How Can You Build Consumer Trust Online?

/ 8th December 2017 /

A majority of consumers don’t trust businesses that use free email addresses, writes Oonagh McCutcheon, Customer Operations Manager, IEDR.

We surveyed 1,000 Irish consumers about their trust levels in online businesses and the results were conclusive. Almost two-thirds of Irish consumers have little to no trust in businesses that use free email addresses like Gmail and eircom.

By contrast, three out of four said they trust companies that use professional email addresses, such as a .ie address registered to a business name (e.g. customerservice@localbusiness.ie). The research, conducted by Ignite, also found that consumers have four times more trust in a company that has a website versus one that does not.

Companies that do not have a website but use social media, like a Facebook page or Twitter account, to connect to their customers are still seen as less trustworthy, with 63% of consumers saying they had low trust in them.

Trust And Authenticity

The research also reveals that consumers see professional email addresses and websites as indicators of trust and authenticity. For sole traders and SMEs, this is particularly important. Anecdotal evidence suggests that first-time customers are far more likely to contact the plumber or electrician who has a web presence, rather than the one who just has a phone listing. Investing in a website that lists contact details, services and prices implies openness, accountability and trustworthiness.

E-commerce - buying and selling goods and services online - is worth billions to the Irish economy and is growing rapidly at home and globally. For SMEs, e-commerce allows them to connect to local and international customers, selling to them 24 hours a day, 365 days a year regardless of physical location.

Setting up a website and an email address has never been easier. There are plenty of free and low-cost tools online, like Wix and samm.ie, that allow even the most technophobic business owners to build a website and even incorporate e-commerce capability in a matter of hours.