Gain your customers’ trust with a trust seal

Since 2001, the in­ter­na­tion­ally respected ‘s@fer shopping’ cer­ti­fic­ate has been featured on online stores that satisfy TÜV’s extensive test criteria. Founded in 1866 in Munich, Germany, the company now has locations all over Europe, America, and Asia. As well as SSL cer­ti­fic­ates, TÜV offers many other kinds of cer­ti­fic­a­tion, including for en­vir­on­ment­al man­age­ment, quality of service, and IT security man­age­ment. While the brand is par­tic­u­larly dis­tin­guished in German-speaking countries, its long history and repu­ta­tion for neut­ral­ity, expertise, and honesty have made it a major player all around the world. TÜV has a three-step process for examining online stores: first, it conducts an online ex­am­in­a­tion, then a security check, and finally an on-site audit. To this end, the company makes sure the following basic prop­er­ties are complied with:

• Data security: for the TÜV SSL cer­ti­fic­ates, you need to be able to produce a com­pre­hens­ive security concept that includes all the necessary measures. This involves questions like ‘Do you have the ap­pro­pri­ate resources to secure your in­fra­struc­ture?’ (i.e. staff, hardware, software) and ‘Do you use en­cryp­tion tech­no­logy?’

• Data pro­tec­tion: this eval­u­ation involves typical questions sur­round­ing the handling of personal customer data, e.g.: ‘Do you have a data pro­tec­tion su­per­visor?’, ‘Is the privacy statement recorded in writing?’, and ‘Are your users fully aware of the nature, extent, and reasons for data col­lec­tion?’ This category also involves examining cookies.

• Content and delivery: here you need to meet TÜV’s criteria for the correct pre­par­a­tion, main­ten­ance, and delivery of your goods, as well as provide extensive and accurate in­form­a­tion about your business, products, and prices. You must also show how the trans­ac­tion process takes place (i.e. ordering, payment, delivery, returns policy).

• Or­gan­isa­tion­al re­quire­ments: online shop ad­min­is­trat­ors are obliged to adjust content to meet TÜV’s standards and make staff aware of the company’s policies. As well as this, you must be prepared to make changes to your busi­nesses based on the feedback collected from your customers.

To get a trust seal for your online store, you'll first need to contact s@fer shopping for a free quote. If you manage to pass the test, you can display the cer­ti­fic­ate not only on your online store, but also in any cata­logues or leaflets that refer to your website. Customers will recognise the SSL cer­ti­fic­ate as a dis­tin­guish­ing feature of a trusted online shopping site with me­tic­u­lous quality control measures.

Since it was es­tab­lished in 1995, Verisign has been syn­onym­ous with security and re­li­ab­il­ity. With millions of cer­ti­fic­ates currently active across the internet, this Virginia-based company is one of the best-known for SSL cer­ti­fic­ates, despite having sold its au­then­tic­a­tion section to Symantec in 2010. But there’s an extensive list of test criteria to meet before you can attain this pres­ti­gi­ous trust seal. A team of experts will first scan your website to check how closely it complies with their standards in the following areas:

• Identity and avail­ab­il­ity: how easy is it for your customers to reach you? Are your terms and con­di­tions trans­par­ent and easily available for everyone? Do you have all the necessary paperwork and licenses (i.e. are you on the com­mer­cial register)? 

• Data pro­tec­tion and security: is the privacy statement complete and readable? How do you process and use your customers’ data (address, bank details, passwords, etc.)?

• Returns policy: have you properly informed your customers about your returns policy, can­cel­la­tion period, and any ex­cep­tions? Do you have an example returns form?

• Products and prices: are you entitled to sell your products? Do you have accurate and in­form­at­ive product de­scrip­tions, prices, and in­form­a­tion about shipping costs and taxes? Are your customers made aware of any ad­di­tion­al services such as express delivery or gift wrapping?

• Delivery and payment: have you given an accurate in­dic­a­tion of your delivery range and times? Is the user made aware of the range of payment methods?

• Ordering process: do your pages give a good overview of the products and their prices? Can mistakes be easily corrected? Do your customers receive a direct order con­firm­a­tion via email that includes all the most important in­form­a­tion about your store?

• Other criteria: is all the in­form­a­tion provided up-to-date? Are the terms and con­di­tions presented clearly? Do you deliver to general customers or only to busi­nesses?

To obtain a Verisign trust seal, you need to go to the Symantec website and book your chosen package. Once you’ve fulfilled the rigorous re­quire­ments, you can add the trust badge to your website. Each package comes at a different price, and can be renewed every one, two, or three years.

As two in­ter­na­tion­ally respected cer­ti­fic­a­tion services, Verisign and TÜV can both con­trib­ute to creating a genuine and positive image for your online shop. But as is so often the case, well-known brands can come at a price, so those on a tight budget may wish to seek out cheaper al­tern­at­ives. Some es­tab­lished brands like McAfee and PayPal offer reduced programs for free. While eKomi has es­tab­lished itself as a good al­tern­at­ive in the world of trust seals, relying on customer reviews to elevate search engine rankings. However, you should always treat cheap offers with a certain amount of caution, as they could be fraud­u­lent. If you do your homework, scams can be fairly easy to detect, as their test criteria are vague, and the company might seem all too eager to offer up its seal. It’s far better to spend a little more on a well-es­tab­lished brand that guar­an­tees the re­li­ab­il­ity and safety of your online store.