Gen Z, the digital native, savvy new influencer, has rumbled fake e-commerce websites, and with the avalanche of scams around, there are still things you can do.
According to research from Tidio, who received comments from almost 1,200 people on various elements of websites that encouraged or discouraged trust, the findings are stark and important to anyone trying to build a trusted brand. For example, as the research shows, 67% of people stopped mid-shop because something aroused their suspicion. And that is a problem for anyone in the e-commerce world.
While Gen Z may be savvy and naturally untrusting of websites generally, everyone else is more open to fraud of some kind. Recently, stories have emerged of bad guys hijacking Facebook pages, for example, and promoting themselves as the original company, even down to condemning the bad guys (themselves) for scamming them. For example, one company in the UK makes beautiful iron sculptures. They retail for around $2,000. A bunch of bad guys set up a spoof page, and then another did the same. And another, and another, and another. The spoof went viral, and the owner of the original company got complaints from ‘customers’ saying they got either nothing or a plastic statue worth $5. The owner complained to Facebook, and Facebook said it was down to the owner to identify each fake page. But it was like identifying ‘every leaf in a forest.’
At that stage the owner went a) mad and b) bust.
Some of the things about a dodgy website that Gen Z consumers, particularly, notice are typos, poor design and weird domain names (see below). Oddly, things that large companies would expect to increase trust go largely unnoticed. Trust seals, for example, are irrelevant to most because most people do not know what a padlock means. Crisp images and modern design are more important factors.
Meanwhile, overly big banner adverts, lack of contact information and (the real ‘no-no’ for Gen Z buyers) a mandatory log-in before you can browse are all suspicious.
With the rise of scams and fraud and the increase in distrust in what companies are doing with customer data, ever more vigilance is required. As corporations and the professionals tasked with guarding the borders of their domains nears breaking point – both physically and mentally – the advice would seem to be: ask a Gen Z e-commerce buyer what they would and would not trust.
That way, anyone in the e-commerce game can gain an advantage when it comes to building trust in a brand.
The research is complex, read the methodology and full results here.
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