Google Trusted Stores Open to Qualifying Merchants

Posted by on June 7, 2012 in Comparison Shopping, Customer Service Strategy, Ecommerce, Free CSEs, Paid CSEs

Google announced today that all qualifying merchants are now able to use the Google Trusted Stores program.

The Google Trusted Stores program, which Google has been testing with 50 online merchants since last fall has exceeded Google’s expectations, generating “more than 10 million orders” Google reports.

The free Google Trusted Stores badge is designed to give shoppers an idea of the quality of merchant they are purchasing from, without needing to have any familarity with the seller.

Each merchant with a Google Trusted Store badge has a letter grade which summarizes the user experience with shipping and service.

Although the Google Trusted Store Badge can only be used on store websites currently, Google noted it will be appearing on “Google.com ads and in Google Shopping results” shortly.

For merchants, this is an opportunity to generate sales from new shoppers, and highlight special features such as shipping or customer service. Retailers who are providing excellent customer service will be able to stand out even more, extra exposure which Google is providing for free.

If you meet the Google Trusted Store Merchant Guidelines (see below), you can sign up for Google Trusted Stores here.

 

Google Trusted Stores merchant qualifications

Google Trusted Stores Performance Standards

 

With the upcoming changes to Google Shopping looming in the fall, this is an opportunity for merchants to boost conversions.

About the AuthorMary Weinstein is Content Manager at CPC Strategy, with extensive experience in all things Ecommerce, comparison shopping (CSE) management, Google Shopping and digital marketing. A NY native, Mary spends her time discussing CSE strategy with online merchants, hiking and drinking copious amounts of coffee. See all posts by this author here.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=21908597 Ben Czajkowski

    Since the implementation requires a popup on the confirmation page, of an order, to prompt the customer to opt into the Trusted Store program, how would you suggest handling a confirmation page that already has a popup, requesting the customer rate the business on Bizrate? For the sake of argument, having both popups would be a HUGE nuisance to the customer. I also don’t want to just ignore Google Trusted Stores because this program will probably have big ramifications…

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=692530923 MerryMary Whyyabuggin

      Hi Ben,

      Great question! I’m sure this is definitely something many other merchants are also wondering about.

      You’re right that multiple survey pop ups isn’t a good UX, and that Google Trusted Stores is a beneficial program for merchants who can participate.

      If you can code, or have access to anyone who can code, the best scenario would be to have the Bizrate and Google surveys appear alternately, so that the shopper won’t be presented multiple pop ups simultaneously.

      If this is not a viable option, your should default to the Google Trusted Stores survey, and remove the Bizrate survey. (The Bizrate survey is just a simple html code on the order confirmation page, so deleting it is fairly simple).

      Google Trusted Stores is the larger contender of the two, and warrants your attention.

      Also if you have had the Bizrate survey active for some time, I’d assume you already have some surveys accumulated on that engine, so you hopefully have some social proof established there already.Whereas with Google Trusted Stores you haven’t accumulated any reviews yet.

      I hope this helps you decide, but feel free to shoot me any other questions you might have.

      - Mary

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=21908597 Ben Czajkowski

      Thank you, Mary. The whispers in my head told me basically the same things.

      To clarify: when you say alternately, do you mean have Google TS pop up and _then_ Bizrate?

      My idea for implementation, after reading your articles, was: For orders that end in an odd number, display Bizrate. For orders that end in an even number, display Google TS. However, I’m not sure how well Google TS would react to only receiving half of the order information. I thought about trying to send it anonymized data for those orders that are displayed Bizrate. I’m not sure that would be okay, though, at least, not yet.

      Ultimately, I’m the coder, and this is a business decision. A very tough one. We have a strong Bizrate score, and I don’t think we’d want to see that slip or grow stagnant.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=3316560 David Weichel

      Apparently you need to have 1000 orders tracked by Google before you are even eligible for the Trusted Stores badge… (see 3rd paragraph from bottom – http://www.cpcstrategy.com/blog/2012/06/google-trusted-stores-a-potential-game-changer-in-ecommerce/ ).

