International ecommerce trust signals

There are a series of international ecommerce trust signals that we must comply with if we want to sell cross-border. Although at first it may take you by surprise, don’t worry, in this article we will reveal what they are and how to achieve them. If you want to expand cross-border successfully, it is essential to do things right.

Ecommerce trust seals and other technological conditions

For our future customers to trust our online shop, we must give them a series of guarantees. First of all, we are going to focus on those related to the technical part of the website.

Therefore, it is crucial to have the SSL certificate, which guarantees that your users’ data is safe. To check whether we have it, just look in the browser. If https or a padlock icon is displayed in front of our address, our address is secure.

If we decide to add a new domain when internationalising our ecommerce, we must not forget this trust signal.

In addition to this, we must add trust badges. But what are they and where do you get them?

What are trust seals for ecommerce?

Trust seals show that we have complied with security measures and best practices. Although they are not mandatory, they are highly recommended, especially if you want to globalise your online store.

There are many types of seals, but the most common in ecommerce are:

• Aenor e-Commerce
• Online Trust
• eValor
• Norton Secured
• Trusted e-shops

It is important to know that having this international ecommerce trust signal will put you in a better conversion rate position. Of course, this seal must be renewed from time to time.

Content is the major trust factor in international ecommerce.

Few things generate more uncertainty than facing a restaurant menu in a language completely different from our own. Worse still if it does not include photos and the person serving us does not know how to communicate in your language either.

Well, you should avoid this same feeling in your online shop if you want to open up to other markets. To do this, you need to deal with the content in several ways.

Product presentation for a global audience

Offering detailed information about products and services is the most obvious way to do this. Whenever possible, this involves adding visual elements (photographs, videos…) that help the user to identify what they are going to buy.

Naturally, ecommerce content translation will be vital. However, we should not stop there. At Ontranslation, we strongly recommend that you don’t launch a brand outside your own borders without first having carried out a linguistic and cultural assessment.

Customer reviews as an element of trust

If you already have your ecommerce on the market, you should lose sight of the opinions left by your customers on Google Business Profile and other platforms such as Trust Pilot.

Even if you don’t have much time, investing a few minutes a day in answering these reviews is one of the best trust signals that an international ecommerce can have. What’s more, have you considered integrating them into your website? This would be a plus!

Communication channels that increase security

Having a problem during the purchase process and not being able to contact customer service is terrible for a company’s reputation. For this reason, if the online trust of the ecommerce customer is to increase, you should not forget to offer them various means of contact.

There is no need to install a switchboard. All you need to do is provide an email address or offer the possibility to contact you via social media.

Legal notices and secure payment for online shops

Once our website is secure and the content is reliable, the only thing left to do is to manage the purchasing process. To do this, there are some ecommerce trust signals that we can call basic.

Ecommerce payment methods

If you want to sell your products, you will need to think about which payment methods are the most suitable to your audience,  as there are many and customer preferences vary according to culture. However, in any case, choose those that guarantee security, both for the customer and for the company.

For example, using PayPal payment gateways in your international ecommerce generates more confidence than bank transfers. On the other hand, if you give the option of making the transaction by credit card, CVV verification will be important to prevent fraudulent card numbers from being used.

Detailed shipping information

To export products, being clear about international shipping is crucial. Here, show which countries you can ship to, how much it costs and how long it will take to arrive.

Additionally, it is interesting to point out which courier company you work with, as this increases the user’s confidence.

Return policy and other legal notices

Once the sale has been handled, it seems that the only thing left to do is to make sure that the customer is satisfied. However, this may not be the case. What happens in that situation?

It is important that the return policy is well translated and visible on the website in order to prevent users from getting lost in the confusion.

In fact, the final trust signal in an international ecommerce is legal clarity. That is, having all legal notices properly translated. This includes everything from the return and exchange policy to the use of cookies. And, of course, personal data processing.

 

How to increase international ecommerce trust signals through translation?

Internationalising an online shop seems easy, yet after this overview you can see that there is quite a lot of work behind it.

If you already have an online shop in the UK, you should also take content localization into account. Before being thrifty and managing it yourself or asking a friend who is fluent in another language, we must not lose sight of cultural differences.

Moving an entire brand to a new market means knowing the target culture: what can be said, how it is said and what elements we should not use under any circumstances in our communications.

Ultimately, the support of professional ecommerce translation services is vital for the effective and assured growth of your shop. Who would buy from a shop that (unknowingly) disrespects them by poorly adapting its content?