Building trust in the digital space is a difficult task for many online shops. After all, customers cannot get a personal impression of the retailers in question, or examine the goods before buying. Trust is one of the most important factors in the purchase decision process and is often a critical factor in whether a purchase is completed or not.
This is where the Trustmark offered by Trusted Shops comes in. Trusted Shops audits shops that want to carry the Trustmark against extensive quality criteria and checks, among other things, whether they display a transparent order overview before one is making a purchase. This is what makes the Trusted Shops Trustmark unique in how it awards trustworthy online shops. As a result, it has firmly established itself as a trust brand in the minds of online shoppers over the past two decades.
Certified online shops also earn the trust of their customers with the help of Buyer Protection, which is an integral part of the Trustmark. Thanks to the Trustmark, customers can easily ensure their purchases and protect themselves against financial loss, for example, if something should go wrong. More than 30 million consumers throughout Europe use the Buyer Protection for their online purchases and in this way satisfy their individual need for security.
What do I have to do to be awarded the Trustmark?
If you are interested in the Trustmark for your online shop, please talk to your personal contact within the Customer Success team.
However, it is also important to understand that the Trustmark is a distinction for shops that meet our quality criteria and cannot be simply “bought”, but only be awarded. It is precisely because of this neutral check that consumers trust our Trustmark and shop carefree in the online stores certified by us. Instead, when you book, you acquire the right to go through our certification process. Our experts will take a look at your shop after the contract has been accepted and check it against our quality criteria.
After the audit, you will receive a report from us listing all the mandatory action points that will need to be implemented by you before being awardes the Trustmark. To support you, you will receive concrete instructions for action so that you can fulfil the outstanding points as quickly as possible. At the bottom of the audit report, you will also find some useful recommendations that are intended to help you further optimize your shop. The blue marked points, however, are not mandatory in order to display our Trustmark.
After receiving your feedback, your shop will be checked again. As soon as the audit process has been successfully completed, you will obtain the right to display the Trustmark in your shop.
Incidentally, it is perfectly normal and no cause for concern if you do not meet all the quality criteria when your shop goes through the first audit. If you would like to find out more about the certification process, you can do so in the Certification category.
How can I display the Trustmark in my shop?
The technical integration of the Trustmark into your shop is achieved via the Trustbadge®. Even though the Trustmark is often an elementary part of the Trustbadge, the Trustmark and the Trustbadge are not the same thing. Instead, the Trustbadge is a JavaScript code snippet that, in addition to the Trustmark, also displays your collected star ratings in your shop and thus acts as your personal signboard.
In addition, on the technical side the Trustbadge enables the optimal use of the Trusted Shops products you have booked. For example, it ensures that your customers are offered the Buyer Protection in the checkout process and can sign up for a review reminder.
If you have already integrated the Trustbadge into your shop, you do not need to do anything else to display the Trustmark in your shop. After passing the certification, the Trustbadge automatically expands to include the Trustmark within a few days.
If you have not yet integrated the Trustbadge into your shop, you will need to do so now so that the Trustmark can be displayed and the Buyer Protection can be offered. But don't worry: only a few steps are necessary to achieve this, which you should be able to follow even without in-depth programming knowledge. We even offer our own plug-ins for many shop software systems, with the help of which you can integrate the Trustbadge into your shop with just a few clicks.
Simply use our article "Integrate Trusted Shops into your shop" as a starting point and find the integration guidelines that suit your shop.
Can I also use the Trustmark outside my shop?
Yes, once you have passed the certification, you may also use the Trustmark outside your shop for communicating with your customers. The possible areas of application are numerous and include, for example, newsletters, invoices, or delivery notes. You can find the necessary graphics and other helpful information on our landing page for the Trusted Shops advertising package.
In addition, you also have the option of using the Trustmark in your advertising and marketing measures. For example, you can present it in advertising banners and ads, print objects such as flyers and catalogues, outdoor advertising, social networks or TV commercials.
Would you like to use the Trustmark for these kinds of marketing measures? Then please let us know in advance. To do this, contact your personal contact at Trusted Shops via the e-mail address members@trustedshops.com or by calling +44 203 364 5906. Your contact person will be happy to advise you on how to proceed.