      If that’s the case, and Google is also counting those orders based on how many times the GTS code is fired on the order confirmation page, a rotating js script between surveys might just end up prolonging the merchant from meeting this criteria.

      That said, if you’re a Zappos or Walmart this probably it’s a concern since they can reach 1000 orders fairly quickly. But for SMBs this slight caveat (which Google doesn’t really do a good job highlighting) could prevent them from qualifying if they are rotating between a bizrate, pricegrabber and GTS survey code.

      For SMBs it might be a good idea to only pursue to GTS surveys in the short term, or at least until you’ve crossed the 1000 order threshold. Then you can start rotating the surveys again…

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=692530923 MerryMary Whyyabuggin

      Hey Ben,

      David makes an important point.

      If you can use both surveys without any pop up overlap, and you aren’t in danger of generating less than 1000 orders (per GTS requirements as David points out), than go for it!

      Otherwise you’d be best suited to just use GTS surveys for now, and potentially include both later if possible.

      Good luck!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=21908597 Ben Czajkowski

    Since the implementation requires a popup on the confirmation page, of an order, to prompt the customer to opt into the Trusted Store program, how would you suggest handling a confirmation page that already has a popup, requesting the customer rate the business on Bizrate? For the sake of argument, having both popups would be a HUGE nuisance to the customer. I also don’t want to just ignore Google Trusted Stores because this program will probably have big ramifications…

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=692530923 MerryMary Whyyabuggin

      Hi Ben,

      Great question! I’m sure this is definitely something many other merchants are also wondering about.

      You’re right that multiple survey pop ups isn’t a good UX, and that Google Trusted Stores is a beneficial program for merchants who can participate.

      If you can code, or have access to anyone who can code, the best scenario would be to have the Bizrate and Google surveys appear alternately, so that the shopper won’t be presented multiple pop ups simultaneously.

      If this is not a viable option, your should default to the Google Trusted Stores survey, and remove the Bizrate survey. (The Bizrate survey is just a simple html code on the order confirmation page, so deleting it is fairly simple).

      Google Trusted Stores is the larger contender of the two, and warrants your attention.

      Also if you have had the Bizrate survey active for some time, I’d assume you already have some surveys accumulated on that engine, so you hopefully have some social proof established there already.Whereas with Google Trusted Stores you haven’t accumulated any reviews yet.

      I hope this helps you decide, but feel free to shoot me any other questions you might have.

      - Mary

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=21908597 Ben Czajkowski

      Thank you, Mary. The whispers in my head told me basically the same things.

      To clarify: when you say alternately, do you mean have Google TS pop up and _then_ Bizrate?

      My idea for implementation, after reading your articles, was: For orders that end in an odd number, display Bizrate. For orders that end in an even number, display Google TS. However, I’m not sure how well Google TS would react to only receiving half of the order information. I thought about trying to send it anonymized data for those orders that are displayed Bizrate. I’m not sure that would be okay, though, at least, not yet.

      Ultimately, I’m the coder, and this is a business decision. A very tough one. We have a strong Bizrate score, and I don’t think we’d want to see that slip or grow stagnant.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=3316560 David Weichel

      Apparently you need to have 1000 orders tracked by Google before you are even eligible for the Trusted Stores badge… (see 3rd paragraph from bottom – http://www.cpcstrategy.com/blog/2012/06/google-trusted-stores-a-potential-game-changer-in-ecommerce/ ).

      If that’s the case, and Google is also counting those orders based on how many times the GTS code is fired on the order confirmation page, a rotating js script between surveys might just end up prolonging the merchant from meeting this criteria.

      That said, if you’re a Zappos or Walmart this probably it’s a concern since they can reach 1000 orders fairly quickly. But for SMBs this slight caveat (which Google doesn’t really do a good job highlighting) could prevent them from qualifying if they are rotating between a bizrate, pricegrabber and GTS survey code.

