As eCommerce continues to grow in popularity, it’s no surprise that the number of online stores can be overwhelming. Established brands have prominence, with the standard of product being clear. After all, with brands such as Steve Madden or Princess Polly: we can trust the quality. However, when there are stores with cheaper products being sold online, how can we know they are legitimate? Let’s take a look at how to spot a legitimate eCommerce store.
Indicators Of A Trusted Site
To those who are more tech savvy, there are certain things that you can look out for to establish whether the store you are buying from is legitimate. Things such as:
- Visual display of website
- Image quality
- Product descriptions
- Usability of the website
- Social proof
These are all indicators that your website can be trusted. It’s for this reason that having an optimized website is important. If you have a website that excels in Merchandising, Personalization and Site Search (especially powered by AI) then you have increased the chances of your website being purchased from.
Checkout Process
Particularly in the checkout process, websites should be optimized and trustworthy. It will deter customers from buying products if the checkout process seems to be in any way untrustworthy. After all, why would you enter your bank details into a site you can’t trust? This is a crucial part of making sure that an eCommerce store would make any sales.
The Influencer Conundrum
Social proof is primarily achieved over social media these days. User generated content (UGC) and influencer marketing is one of the main ways brands can grow sales. Especially within Gen Z and Millennials, spreading brand awareness through these means are hugely popular.
However, we encounter a problem here: if influencers are being paid to market, or users are being encouraged to share their products by being sent them for free, how do we know the products are legitimate?
There could be slight element of deception here. I’m sure you’ve seen the adverts where individuals claim to be in awe of a product, and it could even work and convince you. However, how do we know this is real? Maybe it’s just a product of money talking.
How Can We Avoid Low-Quality Purchases?
So, what can be done? Well, the first thing to do is to return to an older generation mindset. Make sure that the website is optimized, uses the latest AI technology and has secure checkout features.
If the website has a chat AI function, this is especially a good sign. The more the website seems to have been invested in, the more chances there are that the products will be higher quality. This implies the business isn’t just a push to make money without valuing the customers.
Some More Tips
If you still feel as though you might be unsure about whether or not the store you’re considering is a legitimate eCommerce store, here are some more tips to ensuring that you’re not being sold a dream:
- Search the product or brand name on other places on the internet, see if you can find any more general consensus.
- Check if the influencer is stating that it’s an ad when they promote a product. If it is an ad, there’s more chance it’s money talking than genuine value.
- Research if the influencer has any understanding of the product they are marketing. For example, if a makeup influencer is promoting a makeup brand, there’s more chance they know what they are talking about than a cleaning brand.
The more you try to understand the incentive behind the promotion, the more you can understand whether the products being displayed are legitimate or not. It’s definitely a good idea to approach these kinds of posts with an element of skepticism, but don’t completely disregard that the product might be worth it.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, whether you decide to purchase from a brand or not is up to your user discretion. There are some helpful indicators that can show whether or not a brand is to be trusted, and is a legitimate eCommerce store. The more important of these is the usability and overall quality of the website. This is a good tip for any eCommerce store owners and for shoppers alike.