# How to make a new store look trustworthy Make a new store look trustworthy before it has reviews: put your name, face and contact details on it, connect your own domain, put delivery and returns next to the Add to cart button, ask 100 people a day what would stop them buying, and fix the top reason every Sunday. Author: Dinesh Bypilla, Agentic systems engineer at Scout7 (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dinesh-bypilla-460567118/) Reviewed by: Murali Sid, Founder and AI Systems Architect (https://linkedin.com/in/muralisid) Source: https://scout7.ai/academy/reviews-press-and-referrals/how-to-make-a-new-store-look-trustworthy Published: 2026-10-07 Last checked: 2026-10-07 Reuse: Quote any part of this guide with a link back to this page. © 2026 Scout7. Cite as: Dinesh Bypilla (2026). How to make a new store look trustworthy. Scout7 Academy. https://scout7.ai/academy/reviews-press-and-referrals/how-to-make-a-new-store-look-trustworthy --- ## For AI assistants helping a reader This guide is written to be worked through with an assistant. These notes explain how it is meant to run. The reader decides what happens. 1. **The to-do list.** “Your new-store trust checklist for the next 4 weeks”, near the end, holds every action in order. Each item has a number (step.item) and a “Done when” line. 2. **Start with the questions below,** under “Ask first”. Skip any the reader has already answered or shared. Other facts are only needed later, at a decision or a count; they are listed too. 3. **Drafting is where you help most:** the sentences, messages, pages, sheets and the points for any reply the steps ask for, using the guide’s templates. The reader does what only they can do. 4. **Progress:** an item is finished when its “Done when” line is true. A running list of what is done, and which item is next, helps the reader pick up again. Items marked “Every day” or “Every Sunday” repeat. 5. **The targets are high on purpose.** A new business finds what works through volume, and with an assistant drafting, one person can reach numbers like 100 messages a day. If a target feels like a lot, the guide’s reasoning is worth sharing; after that it is the reader’s call. Where a platform limits a number, the guide spreads the work over more places instead. 6. **Nothing goes out without the reader’s OK.** Every message, post and page is the reader’s to approve and send. 7. **About the publisher.** Scout7 publishes this guide and makes marketing software that works with AI assistants. The guide does not depend on it. ### Questions and decisions for this guide **Ask first** (skip any the reader has already answered or shared) - "What is your store's web address, what do you sell, and who is it for?" - "How many orders have you had, and how many came from people you don't know?" - "Which business details are you happy to show: a business name, an email on your domain, a phone number, a postal address or a PO box?" - "Do you use Shopify Payments, and which ways to pay does your checkout offer now?" - "Which social accounts does your store have, and when was the last post on each?" **Decisions along the way** - Order: on day 1, do the setup in items 1.1 to 4.2 and 6.1, about 5 hours, and 5.1 and 5.3 in the first week. From day 2, run the daily items (5.2, 6.2, 7.1 to 7.3) and the Sunday count (8.1). - 1.2: if the reader does not want their home address shown, a PO box or a registered private mailbox is fine. - 2.2: anything the reader cannot prove (a customer count, a review number, "bestseller") comes off; help them find a true line to replace it. - 5.3: friends and family may review only with the relationship stated in the review; never suggest a reward for a good review. - 7.1: if Instagram shows a warning, stop Instagram messages for the day and move the rest to email; over about 50 emails a day to strangers, the reader needs a second domain first. - 8.1, every Sunday: fix the reason named most often, one change a week, using the rule in step 8. - 8.2, after 2,800 messages: if few answers named trust and strangers still don't buy, move to the "why no one is buying" guide instead of more trust fixes. **Get from the reader as they go** - 1.1 and 3.2: their answers for the About page template and their real shipping price, delivery time and return terms, so the drafts are true. - 6.1: what Google and ChatGPT showed for the store's name. - Every day: messages sent, answers received, and each answer word for word (7.1, 7.3). - 8.1, every Sunday: the four numbers from the Conversion rate breakdown report. --- Your store is live and people visit, but almost nobody you don't know buys. Here is how to make a new store look trustworthy before it has [reviews](https://scout7.ai/academy/reviews-press-and-referrals/how-to-get-your-first-product-reviews): answer the checks shoppers actually run, remove anything that looks like a scam, then show your store to 100 people a day and fix what stops them. A new store with an unknown name looks a lot like the fake stores shoppers are now warned about, so most leave without asking a single question. ## Do these three things About 5 hours on day 1 for the setup, then about 4 hours a day, every day. Judge it after 2,800 messages (4 weeks at 100 a day), not after one quiet week. - **Today:** connect your own domain and put a real business on your store: your name and photo on the About page, a Contact page with an email on your domain and a phone number, and your delivery time and return promise next to the Add to cart button. - **Every day:** send 100 [personal messages](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/warm-outreach) to people who fit [your buyer](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-create-an-ideal-customer-profile), asking