the the default whereas domestic deliveries in Australia can still
Cafternoon. take a week - in fact it is often quicker to order from the
UK! When you are responding, make sure you have a native
What is the importance of trust? speaker on board; Google translate is not acceptable.
Every friendship is based on trusting that the person is
who they appear to be and lives up to the promises they What can you do if you notice a lot of reviews that
make to you (most of the time at least!). Just like personal show a lack of trust of your shop? How do you turn this
relationships, buying online involves a leap of faith: sentiment around?
believing not just in the brand’s contractual promises to As a first step, start responding to all of the reviews you
deliver on time etc, but also their implied promises such can. This may mean switching some resources from other
as valuing you as an individual and being honest and projects but it is absolutely worth it. In research, consumers
responsible when they make a mistake. This is important for always say they read the response to a poor review more
any online retailer, but especially important for those that than the review itself.
engage in cross-border selling. We tend to be more trusting
towards people and companies that are familiar or close to Next, start inviting all of your customers to leave you a
us, and are somewhat sceptical about the unknown. Using a review. I know it is tempting but do not limit this to the
review platform with a global presence is also essential. platinum loyalty card holders! If you do, you’ll have a profile
that is simply too good to be credible and people will
Do online retailers underestimate trust? continue to talk about your shop’s shortcomings somewhere
Valuing the building blocks of a trusted brand (transparency, else where you cannot see it, cannot respond to it and
openness and service quality) can be a real challenge for an cannot learn from it.
e-commerce business. The long term benefits of being open
and transparent about your business can mean exposing that This approach will also build the number of reviews you
you are not always perfect. This may seem counterintuitive in have. Consumers know that a shop with 20 reviews is not as
a competitive market. However, our research has shown that trusted as one with 20,000, even if the aggregate score is a
as consumers become more experienced in buying online, little lower.
they no longer expect brands to be perfect. They do expect
brands to listen and fix things when they make a mistake. Do you have any how to sell tips for brands and
More and more consumers also demand openness from their retailers?
brands through transparent, two-way communication. Be genuine and be human. My first boss always said people
buy people first. The more you can project a human brand
What is the added value of a trust mark? the more your consumers will trust you. ••
For consumers it is very simple. A recognised trust mark
gives them confidence throughout the buyer journey. From
research we see that using the Trustpilot logo in advertising
generates trust (more than 80% of consumers said they
trusted an advert featuring the logo more than one without).
When this is combined with featuring the logo on, for
example, the checkout page, it can make a real difference to
the whole sales funnel.

What are great tools to generate trust?
Alongside an open review platform, I would recommend a
good social media tool such as Hootsuite to ensure you are
aware of the whole conversation about your brand online.
Finding and training people in every department of the
business to talk to consumers is also a great step: people
love to see genuine team members on the site and in your
communication channels.

How important is local appearance in a trustworthy
relationship with the customer?
If you are selling across borders, it is crucial to have an
understanding of consumer expectations in that market
and shape your offering as much as possible to the local

33