The Best Social Proof App for Shopify (And How to Build Trust)

What is the best social proof app for Shopify and how can it help your store?

First, let’s define social proof in the context of e-commerce: Any method of showcasing other people loving your product in a believable manner.

This builds trust and makes a customer more likely to buy if they’re on the fence.

One of those major ways is product reviews.

Trust factors are the backbone of any offer you make (Hint: The Shoptimized™ Theme is loaded with trust-building social proof tools, that’s why it’s been rated as the best converting Shopify themes).

Qubit conducted a study of over 6,700 large e-commerce experiments. They found out that “cosmetic changes have a far smaller impact on revenue than treatments grounded in behavioral psychology.”

The biggest impacts on your bottom line?

Best Social Proof App for Shopify

From the research itself:

  • Scarcity (stock pointers) +2.9% uplift
  • Social proof (informing users of others’ behavior) +2.3% uplift
  • Urgency (countdown timers) +1.5% uplift
  • Product recommendations (suggesting other products to purchase) +0.4% uplift

Best Social Proof App for Shopify

Let’s take a look at a few decision-driving statistics:

  • Having just five reviews results in purchase likelihood increasing by a factor of almost four times (Spiegel Research Center, 2017)
  • 84% of people trust reviews they read online as much as personal recommendations (Bright Local, 2017)
  • Displaying reviews for higher-priced products can increase conversion rates by 380% (Spiegel Research Center, 2017)
  • Reviews produce an 18% uplift in sales (Revoo, as shared by Econsultancy)

Like we said, product reviews are the first thing you think of when you think of social proof, so we’ll lead that.

However, there are plenty of other ways other than product reviews to display social proof. We’re going to look at the biggest wins when it comes to creating trust and reassurance.

Which equals a huge profit uplift for your Shopify store.

Why Product Reviews Are So Powerful – Best Social Proof App for Shopify

In case you missed the first stat mentioned earlier:

  • Having just five reviews results in purchase likelihood increasing by a factor of almost four times (Spiegel Research Center, 2017)

So, if you don’t have product reviews on your site, well…

With Aliexpress and Amazon, you can easily import them into your own site.

If you’re not convinced it’s worth focusing on collecting and curating product reviews, here are only a handful of the statistics out there:

  • 97% of shoppers say reviews influence buying decisions (Fan and Fuel, 2016)
  • Reviews produce an 18% uplift in sales (Revoo, as shared by Econsultancy)
  • Consumer reviews are significantly more trusted (nearly 12 times more) than descriptions that come from manufacturers, according to a survey of US internet users by online video review site EXPO. (eMarketer, February 2010).

What’s more, a lot of Shopify stores (particularly dropshippers), use the same standard product descriptions that they get from manufacturers or suppliers.

It’s okay, I know you do it. You’ve got a lot on your plate.

But here’s the thing, this kind of content doesn’t stand out to Google.

What does get Google’s attention, however, is unique content. Google’s algorithm ranks sites higher that are more unique, thorough, and relevant.

Better content = higher ranking in Google = more eyeballs on your store = more sales

The way to do that with a more hands-off approach to content creation is getting customer reviews.

The Shoptimized™ Theme allows for great-looking customer reviews for your visitors to read and gain trust in your store and product.
Another plus for consumer reviews with Google, with rich result formatting, you can stand out from the crowd.
Loox runs on autopilot collecting and publishing helpful product reviews from your customers. Show off happy customer reviews to build trust and leverage social proof.

Instagram Feed for More UGC

User-generated content (UGC) is a great way to build trust and potentially drive sales to your store.

An amazing way to generate some exposure is to simply reach out to customers.

Up to 80% of reviews originate from follow-up emails urging shoppers to review their purchases (Power Reviews, 2017)

Ask them for a review of your product via Instagram photo. Ask them to tag to your business account.

You can then repost the picture under your own account (free content!) and have it on display for other potential customers to see. It’s showing how existing customers are using your product. It’s a double-win.

What’s even better, you can tag your products within your Instagram posts.

Instafeed allows you to showcase the photos you post within your Shopify store. So you don’t have to hope that users will go to your Instagram page to view all your social proof.