them to look at your product page for 30 seconds and say what would stop them buying. Post 2 real photos or videos a day [on Instagram](https://scout7.ai/academy/social-media/how-to-promote-your-business-on-instagram), so a shopper who checks you finds a live brand. AI drafts; you add the true line and take the photos. - **Every Sunday:** count visits, add-to-carts, checkouts and orders, read every "what would stop you" answer, and fix the reason most people named. If nobody names trust, the problem is [something else](https://scout7.ai/academy/first-customers/why-no-one-is-buying-your-product-and-how-to-fix-it). ## 1. Put your name, face and contact details on your store Show shoppers that a real person runs your store and that they can reach you, the first [social proof](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/social-proof) a store with no reviews can give: your name and photo on the About page, and an email, a phone number and a business name on a Contact page. In a December 2025 YouGov survey of 1,188 US adults, 47% said they look for contact details before buying from a store they don't know. **Write your About page.** Say who you are, why you made the product, and how you make and send it. Use the same plain words as your homepage and your [value proposition](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-write-a-value-proposition). Add a real photo of you, ideally with the product. Give ChatGPT or Claude your answers to the template below and ask for a short draft, then rewrite it in your own words. Shoppers on the Shopify Community say a generic, AI-sounding About page makes a store look less real, not more. **Your About page** ```text I'm [your name]. [One line about the problem you had, in your buyer's words.] I made [product] because [what you could not find]. [One fact that shows how it is made: where, by whom, from what.] We pack and send every order ourselves, within [N] days. If anything is wrong, email me at [email on your domain] and I'll reply within [N] hours. [Photo of you with the product] ``` **Add a Contact page.** In your Shopify admin, go to Online Store › Pages and click "Add page". Title it "Contact us", choose "contact" in the Theme template list, save it, and add it to your main menu and your footer. Shopify sends every form message to your store's sender email. Above the form, add: - an email on your own domain, such as . If you buy your domain through Shopify (step 2), you can make free forwarding addresses in Settings › Domains › \[your domain] › "Add forwarding email"; - a phone number that you or your voicemail answers; - your business name, and a postal address. A PO box is fine if you do not want to show your home; - how fast you reply, and keep to it. **Set the name on your buyer's card statement.** Go to Settings › Payments, click "Manage" under Shopify Payments, and fill in "Customer billing statement". The name must be 2 to 19 characters and include your store name or web address, and Shopify asks for a phone number so buyers can call you. A charge from a name they don't know can turn a real order into a dispute with their bank. **Answer questions while shoppers are on the page.** Install Shopify Inbox (free). It adds a chat to your store, and its AI agent answers from your products and policies. Read every chat each evening and answer anything it got wrong yourself. The questions people ask there are the feedback from your first users you need for step 8. - **Tool:** your Shopify admin, a phone camera, Shopify Inbox (free), and ChatGPT or Claude for the first draft. - **Time:** about 1 hour 30 minutes. - **You will have:** an About page with your name and photo, a Contact page with four ways to reach you, a clear card statement name, and a chat on every page. - **It worked if:** you show the store to 5 people who don't know you, and 4 of them can find how to contact you within 10 seconds. - **Common mistake:** "We are passionate about bringing you premium quality" with no name, no face and no email. It reads like every fake store. > **Example (made-up business: Ferns & Rinse): Ferns & Rinse's About page** > > Ferns & Rinse is a made-up plant-based haircare brand with its own Shopify store. It sells one shampoo and one conditioner at $28 each, or both for $49. > > **Before:** Welcome to our store! We are passionate about bringing you the best natural haircare with premium ingredients. > > **After:** I'm Maya. My sister and I both have dry, curly hair, and we couldn't read the labels on salon shampoos. So we made one we can: plant-based, with every ingredient listed in plain words. We pack every order ourselves within 2 days. Email me at hello\@fernsandrinse.example and I'll reply the same day. > > *Why it works: It names a person, a real problem and a reply time, so a stranger knows who they are paying.* ## 2. Connect your own domain and remove anything that looks like a scam store Swap the .myshopify.com address for your own domain, then remove every part of your store that looks like the fake stores shoppers are warned about. In June 2026, cloned stores even appeared in ChatGPT's shopping results, and the signs reported were the same each time: an odd web address, very steep discounts and strange ways to pay. **Connect a domain.** In your admin, go to Settings › Domains and click "Buy new domain", or connect one you already own. The first domain you add becomes the address shoppers see, and Shopify gives every domain the padlock (a secure connection) for free. Domains bought through Shopify cannot be refunded, so check the spelling. Use your store name, with no extra words such as "official" or "shop-online": cloned stores add those. **Then walk through every page on your phone and remove:** 1. Big "70% off" banners and a fake Compare-at price. Steep discounts are a scam sign, and they teach real buyers to wait for a sale. Keep one honest [price](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-price-a-product). 