The online world is full of scams and unfulfilled promises. Even though online retail continues to grow, even in a recession, more people continue to shop online, so building that consumer confidence in your store is key. You want customers to shop in your store and you want those customers to buy. But how do you do that? Here are five simple tips to help build that consumer confidence; 1. Create a well laid out and customer friendly store. No one wants to shop in a messy environment! I’m sure you have seen websites with banners and flashing pictures and products randomly all over the place. The products are difficult to locate or they even post false advertisements. You do not want to look at these stores as an example of what you SHOULD do, but as an example of what you SHOULD NOT do. Make sure that your site is clean and the products easy to locate. 2. Have thorough descriptions of the products. Since your customer cannot touch and feel the product, you have to describe the product in a way that makes them visualize as though they were holding the product in their hand. Use as many descriptive keywords as you possibly can on the individual product pages. You can even use a little story to put that personal touch on that product page. Did you recently use that product on a camping trip and have a funny story associated with it? Did you recently give that product as a gift to a friend? How did they react to it? Good descriptions can also help with SEO, so make sure to use those keywords in your descriptions that will help you rise in the search engine rankings. 3. Have your policies well laid out and easy to read. Because of the current economy, we have seen that more customers are shopping online more than offline so they can do easy comparisons of products. They are also looking for free shipping & non taxed products to save some money. Make sure that your policies on shipping & taxes are easy to locate. If you are promoting free shipping, make sure that you have that on your home page somewhere & on the product pages so they cannot miss it. 4. Post your contact information in a conspicuous place. Make sure that your contact information and customer service hours are clearly posted. Don’t just list an email address! You also want to provide a phone number and mailing address so the customer knows exactly where you are located if possible. 5. Post Reviews. Every consumer loves reviews in some form or fashion. Personally, I will not buy something online that I have never seen before without some reviews. Consumers put faith in other consumers to post accurate reviews of the products so they can decide if they want to buy that product or not. One great example of this is Amazon.com. You can pretty much find a review on every product that is posted for sale on Amazon because they request those reviews. It helps with SEO as well as building consumer trust on that product. So after you have setup an account with a Drop Ship Supplier or Wholesale Distributor for products to sell, don’t be in a rush to throw those products online for sale without thinking about how your store appears to the average consumer. Creating your store right the first time will save you a lot of time, money and aggravation in the long run.