I just read an article by the Steven Wonda, founder of buySAFE, citing research that the “Trustworthiness of the merchant” is important to 55% of online shoppers, nearly double the importance of getting a good deal.
We recently ran a study of online consumers that found that 78% have more trust/respect for brands that feature product reviews. And we compared this for US and UK customers. Note the UK is slightly lower, and our hypothesis is that reviews are not as prevelant there (yet!).
So, in addition to solutions like buySafe who sponsored the study above, also consider the fact that if you have reviews on your site your prospects and customers will have more trust in your brand!
[...] starts climbing again. The trust must be re-earned. And for some businesses, they are beginning to re-earn the trust through their word of mouth initiatives, showing they are sincerely interested in being enablers of open, honest, and beneficial consumer [...]