Trust is good for turnover and margins
Consumers are now shopping more online, but thinking more carefully about the sites they use
Since 2020, 55 per cent of consumers have started shopping more online. At the same time, people have become more cautious about where they shop: 60 per cent say they've recently not gone through with a purchase, because they didn't trust the website. What's more, a trusted name can persuade online shoppers to pay up to 20 per cent extra. Those are some of the standout findings from an SIDN Panel survey with 140 respondents.
Reviews matter, while social media is distrusted
Consumers look at various things when deciding whether a webshop can be trusted. When they were asked which pointer they relied on most, one answer came up time and again: reviews. Of our respondents, 38 per cent said they would never buy from a site with no reviews, few reviews or bad reviews. And most of those who reported pulling out of a purchase identified reviews, or the lack of them, as the number 1 reason. Finally on reviews, it seems that social media and foreign webshops have an image problem:
"Instagram posts sometimes lead you to webshops that don't seem to be based in the Netherlands, and that you can't be sure are reliable."
Payment methods important for new webshops
Nevertheless, consumers are open to trying new webshops. In the month before the survey, 62 per cent of respondents had bought from a previously untried webshop for the first time. So how do you tempt a consumer to give your new webshop a try? After all, you've got to have customers before you can have good reviews. Our survey identified 2 things that win new customers: very low prices and a unique product range. However, even those temptations are ineffective if other factors don't support the inclination to buy. Chief amongst those other factors is the prominently advertised option to pay using iDEAL. Dutch consumers trust iDEAL, but distrust payment methods such as PayPal. The details need to be right as well: 71 per cent check the site's SSL certificate before buying from a new webshop, compared with just 7 per cent who habitually check.
Suppose you're thinking of buying from a webshop you haven't used before. What do you check before going ahead? (n=140)
Payment methods (e.g. iDEAL) | 77.9% |
Working SSL/TLS certificate on the site | 71.0% |
Domain name | 65.6% |
Location of the business | 62.6% |
Reviews | 62.6% |
Design of the site | 49.6% |
Accreditation logo on the site | 49.6% |
Other, namely... | 17.6% |
Willing to pay more
In view of the responses outlined above, it's not surprising that trustworthiness has a positive effect on both willingness to buy and price tolerance. In that regard, platforms such as Bol.com, Amazon and Zalando lead the way. We asked our survey group which of a number of price-webshop/platform combinations they found most attractive. Strikingly, buying from a platform was most respondents' preferred option, even if the price was up to 25 per cent higher. Of the platforms, the Dutch player Bol.com commanded most confidence, with consumers willing to pay up to 5 per cent more. A webshop that is more expensive than the two big platforms is almost never the preferred option.
Specimen question: Suppose you want to buy a pair of branded shoes. Which offer do you choose? (n=140)
A | €169 on schoenen.nl | 0% |
B | €120 on shoediscount.tk | 0% |
C | €145 on amazon.com | 28.6% |
D | €129 on schoenen.shop | 14.3% |
E | €152 on bol.com | 57.1% |
Domain name is another important detail
Along with the site certificate, the domain name used for a new webshop is an important detail. Consumer trust depends mainly on the domain name 'making sense'. Does the name, including its extension (.nl, .com, .shop, etc), fit the service on offer? Nearly two thirds of respondents consciously look at the domain name. The extension that wins most trust is .nl -- providing that the consumer is after something you would expect a Dutch shop to sell. The influence of a mismatch is illustrated by the fact that the .org domain is generally trusted by internet users, but people are suspicious if it's used by a webshop or for another commercial purpose.
"The extension needs to match what the site is offering. If you're looking for goods, services, travel, etc, you look in the region. The .org extension is for things like non-profit organisations, not for webshops."
Early registration matters
With a domain name, there's another significant factor: the name's age. When users check details of a domain name on sidn.nl or elsewhere, 86 per cent immediately look at the registration date or last amendment date. The more recent the date is, the less likely the name is to be trusted. So it makes sense to register the name for a new webshop as soon as you've decided on it.
What can SIDN do?
Although the .nl domain is already seen as very safe, we asked our survey panel what else SIDN could do, as the operator of .nl, to make .nl even more trusted. Common themes in their responses were validating domain name registrant data, and providing Chamber of Commerce Trade Register information.
"A business owner should be able to voluntarily provide a Trade Register number, or their country's equivalent."
In the next few years, new European legislation and regulations are expected in this field. Meanwhile, at SIDN, we're actively working on new eID standards (yivi.app). And we'll certainly bear the survey findings in mind.
