EN - améliorer la réassurance de son site e-commerce

Improve the reassurance levels of your ecommerce site

Improve the reassurance levels of your ecommerce site

Reassurance is sometimes overlooked, yet it plays a key role in the conversion rate. We could even say that all the elements that have a positive impact on the purchase decision are part of reassurance. A "reassuring" element is one that helps increase your conversion rate. More specifically, reassurance refers to all the techniques used to make a "good impression" on visitors and to "reassure" them. The goal of reassurance is to reduce all the purchasing barriers that negatively impact the performance of your ecommerce site. Here are 7 tips and advice that will allow you to use reassurance effectively and create a trustful environment conducive to purchase.

Improve the reassurance levels of your ecommerce site

What we are going to discover together:

• Identify which arguments reassure your target audience the most
• Highlight your reassurance argumentation
• Take care of the layout of the "institutional" pages
• Provide guarantees to your customers on delivery and payment
• Consider Live Chat to accompany the customer in the purchase process
• Highlight customer reviews (and, more generally, all external reviews)
• Guarantee customers the confidentiality of their data

Improve the reassurance levels of your ecommerce site

1 Identify which arguments are most reassuring to your target audience

To succeed in your reassurance strategy, you need to be able to put yourself in the shoes of your visitors and potential customers. A visitor arriving on an ecommerce site has several questions: is payment secure? How is the delivery done? Can the product be returned if it doesn't suit? Can the sellers be easily contacted? More broadly, does the site inspire trust? Ecommerce site customers are naturally suspicious: scams are always possible on the internet. How to effectively respond to visitors' "reassurance" demands and instill confidence in your site? The barriers to purchasing are largely classic and concern any ecommerce site (secure payment, delivery, contact, etc.). Despite everything, these obstacles can be slightly different depending on the type of product you sell. The issue of product warranty will not be posed in the same terms whether you sell books or washing machines. The requirements will be higher in the second case. Your first consideration should be to define the elements of reassurance expected by your target audience.

Improve the reassurance levels of your ecommerce site

1 Identify which arguments are most reassuring to your target audience

Next, you need to define your reassurance strategy. It's clear that a visitor will always want the best guarantees: free delivery + order sent within 24 hours + free returns for X days + 24/7 assistance + satisfaction and money back guarantee + etc. Obviously, unless you want to jeopardize your business, you won't be able to meet all these demands. You need to make choices and offer the guarantees that are most demanded/looked for by your clientele. As we just mentioned, there are no general rules in this matter. Customers' requirements vary from one site to another (depending on the products sold, the nature of the target, etc.). One tip to develop the best possible reassurance strategy and offer the best argumentation is: do benchmarking. Look around you, at your competitors. What guarantees do they offer? Do they offer free delivery? What reassurance elements do they highlight? You can also ask your customers what they like about your site, what could be improved in terms of delivery, customer service, graphic charter, in short, in terms of reassurance. Finally, don't hesitate to do tests. To measure the impact of your "reassurance" arguments, you can make them clickable. This way, you can analyze the interest your visitors have in them.

Improve the reassurance levels of your ecommerce site

2 Highlight your reassurance argumentation

Once you've defined your reassurance argument, you need to think about how to display it on your site. 1. Header Starting with the header is not insignificant. The header is the first thing your visitors see when they arrive on your e-commerce site. It's the gateway to your site. The header plays the role of the external storefront for physical stores. Therefore, it is only natural to place your main reassurance arguments there. More generally, it is always recommended to place the reassurance elements above the fold, to increase their visibility. Here is an example from Darty. The upper part of the header is entirely dedicated to the main reassurance elements proposed by Darty: free delivery, guarantee, click & collect (the option to pick up purchased products from a physical store), and the telephone number.

