Have you noticed that online shopping has gotten weird? It is not because e-commerce is bad as a whole, there are plenty of e-commerce stores trying to do what they can to wow their customers. But the problem here is scam sites. Specifically, scam sites have gotten much better at looking real. If you think about it, anyone can spin up a Shopify store in a weekend, make a social media page that looks active enough, and start running ads that feel legit.
And now AI is in the mix, so it’s even harder to tell what’s real. The photos can be generated, reviews can be fake, the videos can look polished, and the writing can sound “professional” without actually saying anything. You get the idea. Online right now, trust is fragile because people already struggle to figure out what’s real and what’s AI, and when it comes to spending money… well, that just makes it even worse.
As an e-commerce store, you can expect that potential customers are scanning your small business for red flags, so how can you make your business look more trustworthy?
Stock Images and Generic Content Make People Assume the Worst
Have you seen this yourself? Are you guilty of it? Because the fastest way to make a store feel sketchy, is making it look generic. If product photos are clearly stock images used on ten other sites, it feels risky. Product description reads like it was copied and pasted from a manufacturer’s sheet, it feels lazy. The homepage sounds like it was written by a robot who learned marketing from a textbook? It definitely feels off.
To be honest, any stock AI images in general, be it product or not, is all quite sketchy. So you need to be real, and yes, that includes the videos and the writing. Because, believe it or not, people can usually tell if it’s AI-generated.
Shipping Policies Can Make or Break Trust
And that’s very fair here. What about the shipping? Some shoppers are nervous about shipping because they’ve been burned by slow delivery or surprise fees (like international packages, for example). So it helps to be transparent about how orders are handled.
A business can absolutely run well with a lean setup, including working with dropshipping suppliers that ship efficiently and keep inventory risk low, as long as the store is upfront about timelines and quality control. But that’s the thing, it’s transparency.
Sure, we’re in a time of instant gratification and people wanting packages fast. But you, as the business, still need to be honest about how long it’s going to take. If you outsource this to a fulfillment center, they will be able to give you a timeframe on delivery; also they can and will keep you updated.
A Store Can Look Legit and Still Feel Unreliable
Something else to think about, the website just looks off. But how? Well, a store can have a decent design and still feel untrustworthy if it looks inconsistent; it sends alarm bells to the brain. So this can be random fonts, mismatched product photos, different tones across pages, and a brand voice that changes every paragraph.
It gives “thrown together,” which is not the feeling shoppers want before entering card details. So that’s why it’s hammered down hard in branding that there needs to be consistency, like the font, color scheme, things like that.
Take these points under advisement and see your business soar!
Photo by Antoni Shkraba Studio
