A few years ago, the purchasing process was very simple: the consumer went to the store, picked favourite products and paid for it. Now, the competitiveness of the shops is so high that the choice of place of purchase is determinated by more factors, not only the availability of the product. Customers pay attention to elements such as customer service, store appearance, contact, regulations, and opinions.

According to statistics more people chose to shop online than in-store. They are looking for products in every industry, although the most popular categories are: home, fashion, beauty, child. But before make a decision they try to verify the store, look for the information, ask on forums, among friends. Seeking for recommendations.
As the owner of the shop you would like to find your shop as a recommended for purchases by shoppers. If you want to make this you should foucus on every day building confidence in your store. Here are some tips for self-realization.

Good first impression
In the first contact, the most important is good impression. So if someone get to your store do anything you can to stop him as long as possible. Start from the your store address – it is important to prepare simple and short name. Name easy to remember.
You need to know that people buying using their eyes, so store appearance is very important in the procurement process. Invest in graphic. You can choose from a ready-made template or order individual layout. Taking care of the appearance of the store give a signal to consumers that you treat your business seriously, you invest in it.

Reliable online store – what does it mean?
On the internet there are plenty of guides for buying at online stores. Almost all of them containe important advice that before buying people should check all the information about the store, read the rules of shopping. As the owner, make sure that you prepared content relevant to the buyer – because all these elements make your store more authentic in his eyes.
What else can you do? For example you can show the presence in the media. Post a link, picture or piece of article (use for it “About Us” page).
If you have also land-based shop – show it. Photos and a few words of description are welcome as an additional element of confirming the reliability of your business & store.

Opinions and recommendations of others
Show other customers opinions about your shop, this could be much more effective even than the most beautiful ads. For this you can use some kind of widgets from portals reviewing online stores.
Recommendations posted on these sites could influence your customers and motivate them to purchase. Gather opinions not only about the store, but also about specific products. All of these content affect on your online store confidence, but also on its position in the Google search results.

Security of transactions
When everything is online, you really rely on things which you can see and which you can read at the store. That’s why you need to take care of security and customer confidence.
– First, Privacy Policy – tell your customers about what kind of data are being collected and how it will be protected and what is used.
– Second issue: statute – this is the basis of the transaction. Every store has a duty to prepare such a document and ensure that it is current.
– Install SSL certificate at the store – a tool which ensures the safety of the site and guarantee confidentiality of data. Certificate increases the credibility of the online store, and thus builds buyers trust (shows that the owner of this store take care of the security of the transaction).

Anything else…?
Be like a buyer at your own store. Try to think about things which could encourage customer to buy. Sometimes you need to change just a few small things and you can do this very fast. For example:
– Let customers to contact you, show available communication channels and store opening hours,
– Use social media – create a company profile @facebook and @instagram, gather fans and reliable source of recommendations,
– Start to talk with your customers, send them a survey, ask them what they like and what you can improve. Try to support a relationship with them and do not let them to forget you.

Online shop is just like real organism, requires your commitment. Do it and you will see results very quickly.