Fears deal directly with financial, security, form, and overall site errors. Although purchasing online has become more widespread in recent years, users are still anxious about site security before placing an order. Users may be confident in the site, but when it comes to entering credit card information online, their confidence in the company begins to waver a bit and must be reinforced during this process. We’ve all heard of or maybe even know someone who had a bad experience buying from the wrong place or providing her information to the wrong company. It’s still an online transaction, and many users believe hackers can access their information. As online usage has increased over the years, so has online fraud. And although there will always be a degree of anxiety or friction in this regard, dispelling these fears head-on can have a positive impact on site conversion rates.
In a down economy, a common fear is the affordability of items and ease of return. Some companies caught on to this fairly quickly. Hyundai, the Korean auto company, countered this FUD head-on by offering a job loss protection clause to buyers. To ease the fear of making a large investment in the shaky job market of 2009, the car company reassured buyers that if they purchase a car, but later lose their job, they can simply return the car without having an effect on their credit score. The program offers a safety net of $7,500 for car buyers in case they encounter issues due to the rough economy.
As a result of this assurance program, Hyundai saw a spike in sales. It successfully understood the questions potential customers had and provided them with an apt solution to counter their fear.
Sears and Kmart understood that fears increased in a down economy as well. As a result, they increased the effectiveness of their layaway programs, which allow buyers to select items they need and pay for them over time. These companies had scratched their programs in 2006 but revived them in 2008, just in time for the holidays, to address cash-strapped consumers and recent drops in sales. Their strategy paid off. Shoppers could basically buy a large quantity of gifts and pay for them incrementally throughout the year, many times at a low interest rate. Additionally, the companies are now trading gold for cash in an effort to increase sales. At the time of this writing, gold prices are soaring, and consumers remain strapped for cash to purchase items. So, Sears and Kmart customers can now bring their gold to these stores and trade it for cash to purchase items. Since gold prices are so high, it’s a win-win situation for Sears and Kmart. They are getting a good return on the gold and are gaining more customers by providing them with cash to purchase items from their stores.