Online shopping is a wonderful experience for so many different reasons, but probably most of all it proves to be a very convenient and quick way of turning your intent to purchase that new running shoes pair, for instance, into reality. You can do the actual purchase right from the cozy confines of your home. However, prospective shoppers are often a touch nervous about buying stuff from ubiquitous online stores that they don’t know so very well. Keeping this in mind, Google launched its Trusted Stores program.
Now, the Trusted Stores has been thrown open to all of the merchants in the US who wish to apply. Google’s innovative concept will provide shoppers on the Web with a dynamic ‘customer satisfaction scores’ for all participating merchants. The idea on part of the search engine major was to let people overcome this particular problem. When they get to see the Trusted Store badge of Google, they can be reasonably assured of the fact that they are shopping their favorite items from a credible retailer. This makes them they feel confident enough about an informed and secured purchase.
As an official blog post reveals, Google has been testing out the new program with close to 50 online merchants and over 10 million orders since last fall. According to Google, it has turned out far better than what it had hoped, generating encouraging response from prospective shoppers, simultaneously boosting the sales numbers for merchants. Explaining the goal of helping shoppers to select stores that they can trust, a write-up elaborates:
“When shopping online, you may come across the Google Trusted Store badge. Hover over it and you will see a ‘report card’ which shows ‘grades’ for that merchant’s shipping and service, including more precise metrics about what the grades mean. This badge is only awarded to online stores that deliver a great overall experience, so even if you haven’t shopped with this merchant before, you can easily tell if they are trustworthy, ship quickly and reliably, and offer exceptional customer service. If there’s a problem with your purchase, we’re here to help.”
When a user buys from any of the Google Trusted Stores, he or she can choose to receive lifetime purchase protection (up to $1,000) per shopper. And its customer service personnel will work with shoppers and the merchant as well to help resolve the issue, if any. It also claims to assist merchants in demonstrating their excellence and draw new business opportunities. The Trusted Stores project will help online stores draw new customers, enhance sales and try to differentiate themselves as a merchant by showcasing their quality service via the badge present on their sites. Soon it will be visible on Google.com ads as well as in Google Shopping results.
The elaborate tests done over the last three quarters of the pilot suggest merchants – big and small – can gain by taking part in this program, Google claims. For instance, one of the major online-only retailers of home goods, Wayfair increased sales on its website by more than 2 percent after collaboration Google Trusted Stores. Google Trusted Stores, for now is entirely free.
