Small business owners are at a real advantage online – providing they emphasis their “smallness”. Many people set up an online business to help them look big – but this could be working against them according to a new study in the USA.
It seems that people trust small businesses more than they trust large businesses – and trust is a measure of how likely someone is to buy from you. So, you stand a greater chance of getting purchasers if you are small.
The study also revealed that it is the combination of price and customer service that leads to more trust. Low price combined with high levels of service are more important to people in terms of engendering trust. High prices combined with low service is a real turn off for potential customers.
The worst problem for online business owners is that Internet businesses are the least trusted of all. Few people actually trust online businesses compared with traditional bricks and mortar businesses. Hence it is essential for anyone running an online business to generate trust.
