TrustedCompany.com has recently launched the "Trust Award 2014 - Malaysia". The Award aims to honor online shops in Malaysia that have been rated best by their customers in terms of trustworthiness and popularity during a three week lasting contest starting on the 4th of August. The Award has been designed to help customers in Malaysia identify reliable and reputable online retailers.
During the contest phase consumers can write reviews about their most or least favourite online shop on TrustedCompany.com. They can share their personal stories of buying products and rate the overall experience - whether good or bad. The reviews can cover anything from purchasing shoes to booking holiday trips to acquiring concert tickets over the internet.
The Trust Award will initially be limited to Malaysian online shops but will be expanded to other South East Asian markets such as India or Indonesia later this year.
"Nowadays, customers, especially in emerging markets such as Malaysia, face huge trust issues. The award is going to bridge the transparency gap between online shoppers and merchants by providing third party validation in form of certificates and premium seals for the participating companies", Philip Knuth states, Co-founder and Managing Director of TrustedCompany.com.
These seals and certificates help to build confidence as consumers in emerging markets who visit e-commerce sites often lack the ability to validate the merchant behind a respective site. This intransparency and uncertainty leave customers indecisive and more likely to not place an order with that merchant or online at all. Scammers can easily create seemingly real online stores that sell goods which are widely searched for at prices that are incredibly low. For instance customers are being lured with smartphones at half the manufacturer's price. The real intention, however, is to collect credit card information.
"With the award we want to actively tackle scam and thus encourage everyone to write reviews about their online experiences. We want to empower consumers to recommend or warn against certain shops and benefit from other people's reviews at the same time. On the other side, we want online retailers to use those reviews to signal trustworthiness and transparency and thereby significantly increase their order conversion", Knuth emphasizes the mutual benefits for both online retailers and customers.
TrustedCompany.com currently aims to become the leading consumer review platform for Asian online consumers to check and actively review online merchants. The launch of the "Trust Award 2014" is just the next big step towards that goal. "Outstanding merchants in the Malaysian internet market deserve a reward for their integrity and customer service. In times of intense fraud and scam especially in Malaysia customers increasingly value their voices being heart and the possibility of being able to share good or bad experiences on platforms such as TrustedCompany.com", Knuth mentions.
Eventually, a purchase decision stands or falls with trust in the merchant. Research by the e-tailing group proves that 63% of online customers prefer online shops with ratings and reviews. "It simply feels better to buy from shops which friends have verifiably been satisfied with", Knuth states.
"Participating in the contest is an easy and free possibility for any Malaysian online shop to boost trust and credibility, let customers spread the word about the company and eventually increase sales", Knuth concludes.
To safe yourself a Participant Seal or write a review about your last shopping experience in order to win an iPad visit the TrustedCompany.com - Award Page.
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