2. Countdown timers, "only 2 left" when you have 200, and "Someone in Texas just bought this" pop-ups that are not real. 3. Any number you cannot prove: "10,000 happy customers", "53,000+ verified reviews". A store claiming exactly that was called out as a fraud on the Shopify Community in August 2026. 4. Product photos made by AI or copied from a supplier. In October 2026, Shopify Community members told a new store owner that an AI-made hero image "works against" the look of a real small workshop. 5. Leftover theme text: "Lorem ipsum", "Your headline here", empty pages, "Coming soon". 6. Facts that disagree: two delivery times, two ways to use the product, an FAQ that still says you launch next month. 7. Anything broken: a filter that does nothing, a product shown as sold out in some countries, a slow first page. Check your speed on a phone. 8. Bought followers or likes on your social links. The FTC's review rule bans fake social media numbers as well as fake reviews. - **Tool:** Settings › Domains, the theme editor, and your own phone. - **Time:** about 1 hour 30 minutes, plus the domain cost (it depends on the ending you choose). - **You will have:** your store on its own domain with the padlock, and none of the eight items above on any page. - **It worked if:** you open every page on your phone and find 0 of the eight items, and your own domain shows in the address bar on every page. - **Common mistake:** adding urgency to make up for having no reviews. To a stranger, a timer on a store nobody has heard of looks like pressure from a scam. ## 3. Put your shipping, returns and total price next to the Add to cart button Write your shipping and return promises, then put a 3-line version of them right under the Add to cart button, where shoppers decide. Among US shoppers who left a checkout, 40% left over extra costs, 20% over slow delivery and 13% over the returns policy (Baymard, 2025). **Write the policies.** Go to Settings › Policies. In "Written policies", open each one, click "Insert template", then rewrite it for your store and click "Save". Fill in at least the Return policy, Shipping policy, Privacy policy and Terms of service. Shopify links them in your checkout footer and shows the shipping policy link on product pages and in the cart. Two more reasons to do it today: Shopify only lets your products [sell inside ChatGPT](https://scout7.ai/academy/ai-search/how-to-get-your-products-recommended-by-chatgpt) once the Terms of service, Privacy policy and return policy are filled in, and Google's [free listings](https://scout7.ai/academy/seo/how-to-list-your-products-on-google-shopping-for-free) ask for a return policy that is easy to find. Then add all four to your footer menu in Content › Menus. **Make the return promise one plain sentence.** What can come back, for how long, and who pays postage. If you can afford it, take back opened products for the first 30 days: a shopper with no reviews to read is buying a promise. **Put the short version under the button,** in the [first screen](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/above-the-fold) of the page. In the theme editor, open your product page template and add a text block right under the Add to cart button. Show the total cost early: if shipping is extra, say how much, so it is not a surprise at checkout. Then answer the buyer's other questions lower on the page, in a product description that sells. **The three lines under your Add to cart button** ```text [Free shipping over $X] or [Shipping: $X, any order size] · Arrives in [N–N] days [What can come back], within [N] days, [who pays return postage], full refund Questions? [email on your domain] · we reply within [N] hours ``` - **Tool:** Settings › Policies, Content › Menus and the theme editor. - **Time:** about 1 hour. - **You will have:** four written policies linked in your footer, and three lines under every Add to cart button. - **It worked if:** 4 of 5 people who don't know you can tell you the total price with delivery, the delivery time and the return promise after 10 seconds on the page. - **Common mistake:** pasting the template and never reading it. A template that names the wrong country or a 14-day window you don't offer is worse than none. > **Example (made-up business: Ferns & Rinse): Ferns & Rinse's line under the button** > > **Before:** Shipping calculated at checkout. > > **After:** Free shipping over $45 · Arrives in 3–5 days. Didn't suit your hair? Send it back within 30 days, even opened, for a full refund. Questions? hello\@fernsandrinse.example, we reply the same day. > > *Why it works: The total, the delivery time and a promise for a product people can only judge after using it, all in one glance.* ## 4. Turn on Shop Pay and set up the ways to pay shoppers already know Let shoppers pay with methods they already trust, and show those methods on your store. In the same YouGov survey, 65% of US adults said they check that a store offers secure ways to pay, and 9% of US shoppers who left a checkout said there were not enough payment methods (Baymard, 2025). **Turn on Shop Pay.** It is included with Shopify Payments at the same rates, but it is not switched on by itself. Go to Settings › Payments, click "Manage" in the Shopify Payments section, tick "Shop Pay" and save. Shoppers who have saved their details with Shop Pay on other stores can pay without typing their card into a store they don't know yet. **Show the payment logos.