      For SMBs it might be a good idea to only pursue to GTS surveys in the short term, or at least until you’ve crossed the 1000 order threshold. Then you can start rotating the surveys again…

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=692530923 MerryMary Whyyabuggin

      Hey Ben,

      David makes an important point.

      If you can use both surveys without any pop up overlap, and you aren’t in danger of generating less than 1000 orders (per GTS requirements as David points out), than go for it!

      Otherwise you’d be best suited to just use GTS surveys for now, and potentially include both later if possible.

      Good luck!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=21908597 Ben Czajkowski

    Since the implementation requires a popup on the confirmation page, of an order, to prompt the customer to opt into the Trusted Store program, how would you suggest handling a confirmation page that already has a popup, requesting the customer rate the business on Bizrate? For the sake of argument, having both popups would be a HUGE nuisance to the customer. I also don’t want to just ignore Google Trusted Stores because this program will probably have big ramifications…

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=692530923 MerryMary Whyyabuggin

      Hi Ben,

      Great question! I’m sure this is definitely something many other merchants are also wondering about.

      You’re right that multiple survey pop ups isn’t a good UX, and that Google Trusted Stores is a beneficial program for merchants who can participate.

      If you can code, or have access to anyone who can code, the best scenario would be to have the Bizrate and Google surveys appear alternately, so that the shopper won’t be presented multiple pop ups simultaneously.

      If this is not a viable option, your should default to the Google Trusted Stores survey, and remove the Bizrate survey. (The Bizrate survey is just a simple html code on the order confirmation page, so deleting it is fairly simple).

      Google Trusted Stores is the larger contender of the two, and warrants your attention.

      Also if you have had the Bizrate survey active for some time, I’d assume you already have some surveys accumulated on that engine, so you hopefully have some social proof established there already.Whereas with Google Trusted Stores you haven’t accumulated any reviews yet.

      I hope this helps you decide, but feel free to shoot me any other questions you might have.

      - Mary

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=21908597 Ben Czajkowski

      Thank you, Mary. The whispers in my head told me basically the same things.

      To clarify: when you say alternately, do you mean have Google TS pop up and _then_ Bizrate?

      My idea for implementation, after reading your articles, was: For orders that end in an odd number, display Bizrate. For orders that end in an even number, display Google TS. However, I’m not sure how well Google TS would react to only receiving half of the order information. I thought about trying to send it anonymized data for those orders that are displayed Bizrate. I’m not sure that would be okay, though, at least, not yet.

      Ultimately, I’m the coder, and this is a business decision. A very tough one. We have a strong Bizrate score, and I don’t think we’d want to see that slip or grow stagnant.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=3316560 David Weichel

      Apparently you need to have 1000 orders tracked by Google before you are even eligible for the Trusted Stores badge… (see 3rd paragraph from bottom – http://www.cpcstrategy.com/blog/2012/06/google-trusted-stores-a-potential-game-changer-in-ecommerce/ ).

      If that’s the case, and Google is also counting those orders based on how many times the GTS code is fired on the order confirmation page, a rotating js script between surveys might just end up prolonging the merchant from meeting this criteria.

      That said, if you’re a Zappos or Walmart this probably it’s a concern since they can reach 1000 orders fairly quickly. But for SMBs this slight caveat (which Google doesn’t really do a good job highlighting) could prevent them from qualifying if they are rotating between a bizrate, pricegrabber and GTS survey code.

      For SMBs it might be a good idea to only pursue to GTS surveys in the short term, or at least until you’ve crossed the 1000 order threshold. Then you can start rotating the surveys again…

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=692530923 MerryMary Whyyabuggin

      Hey Ben,

      David makes an important point.

      If you can use both surveys without any pop up overlap, and you aren’t in danger of generating less than 1000 orders (per GTS requirements as David points out), than go for it!

      Otherwise you’d be best suited to just use GTS surveys for now, and potentially include both later if possible.

