At this stage we’ve completed the business planning and branding stages. We know what audience we will address to, what brand we are creating and what type of e-commerce model we will work with.
It is time to start working with an online store.
It’s all about trust
Let’s assume, that your brand is unfamiliar to the customer. By default, customers will be looking for any proof of reliability, the trustworthiness of your service, your product, because they will pay you money, and they want to ensure that they get the desired product on time with expected quality and service.
What you can do to improve customer’s trust?
About Us page
You need to introduce yourself as honest and clear as possible. Do not be shy to show what person you are behind the business. Tell the customer about your brand, build an emotional connection with your story, your brand.
Check these examples of the touching About Us story of the Canadian “Flourist” milling company: https://flourist.com/pages/flour, https://flourist.com/pages/our-farmers, https://flourist.com/pages/about-us. What do you see? Can you see the faceless giant manufacturer or handcrafted family farmed seller?
FAQ page
You need to have this page to answer all typical customer questions right away. Why your product is better than others, what are the details of the purchase process, delivery, what are the details about your product? Make short, but convincing answers, with technical facts inside.
Check this example: https://flourist.com/pages/frequently-asked-questions. They use this page as the persuasion of their product quality. I see all information even about the recommended shelf life of the flour. Amazing.
Contact page
Add the Contact page, with your legal address, email, phone numbers, and the contact form to send you the message with. Again, check this example: https://flourist.com/pages/contact. Can you see an average “Contact us” page, on which you feel like you are sending a message into the void? I don’t think so. I see the legal address, I see phones and different email addresses for the press inquiries, wholesale inquiries, and personal messaging.
Return Policy, Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, Cookie Policy
These pages should be available in your footer area. Content for these pages should be agreed with the lawyers, and it should be maintained according to the laws of your country.
I’ve heard the stories about one well-educated customer, who was insulting a small company from Europe with lawsuits because they were treating personal data not so secure as it was needed according to the laws of GDPR. The company was more a startup and they were focused on the product rather than laws, and that person used this gap in his favor. Be aware and be as clear as possible with the customer’s data.
By the way, Shopify can provide you with default Legal pages such as Refund policy, Privacy policy, Terms of Service, Shipping policy, and Legal notice, but do not consider them as the final result that will 100% suit you.
Go to Settings->Legal and you will be able to generate those pages from the template:
Instant connect with your customers
You should think about having a chat or other sort of direct connection to your customers. It can be a highlighted link to Facebook, Instagram, where the customer will be able to ask you important questions and make a choice.
Design your homepage
Your main page is like a storefront of your shop. You should make it clear, focused, and effective.
There was a myth that today the average attention span of a person is 8 seconds and it is less than the 9-second-attention span of a goldfish. Hopefully, it looks like it is a myth. But this idea of limited customer’s focus is rather important.
Ok, so what to put on the main page?
Shopify Compass recommendations are:
- Get clear on the goal of the homepage. What should a customer do, what is the customer’s journey? What do you want your visitors to do?
- Short and simple copy to inspire action. Put a limited amount of decisions, that your customer can take in a one-screen area. Do not overload visitors with tons of buying variants on the home page, unless you are not the marketplace.
- Have a clear navigation section.
- Display the best selling products.
Good luck with improving your store!
