Where there is light, there is also shadow. The number of online stores is growing steadily and with it the number of counterfeit products on offer. This is a real problem for consumers, stores and brand manufacturers alike. Around 79 percent of companies in Germany – across all sectors – are affected by product piracy. In addition, there is damage to the image of high-quality brands that can hardly be expressed in figures. Trust and security in digital commerce are therefore becoming more important than ever. The various players basically have similar interests:
- Brand manufacturers want to work with reputable and professional online retailers to strengthen the Good name of their brand.
- Store operators want to differentiate themselves from dubious, unauthorized providers and are also looking for new ways to increase their conversion.
- Consumers need help to identify reputable providers in a crowded market.
In this guest article, Nathalie Bureick, Chief Marketing Officer at authorized.by, explains why trust-building marketing measures are so important for your online business and how seals of approval help to strengthen your credibility.
What can online store operators do to improve trust?
Seals of approval are a well-established, quick way to create trust and security among consumers. This was also shown by the Online Seal Monitor 2020. More than half of those surveyed stated that an online store with a seal is generally more secure than one without. In addition to seals that certify reliable customer service or verified customer reviews, for example, there is now also a seal of approval that counteracts the problem of counterfeiting.
With the authorized.by seal, which can be integrated into your JTL-Shop 5 via a plugin, online retailers can prove which brand manufacturers have authorized them to sell their products online. This gives end customers the assurance that the products listed are confirmed originals from the brand. Such a seal in turn strengthens your image as a reputable store operator.
Request unlimited authorizations
The process is simple: As a store operator, you register on the authorized.by platform and create a company profile. From your profile, you have the option of sending authorization requests – automatically – to your brand partners whose products you sell in your store. The requests are free of charge and unlimited. Stores can already use the “Authorized Partner” real time seal as a sidebar on the store level with the first request.
If you receive confirmation from your brand partners, their brand logos will be added to the seal of approval. In this way, all your brand partners will gradually be shown in the “Authorized Partner” seal. The seal is linked to an online certificate with one click, which is connected to the seal provider’s pages and contains various real time components, such as URL verification or the time of authorization. They are physically stored on the authorized.by server with secure SSL encryption and therefore cannot be edited or falsified by third parties.
Maximum trust through the TÜV brand
If you decide to go through the so-called TÜV-ShopIdent – an easy audit to check your web identity – the authorized.by seal will be extended by the TÜV-ShopIdent. The additional confirmation of your identity as a provider by the globally recognized TÜV® trust mark makes it easier for customers to make a purchase decision and increases your conversion.
The seal can be used at both store and product level and is available as a header, sidebar and footer solution. You can also activate two mobile versions for your store. The seal is integrated via our plugin for JTL-Shop and can be positioned with pixel precision. The seal can also be tested in a sandbox for ten days before going live.
You can find out how many authorizations you have received, which requests are still open and whether there are other interesting brand partners – Suggested Partners – on the platform via your dashboard. As a two-sided platform, store operators and brands can network in this way and expand their opportunities.
Authorization also on marketplaces
Do you also sell on marketplaces such as eBay? Then you can use eBay’s “Authorized Seller” program to build customer trust there too. Authorized sellers are specially marked on eBay and can therefore stand out from non-authorized sellers in the list view with a blue badge with a tick. authorized.by is an exclusive solution partner for eBay.
Sales increase of up to ten percent
A case study conducted by authorized.by together with Globetrotter – an established retailer in the outdoor sector – documents just how much the authorized.by seal can support your online business. Three factors were significantly increased and sales rose by around ten percent.
Do you also want to create more trust with your customers? Then download the authorized.by plugin from the JTL Extension Store now!
authorized.by® is an authorization platform for building trust and increasing performance in digital commerce. Online stores benefit from visible confirmation as an authorized brand partner through the real time “Authorized Partner” seal and TÜV-ShopIdent, optimization of time-to-market via product content pushes from manufacturers and expansion of the partner network. Customers now include over 2,300 well-known brands from various sectors such as Tag Heuer, GIANT, Thule, VAUDE, MTD-Products (WOLF-Garten), Estée Lauder, Napoleon, Deuter, Patagonia, Stabilo and more than 2,900 retailers such as Globetrotter, Sporthaus Schuster, Autoteile Immler and Essenza Nobile. authorized.by is a member of TÜV Saarland Group.
