Abandoned shopping carts are one of the most frustrating things to witness as an online brand. We’ve all done it; we’ve gone online, browsed around, added certain products to our basket, and then not completed the transaction at the end. We abandoned our shopping carts with goods still inside. It’s similar to going grocery shopping, putting items in your cart, then walking away leaving the products in the basket.
Shopping cart abandonment can occur for a variety of causes. According to Barilliance, online merchants lose, on average, 75% of their revenue to shopping cart abandonment. Statista discovered in 2015 that 15% of lost sales were due to security concerns. According to the Baymard Institute, the proportion of lost sales increased to 19% in 2017 for the same reason. This growth emphasizes how essential online security is to most customers.
Simply gaining the confidence of your consumers would allow you to potentially increase your sales by ten percent or more, as demonstrated by this example. For some of you, it may not appear to be much, but it’s a significant gain.
Surprisingly, it is a simple fix.
So, how do you build trust with your consumers? You may begin by using trust badges. Read on to learn about the top five trust badges that may help you improve your conversion rate.
A trust badge – what is that?
A trust badge is a small graphic that you display on your website to convey trust. They’re typically seen during the checkout process, but more and more stores are putting them on their landing or homepage pages. They’re simple elements that may increase sales and user satisfaction with your website.
These trust badges (but not always) come with security measures to safeguard payment card and personal information. The Secure Sockets Layer, or SSL, is a complex internet safety mechanism that encrypts data sent over the web. In general, trust seals are granted when these secure technology is in place.
You can determine if a website you’re visiting is using an SSL security protocol by looking for the little lock symbol next to the URL, or by comparing that the web address begins with HTTPS rather than HTTP. However, not everyone knows this, which is why displaying the trust seal on your site is so crucial.
Types of “Trust Badges”
There are five different sorts of website badges that you can use on your website. Each one has a specific meaning and purpose. You may pick the trust badges to employ on your site depending on the intended result.
Below, you’ll find explanations for five different kinds of trust icon, as well as examples of each and how to acquire them.
1. Safe Checkout Related Badge
The site badge may be the most essential of the five. These are the badges you earn when you join up with a firm that offers an SSL certificate. SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer, and it’s a little bit technical, but in essence, it secures all internet connections and data flowing between them.
If you put a trust indicator on your site, it implies that the checkout process is secure and safe, that data is encrypted, and that your customers’ identity or credit card information will not be stolen. Introducing this level of confidence in your organization will have a significant impact on your overall conversions.
Using the most trusted and recognized secure checkout badges will quickly boost your consumers’ confidence in you. The SSL badge from Symantec is considered the most well-known and trusted SSL badge there is. VeriSign, Norton, and LifeLock are all under the control of Symantec. All of these names are well-known and reputable certificates.
PayPal is another well-known and trusted security solution. You can get PayPal protection just like Symantec, and you’ll get the recognized security badge for your site in the process.
Shopify is another example of a well-known SSL provider. If you set up an ecommerce store on Shopify, you’ll get integrated SSL certificates right away. Customers who buy from a Shopify shop know that their personal information will be kept safe.
The first three examples are of trust badges that must be purchased, however there are free SSL certificate alternatives such as Flywheel or Cloudflare. Keep in mind, though, that because they are known, one of the reasons safe checkout protection charms perform so effectively is due to brand recognition. Brand awareness plays a significant role in establishing trust.
Place these badges next to your “Add To Cart” buttons and at the end of your checkout process. They must be distinct in order for their purpose to be effective. They may also be shown on the bottom of your landing page or homepage.
2. Accepted Payment Badges
Seeing a company that you know instills more confidence than anything else. That’s precisely what these trust badges are designed for. Having Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal acceptance marks as valid payment options on your website may increase the level of trust in it without requiring a lot of effort.
According to a study by ConversionXL, which included 1,000 respondents, Visa-Mastercard was chosen by 42 percent of participants as the most recognized brand and PayPal was voted as the most trustworthy. In addition, ConversionXL claims that “the hypothesis that familiarity accurately predicts a population’s perception of safety is generally accepted. In most cases, greater knowledge result in a stronger sense of security.
The best thing about these trust badges is that they are both free and simple to obtain. Visa has a Verified By Visa merchant program that allows you to obtain a Visa Vericated badge for your site, which will improve confidence and conversion rates if you join up.
Badges are often seen at the bottom of each webpage on your website. They don’t have to be in the spotlight or venerated in any way.
3. Third-Party Endorsements
Third-party endorsements can help your consumers trust you by demonstrating that you are credible. Before receiving the badge, these programs generally include an application procedure and a site evaluation.
The Better Business Bureau Accredited Business badge is one of the most trusted badges available. According to the Better Business Bureau, 173 million people search BBB.org each year for current business profiles in order to verify their ratings. After you’ve earned this badge, your consumers can click a button to confirm your accreditation.
The Google Trusted Store symbol is also a well-known and trusted badge. Please note that the Google Trusted Store badge will be phased out in favor of the Customer Reviews badge. The Generation Y group (under 30 years old) in the ConversionXL study recognized and trusted the Google trust seals over the Better Business Bureau.
To obtain the Google trust seal, you must first submit an application and fulfill the criteria laid out by Google. After purchasing items from your business, clients will begin receiving surveys. After Google thinks the reviews are adequate, you get a badge.
You may be wondering why you’d bother with these trust badges. Although they take a little extra effort and time, they are well worth it, and they can help you improve conversions on your online store. It’s a simple way for you to display your excellent ratings without having to worry about them looking fake or cheesy.
Consider it this way: if you’re looking at a product on Amazon.com and see that it has excellent ratings, you’re more likely to buy it than if the same thing has no ratings. The same goes for your ecommerce site. Consumers are more inclined to do business with you if they know that others have had a wonderful experience with you.
The trust badges are usually positioned near the bottom of the website and are generally larger than accepted payment badges.
4. Money-Back Guarantee Badges
This badge, sometimes known as the “Homemade Special,” is completely free and continues to foster trust with your online consumers. You may either make these badges yourself or purchase ready-made versions if you don’t have the graphic design skills.
Sales increased by more than 32% over an 11-day period for an internet learning firm, according to a “30 day money back guarantee” experiment conducted by Visual Website Optimizer.
The objective of the trust badge is to help consumers overcome their anxiety and avoid worrying about making a purchase online, which is one of the most common causes of conversion rate issues. This confidence badge does not address website security like the SSL and safe checkout badges do, but it does offer assurance that you have your clients’ backs in its own way. They feel safer and are therefore more inclined to buy from you as a result of it.
This is the type of trust badge that should be proudly displayed, since your consumers may not pay attention to it if it isn’t. These badges are frequently positioned near the Add To Cart button or the Checkout button in the same region as the safe checkout badge.
5. Free Shipping and Returns Badge
The free trust icon, which is a badge that informs your clientele that you provide free delivery and/or returns through your online store, is the third option. The “Free Shipping” or “Free Returns” badge may convey trust and a sense of safety to your consumers, removing some of the inherent risk associated with purchasing online. It draws attention to your store policy and exceptional client service.
This trust badge should be added close to the money back guarantee badges.
It’s natural for customers to be hesitant about providing personal information on the internet. With so many data breaches and identity theft being such a big topic of discussion these days, it’s easy to see why consumers are cautious about their online transactions. This is why establishing their confidence is so important to us. We realize that your time is valuable, and some of these trust badges may take work and money to acquire, but the increased sales and ROI will make it worthwhile.