Facebook Messenger Chat for Familiarity and Trust

Facebook Messenger is now being used for live chat, cart abandonment recovery, order confirmation, and more.

It’s best to think of Facebook as a more informal email platform. Not only are opt-ins able to receive updates from you but they can purchase goods within Facebook Messenger.

Even if users don’t interact with the chat, they can opt-in to receive messages and get in touch easily if they have an issue later.

So how do the metrics on FB Messenger stack up to email? Enough to convince internet marketing expert, Neil Patel, to stick with it. During his experiments with Facebook Messenger automation, he had an 88% open rate and 56% click-through rate!

Also, Olyo ran a study:

“People tend to click more on the contents received via Messenger than on those received by emails. From our tests, we obtained an average of 98% open rate and a 44% click-through rate via Facebook Messenger.”

Replacing your live-chat with Facebook messenger has multiple benefits.

Reachability. On a regular live chat, if they don’t enter their email, you lose them once they leave. With Facebook Messenger, you have the ability to message prospects on a platform they frequently use. This also means you can reach them for abandoned cart recovery.

Trust. There’s an added level of trust you gain by ending up in a customer’s message list. You’re right there with their other friends that they message.

Automation. You can use chatbots with Facebook Messenger to create a sequence much like you would for your email subscriber list. A chatbot can easily go back and forth with a prospect to narrow down what they’re looking for. And can even provide custom-tailored recommendations much like a sales representative.

Combined with a well-thought-out retargeting ad campaign, this creates a killer follow-up conversion rate to secure those sales from customers that you thought were already goners.

Segmate makes it easy to communicate with your customers via automation, answer frequent questions, and close more sales.

In summary, this integration feature within the Shoptimized™ Theme allows for Facebook Messenger to be displayed on your store. This means more customers to connect on live chat, abandoned cart recovery, chatbot automation integration, and more.

Using Your Reasons to Buy Icons to Reinforce Trust

“Why should I buy it from you?” That’s the question that’s going on in your customer’s head. And if you don’t answer it, the familiarity of Amazon is just a couple of clicks away.

In a world with e-commerce stores competing with each other more and more, you have to separate yourself from the pack.

Why should someone shop with you? What can you promise them that the others can’t or won’t?

The Shoptimized™ Theme‘s “Reason to Buy” Icons easily conveys your store’s trust factors (aka “Reasons to buy from us instead of Amazon”) to motivate your buyers to shop with you.

  • Maybe you’ve served a lot of customers? “Over 10,000 happy customers
  • Maybe you’ve been in business for a while? “Established in 1972
  • Maybe you’ve won awards for the best in business? “Best of the best award for 2020

Consider these questions when you’re thinking about your reasons to buy:

  • Are you going to offer a better guarantee/return policy experience than an Amazon seller?
  • Do you offer fast and free shipping? Or better shipping value than an Amazon seller?
  • Are you going to offer better financing or payment methods?
  • Do you offer a low price guarantee?
  • Are you going to offer gamified chances for customers to save on price?

What’s your social proof?

Displayed under your product photo, your visitors can be reminded why they should buy from you rather than leave and shop around.

You need a good reason, a conviction even, to stop users from going where they already feel safe. Amazon.

What are the top reasons that people abandon their shopping carts? Baymard Institute has been finding out every year for quite some time.

If you aren’t highlighting the top reasons to shop with you (and they better include some of these) then you’re not playing with a full deck of cards.

The Shoptimized™ Theme allows you to tell your visitors why they should buy from you at the best time possible, right when they’re about to commit to buying from you. The “Reasons to Buy” icons under the Add to Cart button and on the cart page delivers the message with clarity.

Payment Logos (Which One Feels Familiar?)

Give your customers a heads up that you have their payment method of choice on your Shopify store.

CXL found that payment merchants like Visa-Mastercard showed to be most familiar to 42% of 1,046 consumer respondents.

It’s also important to display that your site is protected and their information is safe at checkout.

As much as online consumers are getting more and more used to convenience, security is still a primary factor.

Baymard’s Checkout Usability study found that 18% of users have abandoned a checkout flow during the last 3 months because “they didn’t trust the site with their credit card information”.

