How Amazon Wins Consumer Trust

Consumers trust Amazon. That trust has been built and maintained by consistent and transparent product experiences. Forbes said, “Amazon has earned our trust by delivering the products we want, on time, intact, in the same branded brown boxes—consistently.” 

A Verge survey revealed, “most people would miss Amazon if it were to disappear” and “most people trust Amazon as much as their bank.” Salsify’s own study declared 51% of U.S. shoppers trust Amazon to give them “the most useful product information.” Additionally, Amazon was declared “America’s most trustworthy brand,” earning the highest scores on The Values Institute’s 2017 National Most Trustworthy Brands Survey. 
How can your brand win consumer trust?

Amazon’s consistent and transparent product experience is what is winning hearts and minds. For the Salsify 2018 Consumer Research Report, we surveyed more than 1,000 U.S. consumers who shopped online at least once in 2017, and found trust has shifted from brand familiarity and visibility, to the experience, specifically product experience.

Shoppers want to feel both empowered to make wise product decisions on their own, but also lean on a brand’s expertise when desired. 

To illustrate how Amazon’s example of both consistency and transparency come into play, if two listings appear side-by-side in an Amazon search engine results page (SERP), our study proved the one with more images will convert at a higher rate and outrank the competitor 53% of the time. In the same way, a listing with more bullets will convert higher and outrank the side-by-side competitor 51% of the time. And finally, a listing with more reviews will convert higher and outrank the competitor 58% of the time. That is the power of consumers trusting your product experience. 

Consumer trust will win more shoppers

The same Forbes report said, “From convenience to price, product selection and overall experience, Amazon has mastered the customer relationship.” Our report backs up this statement. Of the shoppers Salsify surveyed, the most – 41% – start their product search on Amazon and then buy on Amazon, and 28% find their way to transaction completion on Amazon via Google.

In this digital age, product experiences win consumer trust. By focusing on truthful, informative, and clear online product content and delivering a consistent experience (content, images, reviews) each and every time, brands can drive higher margins and more sales.

Brands should start building trustworthiness by:

• Consistently and transparently providing the right content
• Merging customer intelligence with product intelligence to individualize the product experience
• Boosting review count and quality by reducing poor reviews through stellar products and customer service