With so many distractions in the world these days, more and more people are turning to the internet to get their shopping done. It’s fast, efficient, and you don’t even have to leave the comfort of your own home to make your purchase. Google decided to make this process even more streamlined and intelligent by removing the element of uncertainty and instilling faith in the company that the user is looking to purchase from. This aims to reduce the fear of purchasing from an unknown seller. It would be interesting to see how companies use social media marketing strategies to further improve buyer confidence before making a purchase.
Google’s Trusted Stores Program takes the form of a tab on a store’s website that provides browsers with a wealth of information to aid their shopping experience. The tab displays grades in both customer service and shipping efficiency categories, with a letter grade and a percentage, in addition to more detailed numbers about how they are determined. As Google is a premium brand and the search engine wants to award the “Trusted” label to only the highest quality vendors, only stores that provide the best online shopping experience receive the distinction. There will likely be activity from online stores trying to implement online marketing campaigns in order to prove that their sites are worthy of become Trusted Stores.
Google even offers the service of helping the process along if any issues occur. An option to receive up to $1,000 lifetime purchase protection for each shopper is always offered and Google’s customer service group mediates any problems that may arise.
The program is especially valuable to the vendors, driving new potential for sales through the acquisition of new customers, and displaying their commitment to quality through the grade tab that is prominently featured in the bottom right corner of their website. The next step for Google is to incorporate the tab into the Google search results pages and Google.com advertisements. This will lead to even more exposure for businesses as it is essentially an internal form of internet marketing through Google.
After months of testing, Google reports that the program is succeeding with flying colors and approved by both sellers and customers. Google Trusted Stores is now available to all stores in the U.S. that apply. If all of this weren’t already substantial enough, it is also important to note that the service is completely free to both sellers and buyers. Testing is still being carried out to determine the best possible combinations of information and create a final version.
