Online Service Contracts: Cancellations & Compliance for UK Retailers
What do UK retailers need to keep in mind when it comes to service contracts? Special rules for compliance and cancellations should be followed.
Have you come across the Trusted Shops Trustmark in an online shop? You might’ve asked yourself what it is or if it makes sense for your online shop. Today, we’ll try to answer all those questions.
We’ll cover the following topics:
Table of contents:
What is the Trusted Shops Trustmark?
The Trusted Shops Trustmark is a 3rd party certification based on EU regulations. Online shops display it on their website to build trust with shoppers browsing their website.
Trusted Shops was founded in Germany in 1999, at a time when e-commerce was finding its footing in mainstream society. Online scams and fake shops were prevalent even back then. The founders decided to create a certification for online shops they deemed trustworthy as a signal to online shoppers that this is a reliable retailer.
Shops that display the Trustmark also offer their customers the option to take on the Buyer Protection, which covers returns and non-delivery for up to 30 days.
With over 45 million consumer memberships and more than 32,000 member shops, Trusted Shops has expanded to serve markets across Europe and the UK, creating the ever-growing Community of Trust.
What is the Buyer Protection?
If you think of the Trustmark as a flag, then the Buyer Protection is the shield behind it. It is the tangible form of security supporting the certification. The 30-day Buyer Protection is offered to shoppers for free for purchases up to £2,500.* For a small fee, they can also cover purchases above this threshold.
*This value may vary depending on the market that the shop services.
What does the Buyer Protection cover?
The Trusted Shops Buyer Protection covers the following situations:
- Refund of money in case of non-delivery or service.
- Refund of money if the store does not return the amount to the buyer after the purchase has been cancelled, if the product is returned, or if it is lost in transit.
The Trusted Shops Buyer Protection covers the scenarios mentioned above if they occur within the valid protection period for the purchase in question and up to a maximum of the agreed insured amount.
The buyer will receive an email after securing their purchase. In addition to the Buyer Protection confirmation number, this email also indicates the amount and duration of the protection.
More details regarding the Buyer Protection can be found here.
As an online merchant, you can be sure that your customers will always be informed about the details of the Buyer Protection they have taken out to insure their purchases.
How do shoppers process a claim with the Buyer Protection?
Let’s have a look at the process of making a claim with the Trusted Shops Buyer Protection.
If the buyer has a problem with their order and the issue fits one of the situations mentioned in the previous section, then the process to file a claim would go as follows:
- The customer logs into their My Trusted Shops account.
- They submit a refund request to Trusted Shops before the Buyer Protection expires.
- Trusted Shops contacts the store to inform them about their customer's complaint and clarifies the details.
- The buyer provides Trusted Shops with all the necessary receipts within 7 calendar days after submitting their request for a refund.
- Trusted Shops decides if the case is covered by the Buyer Protection based on the receipts, contractual stipulations, and legal requirements.
- If Trusted Shops determines that there is a refund obligation, Trusted Shops will ask the online store to make the refund. If the online store does not refund the payment to the buyer within a period of 7 calendar days, Trusted Shops will refund the money directly and then present the invoice to the online store.
Your customers will always have a contact person at their disposal in case of any complaints or problems with the order. This will give them the peace of mind and confidence to complete their order. And once they see how smoothly everything works with your shop, they won't hesitate to shop with you again and again.
Online shoppers who visit your store will feel that they are in good hands knowing Trusted Shops is there for support.
How can online shops qualify for the Trustmark & Buyer Protection?
Shops need to pass the certification process in order to display the Trusted Shops Trustmark. Based on EU regulations, our team of experts will go through the website to make sure the shop passes the certification process. Shops going through the certification process are guided by our experts in order to help them achieve compliance.
To give you an example of some of the requirements, the Certification team will check if the shop:
- provides a safe way for shoppers to share sensitive data
- exercises the legal right for customer cancellations
- displays all costs in a transparent way
Because service reviews are an integral part of a shop’s online reputation, shops must maintain a 4.0 rating in order to display the Trustmark and offer the Buyer Protection. A service reviews platform is included in the Trusted Shops membership.
Good to know: Service reviews and product reviews on the Trusted Shops platform are Google-certified reviews, which means they can be seen in the search results in the form of star ratings.
Displaying the Trustmark & Buyer Protection
There are a number of ways to display the Trustmark, but the most common way is through the Trustbadge.
The Trustbadge is a widget that can be found throughout the website. It displays the Trustmark, the Buyer Protection as well as a customer rating (in the form of stars).
On mobile devices, the Trustbadge is more compact, simply displaying the Trustmark and the customer rating.
Clicking on the Trustbadge gives more information about the shop and how the Buyer Protection works. It also lets the user access the customer reviews and your shop profile if they want to dive deeper into your collection of reviews.
Trust marketing
The Trustmark can help boost your trust marketing efforts as well.
Trusted Shops also offers member shops the possibility to incorporate graphics and animations into their marketing visuals. This can help shops boost trust during their first interaction with your brand.
Members have the option to download a number of graphics and templates via the 'Marketing Material' tab in the Control Center. This way, they can display the Trustbadge in places such as social media posts, banners, videos, newsletters, etc. Adding trust elements to your marketing material can help increase clicks, thus boosting traffic and conversions.
Benefits of the Trustmark & Buyer Protection
Whether it’s a professional or personal context, trust is difficult to earn but easy to lose. Trust is often a calculated risk, especially in the e-commerce world. With that in mind, there is no simple solution to building trust. It comes from doing the right thing consistently. It comes from authenticity. It comes from you communicating trust signals to your shoppers.
When it comes to building trust online, every bit helps: offering localised customer service, having customer reviews, being easily accessible and informative. These are just some of the things that today’s online shopper looks for when deciding your trustworthiness.
The Trustmark and Buyer Protection help you put your money where your mouth is. Anyone can say “trust me, bro”, but displaying the Trustmark and offering the Buyer Protection is like having the receipts right there.
The Trustbadge adds a whole new level of transparency to your offer. With a floating widget, users are reminded of your trustworthiness throughout the customer journey. And with a few clicks, they can read plenty of authentic reviews or learn more about the Trustmark & Buyer Protection.
Trust statistics
In a survey we conducted of 750+ online shoppers across Europe, we learned that when shopping in a new shop, displaying trustmarks/certificates helped convince shoppers (43%) to buy from them for the first time.
Similarly, offering a buyer protection or guarantee convinced 39% of shoppers.
The same survey revealed that trustmarks and buyer protections were considered even more important for luxury products. For example:
- Jewellery & watches:
- 52% of shoppers found the Buyer Protection to be particularly important.
- 49% of shoppers found a trustmark/certificate to be particularly important.
- Luggage, bags, and leather goods:
- 52% of shoppers found the Buyer Protection to be particularly important.
- 54% of shoppers found a trustmark/certificate to be particularly important.
Want to read more about trust in e-commerce? Check out the Digital Trust Report:
Conclusion
The combination of 3rd party accreditation, a Buyer Protection, and customer ratings makes one little widget work wonders for building trust in your online shop. The trust solutions don’t end there. Trusted Shops has plenty of other solutions for building trust with your audience, whether it is on your website or in search engines like Google.
Have questions? Get in touch with us today!