Improve the reassurance levels of your ecommerce site

2 Highlight your reassurance argumentation

1. Header The centrality of reassurance is even more visible in the header of the FNAC site. We see that, for this new version of the FNAC site, the header (and particularly the carousel) has been completely designed with the concept of reassurance in mind:

Improve the reassurance levels of your ecommerce site

2 Highlight your reassurance argumentation

2. Pre-footer One might think that the pre-footer plays a negligible role, as it is located, by definition, at the very bottom of the pages. Yet, the footer, and particularly the pre-footer (the upper part of the footer), is very often a central place for reassurance. You can almost always find icons related to delivery, order tracking, or secure payment there. But also links to institutional pages ("Who are we?", "Legal notice", etc.), which are also elements of reassurance, as we will see further on. In fact, when a visitor scrolls down, they often scroll all the way down to see how far the page goes. Before scrolling back up, they are faced with the (pre-)footer and register some information (either unconsciously or consciously). The pre-footer is rarely viewed as such for more than a few seconds (or even less than a second). Hence the interest of icons: visuals (icons), especially if they are large, capture the visitors' attention quicker than texts.

Improve the reassurance levels of your ecommerce site

2 Highlight your reassurance argumentation

2. Pre-footer Here are three examples of pre-footers that are particularly well designed for reassurance: Exemple #1 – La Redoute

Improve the reassurance levels of your ecommerce site

2 Highlight your reassurance argumentation

2. Pre-footer Here are three examples of pre-footers that are particularly well designed for reassurance: Exemple #2 – I Love Print

Improve the reassurance levels of your ecommerce site

2 Highlight your reassurance argumentation

2. Pré-footer Here are three examples of pre-footers that are particularly well designed for reassurance: Exemple #3 – Express Your Tee

Improve the reassurance levels of your ecommerce site

2 Highlight your reassurance argumentation

3. Others It's not only the header and pre-footer that count. You should also place elements of reassurance on the rest of your pages, in the areas located between the header and the pre-footer. A tip: place elements of reassurance in the side-bars (vertical bars to the right or left of the main page). The main body of the page itself should not be neglected. The main body of the page is the part of your page that contains the most information; it is also the one that is viewed the longest by your visitors. The arrangement of reassurance elements in the main body of the page varies depending on the nature of the pages. Note: The most important pages for reassurance are landing pages (e.g. homepage), product pages, and cart pages. Generally, reassurance elements should appear on all pages that are part of the purchase tunnel. On these pages, you must pull out all the stops, even if it means placing the same reassurance information in several places. On a product page for example, it is not at all discouraged to place delivery information in the header, in the pre-footer, in the side-bar, and in the body of the page. On the contrary!

Improve the reassurance levels of your ecommerce site

2 Highlight your reassurance argumentation

3. Others Exemple of Darty On a Darty product page, a sidebar appears on the right containing the main reassurance information. Also notice that the body of the page itself is filled with elements of reassurance. The person who visits a Darty product page sees reassurance elements everywhere: this is a very good point!

Improve the reassurance levels of your ecommerce site

3 Take care of the layout of institutional pages

"Institutional" pages are sometimes neglected, due to lack of time, but this is a mistake. Indeed, these pages do not form part of the purchase funnel, but they obviously play a role in reassurance (and therefore impact the conversion rate). They answer questions such as: "Who runs this site?", "How does it work?", "How to contact the sellers?", etc. The institutional pages that you need to take care of are the following: the "About Us" page, the "Terms and Conditions of Sale" page, the "Contact Us" page (or simply "Contact"), the FAQ page. These are not called "reassurance pages" for nothing: these pages are meant to show visitors that this is a serious site. In the "About Us" page for example, you should indicate your SIRET number, your corporate name, your share capital, the identity of the founders and staff if any, provide a brief description of the company, its values, its DNA, its history, possibly indicate the labels you have obtained (FIA-net, Labelsite, ChamberTrust, Webcert.), etc. It is easy to understand all the positive impact that a well-designed, spell-check-free, lengthy "About Us" page can have. The prospect who visits it and sees that you have a proper legal structure becomes confident about the site and knows that they can buy on the site securely. They know who they are dealing with. For the "Contact" page, provide as many means of communication as possible (telephone number of course, but also email, contact form, postal address, etc.).