This means that if you’re not assuring visitors that your site is safe (even though you know it is), they may not trust buying from your store.

The Shoptimized™ Theme has the Payment Logos feature to showcase your payment methods and store security. Build trust by clearly displaying the payment methods you accept & the security you have in place.

Recent Sales Notification Pop-Up (Where’s the Action At?)

Like the persuasion expert Dr. Cialdini says, ”We seem to assume that if a lot of people are doing the same thing, they must know something we don’t.”

Knockaround, an online sunglasses retailer, uses recent sales pop-ups to give social proof of their store’s popularity and sales.

The Shoptimized™ Theme natively shows recent purchases made by other customers to provide social proof. Relieving you from having to hunt for, install, and pay for yet another app subscription.

A subtle pop-up that randomly displays sales from your store. If your prospects see a buying frenzy, they’re more likely to join in.

Using Shipping Information to Keep Surprises to a Minimum

I’ve read tens of thousands of Hotjar exit poll surveys. For both my own sites and dozens of consulting clients. The number one reason people abandon their carts is: surprising them with shipping costs.

People hate shipping costs that they feel are unreasonable, they’re a complete conversion killer.

This isn’t so much about social proof as it is about being a trust factor.

The Shoptimized theme lets you configure and display your product’s shipping time and the estimated day of delivery. Giving your customer an extra boost of trust in your store.

Showing Total Units Sold (Just like eBay)

How many e-commerce sites have you been to that show the ‘best sellers’?

It’s clear that everyone wants to know what everyone else is buying. Because hey, if everyone else is buying it, there must be something good about it.

Bestseller categories are great but showing the number of units sold is taking it to the next level.

eBay has been using this tactic for a while. And they show no sign of stopping this incredible social proof tactic.

eBay shows the amount of each item sold for some listings. The more you sell in comparison to others, the more likely the amount you’ve sold as a seller will be displayed.

Bestseller categories are great but showing the number of units sold is taking it to the next level.

Use social proof to show when products are in high demand.

Facebook Likes (But Be Warned)

When people see that a Facebook business page has a lot of likes, it’s a sign that the brand is worth taking a look at.

The Shoptimized™ Theme lets you proudly display your Facebook-like count, increasing social proof and visitor trust.

I feel the need to say this. When you buy likes for your Facebook page from some dodgy gig on Fiverr, it doesn’t do your business any favors.

Instead of focusing on a solid strategy that can grow your business, you’re spending money on “followers” who will never buy your stuff.

Another plus is that once you gain followers, your reach becomes an investment. Ads become cheaper to your own crowd, you get exposure to your followers’ friends, and ultimately you sell more.

Showing Live Stats (Where the Party’s At)

Having live stats of your orders and products brings your Shopify store to life. For that reason, visitors feel like they’re part of a type of shared shopping experience and get into ‘the rush’.

Combining social proof with urgency and scarcity creates the ultimate combination for selling.

The Shoptimized™ Theme’s live stats help you achieve this by:

  • Showing the number of people viewing a product
  • Displaying the number of people who have the product in their cart
  • Showing the quantity of the product sold in the last 24 hours

A great example of using social proof (and urgency + scarcity) is Airbnb’s message when you’re viewing a property you want to stay at

Airbnb uses live stats to let you know how popular the property is (social proof) and how likely it is to be snatched up (urgency/scarcity)

Conclusion for the Best Social Proof App for Shopify

Hopefully, you’ve gleaned some valuable insights on how to add social proof and trust factors to your Shopify store.

Do you want to be able to implement those kinds of behavioral psychology principles that generate sales in your store today?

If you are looking to completely revamp your store’s look, Shoptimized™ is the best converting Shopify theme and has everything you want for the same social proof app benefits.

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Bradley Long

Bradley Long

Bradley is a Conversion Rate Expert and store owner since 2005. He’s helped some of the world’s most sophisticated brands to double and sometimes triple their conversion rates. He architected the #1 unofficial Shopify theme, Shoptimized™ and is also CEO of Funnel Buildr, the perfect tool for massively growing your store’s Average Order Value.

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