How Confirmation Emails Can Build Trust with Parents in Online Stores

As of 2024, there are approximately 27.2 million e-commerce stores operating globally, which is a 6.16% increase from last year. More and more, businesses are beginning to recognise the benefits of running a completely online store, with convenience, accessibility, and reach being the three key cornerstones. 

But that’s not to say it’s simple. On the contrary, building trust with certain target audiences can be immensely challenging in the online space, with parents, specifically, being a tough nut to crack. 

Parents are highly discerning shoppers, and they approach online purchases with caution, especially when it comes to products for their children. Whether it’s safety, quality, or reliability, parents want to ensure they’re making the best possible choice before committing to a purchase. If you manage to build trust with them, however, there’s every chance they will become a loyal customer.

Convenience is a key point here. Because they are often balancing multiple priorities, parents want to avoid the hassle of searching the internet whenever they are in need of a certain product. If the product is good, the experience is stress-free, and the trust is built, they won’t go looking elsewhere. 

If you’re running a family-oriented e-commerce business, you will need to put the work in to build that trust with parents and achieve their loyalty. There are many ways to do this – far too many to fit into a single article – so let’s look at the most simple and, simultaneously, the most effective. 

Confirmation Emails for Building Trust

That’s right, achieving trust can be done through something as simple as an order confirmation email. If you’re running your online store through Shopify or WooCommerce – two of the major e-commerce platforms in the UK – you have a range of tools and plugins at your disposal, with automated Shopify and Woocommerce emails being the most useful in this instance. 

Whenever a shopper completes a purchase, you can use these plugins to email them automatically, confirming their order and providing all the most important details about the transaction. The standard information will be included here: the order summary, expected delivery dates, tracking numbers, and clear contact information in case the customer has any questions or concerns. 

But that’s not the only information you can include. According to recent studies, confirmation emails have the highest open rate of all e-commerce emails, and this makes them a prime opportunity to engage the customer and work to build their all-important trust.

Optimising Confirmation Emails for Building Trust 

Going beyond the basics, you can start by leveraging the automated email tools mentioned earlier to personalise the content. Whether they’re a parent or not, personalisation is key in making customers feel valued and understood, and this should go beyond simply writing their names.

In addition to the order summary, you should include related products that might complement their purchase – for instance, if they have bought a baby product, you can suggest baby clothes, blankets, or toys, and encourage them to visit the site for further details. While you might not get any immediate repeat purchases, you are demonstrating that you recognise the customer and what they want, and therefore presenting yourself as relevant and thoughtful. 

What’s more, you could offer them future discounts. By rewarding them for shopping at your store, you’re establishing a sense of exclusivity which can be particularly attractive for parents looking to save money on essentials. 

If you want to go above and beyond this, you can also provide additional resources, going beyond the transactional nature of confirmation emails by offering how-to guides for using the product, tips for family care, or blog posts that are relevant to what they just bought. 

Once again, this might not be something that parents are actively looking for, and perhaps they will only browse through this content for a few minutes, but it demonstrates your intent to help them and be an authority in your field. The key to running a successful e-commerce business is getting rid of the mask inherent in working in the digital space. It doesn’t take much to get rid of it – in this case, a simple optimised confirmation email can be effective – but once you do, parents will undoubtedly start to trust you. And their trust can go a long way.