Improve the reassurance levels of your ecommerce site

3 Take care of the layout of institutional pages

Obviously, in practice, these pages are not often visited. But even if they are not visited, the mere fact that there is a link in your footer that redirects to these institutional pages reassures visitors. While it is likely that your potential customers do not consult these pages, it is very likely that they see these links in the footer. A tip: take good care of these pages, even if it can take a bit of time. Write texts without errors and insert images (of you, the staff, warehouses, your brand, etc.). The purpose of these pages is to give your site both a human and professional aspect. Generally, as we said at the very beginning, all pages contribute to reassurance and thus to the performance of your e-commerce site. Reassurance is not limited to dedicated elements, texts, or pictograms. For visitors to be reassured, the site as a whole must inspire confidence. The quality of the theme, the graphic charter, the photos, the navigation also contribute to reassurance. Note: Legal notices are mandatory in France for all sites (e-commerce or not). General terms and conditions of sale are mandatory for all e-commerce sites.

Improve the reassurance levels of your ecommerce site

3 Take care of the layout of institutional pages

Example of the contact page from the www.efisol.fr website:

Improve the reassurance levels of your ecommerce site

4 Provide guarantees to your customers regarding delivery and payment

There are three elements that are particularly sensitive in the eyes of internet users when they visit an ecommerce site: delivery, payment and customer service. We will see later the importance of customer relations. For now, let's focus on delivery and payment. Firstly, delivery. One mistake some ecommerce sites make is giving delivery information at the last moment, just before payment. On the contrary, delivery information should be given right at the beginning, when the visitor arrives on the site. Internet users need to be able to immediately know how delivery works, what are the different delivery methods, from what purchase volume it is free, etc. And each time, the conditions and modalities of delivery are decisive in their choice. It is also very common for an Internet user to abandon their cart for the simple reason that delivery costs are not (yet) displayed. Delivery information should be given as far upstream as possible (from the homepage for example, in the header). What Internet users expect above all is that you be very clear and transparent. The ideal is of course to offer free delivery. Online shoppers appreciate this a lot, and it's understandable! However, this is not always possible for you... and we understand that too! In this case, clearly and visibly indicate the rates you practice. It's not just the price of delivery that interests visitors.

Improve the reassurance levels of your ecommerce site

4 Provide guarantees to your customers regarding delivery and payment

Here are the other elements related to delivery that you should mention and make clearly visible: the different delivery methods, delivery times, available stock, return conditions and modalities (the mention "satisfied or refunded" is a serious asset, if you can afford to offer this sometimes costly service), the possibility to exchange the product. Don't offer delivery times that you can't meet. This can have a very negative impact on your site in terms of image fallout. Payment is an even more sensitive issue than delivery. Internet users are still very wary when it comes to online payments. Therefore, you must do everything you can to reassure them on this subject. You must accompany and reassure them throughout the purchasing process. The mention "secure payment" is the bare minimum. It must be clearly displayed. Offer several payment methods. In any case, avoid Paypal. Or rather, since we should not be extreme: do not offer only Paypal. It is almost essential to offer payment directly on the bank's website. Place the visuals related to secure payment prominently on your pages (Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, etc.). See in this regard the example of "Express Your Tee" (cf. above).

Improve the reassurance levels of your ecommerce site

4 Provide guarantees to your customers regarding delivery and payment

Whether it's about reassurance elements related to delivery or payment, it's important to display them very clearly. We have already given some indications on this subject above. The idea is that you should definitely not restrict yourself or be afraid to place these elements in several places. On the contrary, you should try to place this information as many times as possible inside or outside the purchase funnel (on the institutional pages for example). The further the visitor progresses in the navigation and the purchase tunnel, the more these reassurance elements must appear and be clearly highlighted. For example, it is essential to place all the information related to delivery and payment (in text and/or visual form) on the "order summary" page, as well as in the confirmation email (once the order has been placed).

