At Invent Electronics, customers can order their electronic components from our website, pay on the website and have their components delivered to them in their homes.

One of the most frequent questions we get from would-be 1st-time customers is this:

How do I know you guys are genuine and won’t run away with my money?

Usually, these guys arrive on our site from Google search. Prior to their search on Google, they didn’t even know we existed.

The question above is a very legitimate concern for customers in Africa attempting to make online purchases given the proliferation of online scams in many African countries, especially Nigeria and Ghana.

Because of the prevalence of online scams, people are sceptical about doing business and parting with money online and this has become a challenge e-commerce companies in Africa have to overcome.

Establishing trust in the eyes of the customer is something African e-commerce companies will have to take very seriously if they really want to increase conversion rates and drive more sales from their website.

If you already run an e-commerce business in Africa or you are thinking of running one, here are 6 strategies you can use to establish trust among your website visitors.

1. Ensure your site looks professional and is well designed. Nothing makes a sceptical buyer more suspicious than a poorly designed website.

2. Put testimonials from current customers on your homepage. This assures them that other people have done business with you and you can be trusted. If you have positive press releases about your company, include links to them too.

3. Have a live chat service (if you can). With live chat on your site, potential buyers get the opportunity to talk to a real person and this gives them more confidence that you are legit.

4. Make yourself easily accessible. Let the customer feel that they are dealing with people. Include an about us page on your site and make it easy for the customer to contact you by displaying your number and your address prominently.

5. Prove that your website is secure. One way to do so is to make sure your site has an SSL certificate. (Your site begins with https and has a padlock symbol).

6. Get reviews. Let customers leave reviews on your products. Reviews are like testimonials. They let the buyer know that other people have bought from you so it is safe to buy from you too.

Building trust among first-time shoppers as an e-commerce business in Africa is not easy. However, If you adopt these strategies you will see more website visitors turn to customers.