ntly I read an article on how the ecommerce industry is booming ( as expected of course ) and will reach an approximate value of $4 trillion by the end of 2020. As a matter of fact, such articles on the "booming ecommerce industry" is quite common these days.

It doesn't even seem difficult does it? All you have to do to sell products online is know your niche and set up a website with your products listed. No rent for the storefront, no extra costs for maintenance of the brick mortar store and to add to it, you can court customers from all over the globe.

Well, we all wish it was that easy, right? When just the thought of ecommerce website development & maintenance can sometimes get you all crazy, imagine your state when you are in a situation where you feel you have done everything right, you are even getting your desired traffic, but that traffic is not converting to sales. The reason for this? There are numerous factors of course but one thing that stands out is your site may not be trustworthy!

Obviously you trust your site. Your friends, family, close ones, they all trust your site. But to a average online shopper, you are just one among the thousand other options he has on the internet. So the shopper will just sit back, relax and face the businesses with a "bring it on; lemme see what have you got" mentality.

With the tough competition & businesses at stake, it is not easy to build customer trust on your ecommerce website, as a result of which, most of them shift their focus on short-term tactics to persuade and grab quick rewards from the customers. But little do they know about the importance of building long-term trust & customer loyalty.

In such an environment, there are huge profits for businesses that know the importance of gaining a customer's long-term trust. Here are some best practices you should know about to build customer trust online.

Safety First

Do you know why the security companies give out their stickers or signs to the clients so that they can be displayed? It is just not about advertising. More than that, it lets everybody know that the business is not a sitting chicken!

There are a lot of people out there who are willing to trip the alarm system and when a customer gets to know that a business owner has taken all the measures to safeguard his ecommerce website, they feel more secure. When it comes to security of for an ecommerce business online, there are a lot of big guns you can rely on : Trust-e, Norton, McAfee and a lot more. A badge from such sites which certifies that you have successfully cleared their guidelines, is the first big step towards building trust with your customers.

Contact Information

People always look out for familiar human features when they want to build trust in a company. So it is very essential that you make your business more human like which will eventually result in you gaining more trust from the customers.

But how do you think your ecommerce business can be human? This is where the contact information on your ecommerce website plays a major role. Contact information gives a strong indication that there is a real person at the other end who can be approached anytime so that that he will help, should anything go wrong. You can provide multiple channels of communication so that it helps ease the anxieties that users have about shopping on your ecommerce website.

Apart from the direct contact information, you can humanize your ecommerce business through the tone of voice that you use. By using a distinct tone, you can show your customers that there are real people behind your online business.

Let Your Work Help Them Decide

A survey in 2016 showed that more than 80% of the people trust online reviews and testimonials more than personal recommendation. To add to this, more than 70% of the people said that positive reviews actually make them trust the online business more. It is crystal clear that customer reviews make a big difference to any business.

But how do you use this to your benefit?

Never make a deal with fake reviews. Such reviews bring down the credibility of your website and are the biggest nuisance for any business. In order to maintain the authenticity, keep in mind to promote only the genuine ones.

Have you ever looked at the customer review section of Amazon? They do a great job in handling their customer reviews by displaying the reviewer's identity and providing the rating system where they are able to promote reviews which are most helpful to the customers.

Let Them Know What They Need To Know

More than 80% of digital savvy customers do their research before deciding to buy something! That's the reason why it is a bad idea to hide the truth from them when you communicate about your products and other benefits.

A recent study showed that among all the factors influencing & encouraging trust, lack of transparency and secretiveness performed the worst. Well now you know that the saying " If you have nothing to say, do not say anything at all" doesn't actually do a good job for businesses.

Accordingly, your ecommerce website need to answer all the possible questions concerning the way your ecommerce business works, daily operations, working conditions , privacy concerns of the customers and a lot more. Because it is not just the legal disclaimers and other copy write statements that your customers want to know about.

Some of the industry giants like Apple and Samsung do a great job when it comes to transparency. Especially Samsung's "Our Values" section and Apple's deadlock with the FBI a couple of years back!

Do Not Confuse Them

Customers love it when everything is simple. No extra efforts, no confusion and no uncertainties. This is how they expect their experience with you to be. And this is a really important factor when it comes to an ecommerce business. Because the products you want to sell have come along with relevant, simplified and specific information.

When you are selling your goods, make sure that you do not leave any huge gaps between product pages on your ecommerce website. Sharp information and details about the products can eliminate the obvious and expected questions. Simultaneously, break down the specifics and organize the content better which can help the customers navigate faster.