Improve the reassurance levels of your ecommerce site

4 Provide guarantees to your customers regarding delivery and payment

Example from La Redoute:

Improve the reassurance levels of your ecommerce site

5 Consider using Live chat to assist the customer during the purchase process

Customer service plays a fundamental role in e-commerce. By definition, the client relationship is less intense in the context of e-commerce compared to physical commerce. E-commerce retailers are distant from their consumers. The goal is to bridge this gap and get closer, more or less fictitiously, to the potential visitor and client. There are several reassurance techniques to improve customer service: displaying the phone number, the "Contact" page we've already talked about, and Live chat. The phone number holds a special status. On your "Contact" page, you will take great care to provide as many means of communication as possible: phone, email, postal address, etc. But the phone number is by far the most important means of communication for reassurance. The phone allows visitors to establish direct and almost "intimate" contact with the seller. It's never easy to get a precise idea of the author of an email, it's much easier on the other hand when it comes to a phone call.

Improve the reassurance levels of your ecommerce site

5 Consider using Live chat to assist the customer during the purchase process

You should therefore do everything you can to provide a phone number and make it highly visible. It is strongly recommended to place the phone number in numerous places on your pages (in the header, in the footer, and in the shopping tunnel pages). It should be visible everywhere on your site. The site "I love Print," clearly understanding the importance of the phone number, decided to place it right in the middle of the upper part of its header: Obviously, highlighting the phone number can pose logistical problems (it's not easy to handle all customer calls...). You need to well manage your hotline teams (to limit communications to an average of 3 minutes maximum). But rest assured, not all your visitors will call you. On the other hand, just seeing the phone number prominently displayed will be reassuring. They know that there is a human behind your site (so to speak) and that the site's managers can be contacted at any time. This gives a feeling of customer support that is greatly appreciated by internet users. Prefer, if possible, non-premium numbers with a French code.

Improve the reassurance levels of your ecommerce site

5 Consider using Live chat to assist the customer during the purchase process

There are other means of communication that you should not overlook. Less central than the telephone number, they still contribute to reassuring customers. This is, of course, about email or the contact form, but also about social networks. Social networks are increasingly being used by companies as a customer service tool. We could also talk about forums, surveys, etc. Directly or indirectly, these tools are part of the customer relationship. We will spend a moment here on Live chat. This instant communication tool is very effective and relatively simple to manage from a logistical point of view. Live chat allows the customer who is browsing your site to get in touch with you at any time. This is a growing "pre-sales" advisory tool that humanizes the relationship with your potential customers. There are many solutions on the internet that allow you to install a Live Chat module on your site. Let's mention a few: ZeHelp, Zopin, Olark, HeyBubble, Smartsupp, LiveChat, iAdvize, etc. Live chat not only has a reassuring function, but it also captures the visitor's attention thanks to the animations made possible by this tool. There are two types of live chat: automatic live chats and "real" live chats.

Improve the reassurance levels of your ecommerce site

5 Consider using Live chat to assist the customer during the purchase process

In the first case, the responses are pre-recorded. The internet user does not come into contact with a real person. In the second case, it's a "real" live chat, with "real" people behind it. Prefer the second solution, even if it is more expensive. The little extra: there is a live chat solution that allows your expert customers to answer the questions that internet users are asking: Howtank.

Improve the reassurance levels of your ecommerce site

5 Consider using Live chat to assist the customer during the purchase process

Example of "Sarenza" (at the very bottom right):

Improve the reassurance levels of your ecommerce site

6 Highlight customer reviews (and, more generally, all external feedback)

This is not the place to give a lengthy discourse on the importance of customer reviews on e-commerce sites. Numerous articles and studies have already been published on the subject. The impact of customer reviews on the conversion rate is proven. We already discussed this in the article dedicated to optimizing product pages. We won't linger too long on this point. Let's recall the two obvious advantages of customer reviews: 1/ They allow visitors to access external opinions, which are by definition more objective than yours. 2/ They help improve the SEO of your product pages, as each new comment adds content to the page and triggers a new indexing by search engines. Some might say, and rightly so: but what about negative reviews? Ultimately, is the impact of customer reviews really so positive, given that reviewers are rarely lenient (to say the least)? In reality, all reviews, whether positive or negative, are good to take. Positive reviews demonstrate the quality of your products in the eyes of Internet users.