      Good luck!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=21908597 Ben Czajkowski

    Since the implementation requires a popup on the confirmation page, of an order, to prompt the customer to opt into the Trusted Store program, how would you suggest handling a confirmation page that already has a popup, requesting the customer rate the business on Bizrate? For the sake of argument, having both popups would be a HUGE nuisance to the customer. I also don’t want to just ignore Google Trusted Stores because this program will probably have big ramifications…

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=692530923 MerryMary Whyyabuggin

      Hi Ben,

      Great question! I’m sure this is definitely something many other merchants are also wondering about.

      You’re right that multiple survey pop ups isn’t a good UX, and that Google Trusted Stores is a beneficial program for merchants who can participate.

      If you can code, or have access to anyone who can code, the best scenario would be to have the Bizrate and Google surveys appear alternately, so that the shopper won’t be presented multiple pop ups simultaneously.

      If this is not a viable option, your should default to the Google Trusted Stores survey, and remove the Bizrate survey. (The Bizrate survey is just a simple html code on the order confirmation page, so deleting it is fairly simple).

      Google Trusted Stores is the larger contender of the two, and warrants your attention.

      Also if you have had the Bizrate survey active for some time, I’d assume you already have some surveys accumulated on that engine, so you hopefully have some social proof established there already.Whereas with Google Trusted Stores you haven’t accumulated any reviews yet.

      I hope this helps you decide, but feel free to shoot me any other questions you might have.

      - Mary

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=21908597 Ben Czajkowski

      Thank you, Mary. The whispers in my head told me basically the same things.

      To clarify: when you say alternately, do you mean have Google TS pop up and _then_ Bizrate?

      My idea for implementation, after reading your articles, was: For orders that end in an odd number, display Bizrate. For orders that end in an even number, display Google TS. However, I’m not sure how well Google TS would react to only receiving half of the order information. I thought about trying to send it anonymized data for those orders that are displayed Bizrate. I’m not sure that would be okay, though, at least, not yet.

      Ultimately, I’m the coder, and this is a business decision. A very tough one. We have a strong Bizrate score, and I don’t think we’d want to see that slip or grow stagnant.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=3316560 David Weichel

      Apparently you need to have 1000 orders tracked by Google before you are even eligible for the Trusted Stores badge… (see 3rd paragraph from bottom – http://www.cpcstrategy.com/blog/2012/06/google-trusted-stores-a-potential-game-changer-in-ecommerce/ ).

      If that’s the case, and Google is also counting those orders based on how many times the GTS code is fired on the order confirmation page, a rotating js script between surveys might just end up prolonging the merchant from meeting this criteria.

      That said, if you’re a Zappos or Walmart this probably it’s a concern since they can reach 1000 orders fairly quickly. But for SMBs this slight caveat (which Google doesn’t really do a good job highlighting) could prevent them from qualifying if they are rotating between a bizrate, pricegrabber and GTS survey code.

      For SMBs it might be a good idea to only pursue to GTS surveys in the short term, or at least until you’ve crossed the 1000 order threshold. Then you can start rotating the surveys again…

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=692530923 MerryMary Whyyabuggin

      Hey Ben,

      David makes an important point.

      If you can use both surveys without any pop up overlap, and you aren’t in danger of generating less than 1000 orders (per GTS requirements as David points out), than go for it!

      Otherwise you’d be best suited to just use GTS surveys for now, and potentially include both later if possible.

      Good luck!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=625236674 Saurabh Khurana

    Is the GTS program free for merchants as long as one meets the performance metrics?

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1200529 Nii A. Ahene

      Yes, GTS is free for Merchants

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=625236674 Saurabh Khurana

    Is the GTS program free for merchants as long as one meets the performance metrics?

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1200529 Nii A. Ahene

      Yes, GTS is free for Merchants

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=625236674 Saurabh Khurana

    Is the GTS program free for merchants as long as one meets the performance metrics?

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1200529 Nii A. Ahene

      Yes, GTS is free for Merchants

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=625236674 Saurabh Khurana

    Is the GTS program free for merchants as long as one meets the performance metrics?

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1200529 Nii A. Ahene

      Yes, GTS is free for Merchants