How to pick and add the best trust seal to Magento 2 checkout

Hello to Amasty blog readers!

In this article, we would like to spotlight trust seals on the Magento 2 checkout page.

Do you really need them?

Which badges can build trust?

Which trust marks can motivate customers to complete a purchase?

Let’s figure it out together.

 Nothing can motivate your customers more than a good service. If running a multi-language store you may mess multiple customer data, such as order numbers. Therefore, we suggest you trying our Magento 2 Order Number to prevent the problem. 

Why care about seals and trust marks?

It’s reasonable that all customer groups worry about their money and personal information. As online fraud rises, security is becoming more important for people. In fact, a lack of trust in the payment process is one of the top reasons for checkout abandonment. The stats say that the growth of online fraud is a problem for many e-commerce businesses:

• In 2017 Imposter Scams was a top fraud with nearly 350,000 reports (FTC);
• 61% of shoppers say that they have at least once decided not to purchase a product because it was missing a trust seal;
• 18% of American shoppers abandon the checkout process because they don’t trust the website with their credit card information (The Baymard Institute Research).
• 

There are dozens of ways to improve your checkout. Adding trust badges to the last step of the purchasing process has a double benefit: (1) it can increase your conversion rate and (2) you can easily test its efficiency with an A/B test.

What kinds of trust seals exist?

Generally, a trust seal is a mark from a third-party company which guarantees that your website, store, or business is safe and authentic. Trust badges work as psychological stimuli for customers. Consider the green lock that you get with SSL certificates. Customers are more likely to trust your checkout process and purchase on your website if they see the HTTPS green padlock.

Now, straight to the types of trust seals.

#1. SSL badges

To be valuable, trust seals should represent real security features. Many trust badges are associated with Secure Sockets Layer, or SSL. This is a technology that ensures a secure connection and transmission of data, for example, credit card numbers. There are two general types of seals:

• SSL badges with standard validation;
• SSL badges with extended validation, or EV SSL certificates from Comodo, GeoTrust, GlobalSign, Symantec, etc.

The difference between the two is pretty small. Unlike standard ones, EV SSL certificates require a check on the website rights to use a specific domain name and a thorough vetting of the organization. So, such badges will cost more.

#2. Trust badges

Trust badges don’t promise any proven security features. Rather, they indicate the trust of another reliable brand. For example, the Better Business Bureau seal doesn’t enhance the technical security features of a website but does show that this business has been checked by a reputable third-party company. You can also display any other credentials that you have permission to use.

#3. Custom badges

What else? There are also ‘homemade’ badges that you can create or download to give customers a sense that your website is reliable and legitimate. For example, this can be a ‘Money Back Guarantee’ badge. This real-world

Put simply, you can use any symbol if it builds trust. Service providers, like an SSL certificate provider, a payment processor, or a hosting company, usually give you a javascript snippet (most likely) or an image file (unlikely) with the trust seal. All you have to do is to add this image to your webstore UI.

How to choose an ideal trust seal?

Before you invest your money in EV SSL or other certificates, you should ask yourself what exactly your business and customers need? What is your main aim? Do you want to make your website more secure? Or do you just want to make your customers feel secure? The answers depend on the niche and business specifics, as well as on target customers’ preferences. The Bag Servant story shows that a badge from a third-party organization, with no real indication of enhanced security, can have a considerable positive impact on conversion rates. So, it seems that it’s not about getting a seal that actually represents first-class technical security, but about making visitors feel secure. To puzzle it out, let’s look at the Baymard Institute study.   

Should you opt for a leader?

Baymard Institute asked consumers which badge gave them the best sense of trust when paying online and got the following results:

Norton seems to be the most trustworthy security seal with 36% of votes. Unlike the McAfee, TRUSTe, and BBB seals, which are trust badges, this is an SSL badge and you can get it with the Symantec SSL/TLS certificate. Yet again, do the results mean that you need the Norton seal? Actually, it depends. Ideally, you can invest in three leading seals: in the Norton SSL seal to indicate an encrypted connection, in the McAfee seal to present yourself as a “hacker safe” site, and finally in either the BBB Accredited or the TRUSTe seal to show customers that reliable companies trust you. The Baymard Institute survey doesn’t show whether you should choose one or several trust seals. Not to rely on guesswork, you can make it clear by carrying out A/B tests. Moreover, don’t rush to reject other 4 trust seals listed just because they got lower scores. The results show that the Norton seal is more preferable than the one by Comodo but it doesn’t mean that the latter fails to inspire any confidence at all. The best tactic here is to test, test, and test.

Should you focus on target audience?

Target customers matter as well. The CXL Institute research showed that customer demographics influence their trust in badges. Women generally have more security concerns than men when shopping online (46% vs. 37%). Also, female shoppers are more open to Norton (53% vs. 44%), BBB (43% vs. 35%) or Shopify (18% vs. 13%) trust seals than male customers. As for the age, Gen Y (aged under 30) shoppers are more likely than Baby Boomers (aged 50+) to feel secure when they see a Google (54% vs. 31%), Norton (54% vs. 45%), TRUSTe (31% vs. 20%) or Trusted Shops (9% vs. 3%) trust seal. So, keep your target customers in mind and pick the trust seals that make them feel safe.

How to easily add trust seals to Magento 2 checkout?

If you use Amasty Magento 2

Now create a custom block by clicking the Add new block button in the upper-right corner:

In the new tab, fill in basic fields, insert an image, or relevant code in the block description.

After the block is ready, go to the Amasty One Step Checkout settings and drop down the Custom Block section. Here, you should choose the block that you’ve just created in either the Top or Bottom Block depending on your preferences.

That’s it. Now let’s check how the seal looks like on the frontend.

Here it is. Just a couple of clicks, and the job is done.

Make the same settings for your Magento 1 store with our One Step Checkout.

So, what do we get at the end of the day?

It makes sense to use trust seals for any e-commerce business that gathers personal information and accepts online payments. And the reason for that is not only a rise in the actual security of your webstore but also a higher perception of this security by customers. If there is a chance that a small image will make your brand look more reliable and will positively affect the conversion rate, why not try it?

While the checkout page is one of most reasonable places for trust seals, you can now easily add them using a new feature of the Magento 2 One Step Checkout extension.

Feel free to share your ideas and stories in the comment feed below and stay tuned for more e-commerce tips coming up.