Improve the reassurance levels of your ecommerce site

6 Highlight customer reviews (and, more generally, all external feedback)

Negative reviews are also "positive" for two reasons:

• They add credibility to positive reviews. When all reviews are extremely positive, the internet user has reasons to doubt their sincerity.
• Negative reviews can allow you to improve your product, your catalog, and also (since not all reviews only concern one product or another) your e-commerce site.

We could even add another reason justifying the interest of negative reviews: they demonstrate in a way that you have "real" customers. A customer can very well criticize your product, but if they do, it's because they received the product. This therefore reassures internet users about the delivery and the reliability of the site in general. In the end, there is no reason to disregard customer reviews. All the major e-commerce sites display customer reviews, as they have understood their value. Customer reviews have their place at the bottom of the page. To make them more visible, it is recommended to display the stars above the fold (under the price and above the add to cart button).

Improve the reassurance levels of your ecommerce site

6 Highlight customer reviews (and, more generally, all external feedback)

Example of Amazon's customer review module:

Improve the reassurance levels of your ecommerce site

6 Highlight customer reviews (and, more generally, all external feedback)

One last word on certified reviews. Certified reviews are issued by specialized certification companies and guarantee visitors the authenticity of customer reviews posted on your ecommerce site. They reassure the user by indicating that the reviews posted are not fake. More and more companies are offering review certification. Let's name five: eKomi, FIA-net, Testntrust, Trust Pilot, Trusted Shop. If you have a certification label of this kind, make sure to make it clearly visible on your site (in the footer and in the checkout pages). Example of "Badaboom" header (the certified review is located at the top right):

Improve the reassurance levels of your ecommerce site

7 Guarantee customers the confidentiality of their data

Customers are paying more and more attention to this point. However, the confidentiality of personal data is a weak point for ecommerce sites. According to the Dashlane barometer, an online security specialist, more than two-thirds of French ecommerce sites would not have implemented a "responsible policy" for protecting their customers' data. This mainly concerns "small" ecommerce sites (but not only: Decathlon and Boulanger are at the bottom of the ranking). There are a few tips to improve the security of your customers' personal data and avoid hacking. First, avoid asking your customers for too much information. They generally don't really appreciate it. To some extent, this is even a purchase deterrent. Then, when your customer creates an account on your site, avoid showing the identifiers and password in plain text in the automatic email you will send to new registrants. This is not the best practice to protect your customers' personal data from computer hacking... Another tip: impose rules on your customers in the construction of their password (example: "your password must contain at least six letters including one uppercase and two numbers). When creating their password, indicate the level of security of the chosen password. Also use a module that blocks access to a customer's account after 5, 6, or 7 incorrect entries.

Improve the reassurance levels of your ecommerce site

7 Guarantee customers the confidentiality of their data

By implementing rules like this, you reassure your customer. You send them a signal that indicates that the site is secure. Your customer becomes aware that you are attentive to the respect of their privacy. This is a good point for you! In fact, overall, sites that have an effective policy of securing customer data fare better, all other things being equal. Also, remember to indicate in your institutional pages that you comply with data protection laws. Finally, inform your customers if you use the cookie system on your site. Example from Sephora (information related to the use of cookies in the upper part of the header):

Improve the reassurance levels of your ecommerce site

7 Guarantee customers the confidentiality of their data

Example from Fnac (a link to an institutional page dedicated to personal data is provided in the footer, under the column "About Us"): As you've understood, improving the reassurance of your ecommerce site is a long-term task. Ultimately, working on reassurance requires a comprehensive reflection on ALL aspects of your ecommerce site. There is perhaps no area more cross-functional than reassurance.

Improve the reassurance levels of your ecommerce site

7 Guarantee customers the confidentiality of their data

Reassurance is not an isolated element of your development strategy, but should be at the heart of all your actions. You should always ask yourself what will be the impact in terms of reassurance of such and such modification, of such and such new feature, etc. We return to the advice we gave at the very beginning: always put yourself in the shoes of your visitor and potential customer. This is the best way to conduct an effective reassurance policy, avoid mistakes, and ensure a lasting improvement in your conversion rate. In fact, there is still much more that could be said about reassurance.