40% population of the world is now familiar with the internet usage. The eCommerce market has grown worldwide and over a billion of people are selling and purchasing products and services online. Though many of us prefer the old fashioned rhythm (because we are familiar with it) we have to agree that the convergence era has made our life easier. Now a day, shopping is no longer a full day event it just became easier with eCommerce; now shop anywhere anytime.
In an eCommerce market, the goods purchased by the consumers are intangible in nature during the selection and order processing period, until it is delivered. So your consumer is paying a price where they can’t feel what they are buying, whom they are paying and about the payment mode security. So naturally an unsatisfying pressure builds up. Though people who are comfortable with online shopping have made few eStore’s their resident because of the websites CRM factor.
Let’s check out what are the factors that scare your customers.
Here are few to address:
- Is it a real store?
There are many stories defining ‘con’ in the eCommerce business. There again, all eStore do not fall in that category. Online merchant should take special notice in:
- Introduce your resources ‘customer care’ to consumers first.
- Give contact numbers, ‘toll-free number’ and mail id’s to reach your customer care people.
- The best proof is a store locator or any physical address with Google map incorporation.
- Put up testimonials or review product options for your customers which will make it look and feel real.
- Dilemma with the product:
In online marketing, people buy things which are intangible still it is being delivered. It’s all about the product description which you can provide to convince them.
- You should at least have five to six angular images of that product with close shot and long shot.
- Mention the fabric details.
- Washing process.
- Mention size along with sizing chart which satisfy their buying experience.
- The content of product description should be elaborately defined.
- No sales person to assist:
In shopping centers, malls or stores whatever consumer’s touch or gazes at, are immediately attended by sales representatives around them to assist. In online shopping that’s not possible.
- Keep a customer care online chat option for help, where your customer can immediately clarify their confusion.
- Secondly, make sure your customer care representative have a proper idea about the product so that they can convince the customer about their right choices.
- Keep your customer care presence 24*7 live.
- Is it safe to use a credit card?
Using the credit card on new sites are a nightmare for your customers. They are always concerned about the security of their account details. So you can offer your customer options like:
- PayPal
- WePay
- ProPay
- net
These payment gateways help your customer to handle their account securely without sharing their account details to you.
Also, you can put a cash on delivery option.
- How to track the order?
You should send a mail or message to your customer to provide the order confirmation. Update your customer when the product is shipped. You can also provide your customers the delivery tracking options where they can follow their order status.
- Can the product be returned if I don’t like it or get the refund?
Product return and refund are the first thing that people check when they buy online. As we all know that different products have different size and fittings. So make sure you are ready to assist them in the product exchanging process also. If you are not offering the cash amount refund, offer them exchange or cash back options for the next shopping.
Getting used to the online shopping is something which takes time to understand the process. Every penny is hard earned and surely none of us would like to get cheated. There are plenty of scams in the market which causes these trust issues. It is not possible to drive the sales by counseling the eCommerce customer fears. So you being an online merchant, design your website products with proper product content, options for product review and payment options. Be realistic!
