Focusing on the US e-commerce market makes sense for Shopify sellers, but you need to overcome the trust factor. A US number for your Shopify store helps create trust
The US is the 2nd largest e-commerce market worldwide with $640 billion spent a year. 620 million Americans buy goods online. Again, 2nd only to China.
Unless you are fluent in Chinese or hire someone who is, the US is a target market that makes sense. However, persuading Americans to buy online from a foreign store is quite the challenge.
Smart Shopify sellers take steps to signal to US shoppers that their store is trustworthy. Here are 5 signals you can use in your store:
- Store information must be written in grammatically correct and culturally appropriate English (For example, if you’re going for a US audience don’t use the word “football” when you mean “soccer”)
- Display recognizable security and payment logos that power your checkout and data collection. Recognizable means American shoppers are likely to recognize them (For example, they don’t know what Klarna is)
- Show prices in US dollars. There are apps that will automatically show prices in US dollars to shoppers browsing from a US IP address (and other currencies to shoppers from other countries)
- Use a US friendly top level domain name: “.com” is best but .net, .us, and .biz are also acceptable. Just don’t use a foreign country domains
- Include a US number for customers to contact you via texting. That’s where Message Mate, our Shopify app, can help
How Can Texting Create Trust for International Sellers On Shopify?
Trust for buyers on Shopify means to have confidence in the sellers and their integrity. The best way to create trust in the real world is through interpersonal relationships. Obviously, online transactions are not built on human interaction. When buying from an unfamiliar source, especially from a different country, customers feel uncertain. Uncertainty leads to doubts and inaction. This is where mobile texting provides a solution.
Mobile texts feel more personal to buyers because they are the exact same interface people use with their friends, family, and colleagues, and it’s on the device they love most, their cell phone.
Texting will help you overcome the virtual barrier with your customers. Interacting with your customers through a mobile text conversation with a local number will create a relationship. Customers will feel listened to and respected. All of this will extend the trust required to close a transaction.
Here is how getting a US number for your store through Message Mate will work:
- If your main market is the US, you can obtain a US texting number for your store. The number can be in any US area code or a toll free US number (aka “1-800”). We recommend a regular US area code as that’s more authentic
- The Message Mate widget will display in your store for all visitors to see
- Customers will text your US number just like they would any local US business
- Messages will forward to your email or you can use our dashboard. There is no need to pay for international texting
- When you reply, customers will receive your message as a text on their phone, from your store’s US number
- Ka-ching – relationship cemented, customer converted.
Get Message Mate and secure a US number for your Shopify store
Serving a different market? No problem. The same rules apply, adjusted for your target geography. Contact us and we’ll check on number availability in other countries for you. Pricing varies by country and we support texting in over 120 countries.