As a consumer, you are wary of sharing your personal information online with brands you don’t know well—and you're smart to do so. Each shopping cart software solution offers a different level of security, and only the best and clearest online stores will make the sale. Reassuring your customers that your brand is trustworthy and their personal information is safe is crucial to closing more sales and driving more return customers.

With the media buzzing about the prevalence of data breaches, you'll want to offer your customers some peace of mind. The tips below offer proven techniques for inspiring better trust in your brand.

There’s no better way to inspire trust in your brand than to let customers offer testimonies about their experience. Many companies are wary of reviews because it doesn’t give them complete control of their brand. It’s inevitable; for one reason or another, some customers will post negative reviews. Exercising restraint in deleting negative reviews is actually an admirable quality to customers; it shows that you’re honest enough to let the people have a voice instead of running your own ecommerce dictatorship. Let’s face it: big brands have already inspired customer trust, so why not align yourself with one? Security seals from online security companies like McAfee and VeriSign aren’t only recognizable to your customer; they show that you’ve spent the time and energy to ensure the personal data of your customer is safe. The end effect is trust in your brand and peace-of-mind. While the endorsement of customers and security brands are crucial, you can’t underestimate the power of using a much more personal voice to reassure your customers of their privacy. A privacy policy is your way of directly telling customers that you're dedicated to keeping their personal information safe. This may seem like a no-brainer, but it's easy to forget little details. Offering your contact information helps to put a face on your online store’s brand. Putting that information on every page is a good way to remind your customers that you're a legitimate company and here to help out with the shopping process any way you can.