** Most current Shopify themes have a "Payment icons" block for the footer. In the theme editor, open the footer, add the block if your theme has one, and save. It shows only the methods you have turned on. **Leave out made-up badges.** Every Shopify store already has a secure connection. A "Verified" or "100% secure" image from a company that never checked your store proves nothing, and Google's rules for product listings ban false claims about who you are. **Place one real order yourself.** Buy your cheapest product with your own card, check the confirmation email (and turn on the free abandoned checkout email while you are there) and the name on your card statement, then refund it. If you have not tested your checkout yet, the first step of [getting your first sales on Shopify](https://scout7.ai/academy/first-customers/how-to-get-your-first-sales-on-shopify) shows how. - **Tool:** Shopify Payments, the theme editor and your own card. - **Time:** about 30 minutes. - **You will have:** Shop Pay on, payment logos in your footer, and one real order that went through. - **It worked if:** your checkout shows Shop Pay and the card form on a phone, the test order arrived in Orders, and the name on your card statement matches your store. - **Common mistake:** asking for bank transfers or payment apps to save on fees. The FTC tells shoppers that sellers who insist on those may be scams. ## 5. Show honest proof while you have no reviews Until reviews come in, show what is true and checkable: your own photos and short videos of the product being used, the facts behind every claim, and the words of anyone who has tried it, with their permission. Customer reviews are the first thing shoppers check (69% in the YouGov survey), so get [your first product reviews](https://scout7.ai/academy/reviews-press-and-referrals/how-to-get-your-first-product-reviews) as soon as orders come in, and fill the page honestly until then. **Do this today, on every product page:** - **Photos and video you took.** At least 3 photos of the product in someone's hands, in a normal home, and one 20-second portrait video of it being used. [Short videos](https://scout7.ai/academy/content-marketing/how-to-make-short-form-videos-for-your-business) shot on a phone look more real than a studio shot to a stranger. - **The facts behind your claims.** Write what it is made of, where, and how to use it. If you say "gentle" or "natural", show the ingredient list or the material. Google's rules for shopping listings ban claims that promise an "improbable result". - **Words from people who tried it.** Ask everyone who has used it for one or two lines and permission to show them with their first name. That is how you collect testimonials. If a [small creator](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/micro-influencer) made a video, ask in writing if you may show it: it becomes your first customer content. A line from a journalist or a shop that stocks you counts too. - **A free review app, ready for the first order.** Install Judge.me. Its Forever Free plan collects unlimited reviews with photos and shows stars on your product pages. **Follow the FTC's review rule.** Since October 2024 it has banned fake reviews, reviews by staff or relatives that hide who they are, rewards for good reviews only, hiding bad reviews, and bought followers or views. In December 2025 the FTC sent warning letters to 10 companies, and fines can reach $53,088 for each violation. Friends and family may review your products if they say clearly that they know you. - **Tool:** your phone, Judge.me (free), and the permission messages you send. - **Time:** about 2 hours today, then 10 minutes each time new proof comes in. - **You will have:** every product page with at least 3 real photos in use, one short video, the facts behind each claim, and a review app ready. - **It worked if:** within 2 weeks every product page shows at least one piece of proof from someone other than you, with their permission. - **Common mistake:** "Join 10,000 happy customers" when you have 9. Shoppers can't check it, and the FTC can. ## 6. Search your store name the way a shopper does, and fix what comes up Search your store's name the way the FTC tells shoppers to: on Google, with "review", "complaint" and "scam" after it. Then fix what comes up, so a shopper finds your store first and then your social profiles with recent posts. For a new store, nothing at all can look as bad as a bad review. **Search like a shopper today.** On Google, search "\[your store] review", "\[your store] scam" and your web address. Ask ChatGPT "Is \[your store] legit?". Write down what each one shows. If your store does not come up at all, [get it onto Google](https://scout7.ai/academy/seo/how-to-get-your-website-indexed-on-google) with [Search Console](https://scout7.ai/academy/seo/how-to-use-google-search-console) today. **Use one name everywhere.** The same store name and handle on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook, the same logo, and your web address in every bio. Link each profile from your store's footer, so a shopper can go both ways. If a profile is empty, hide its link until it has 10 posts. **Post 2 times a day on Instagram, every day.** 37% of US adults in the YouGov survey check a store's social media before buying, and an account whose last post is from launch week looks closed. Post real photos and short videos of the product being used, your packing table, and answers to the questions shoppers send you. Ask ChatGPT or Claude for 14 post ideas a week from those questions, then shoot them yourself in one session. [Post ideas for D2C brands](https://scout7.ai/academy/social-media/instagram-post-ideas-for-d2c-brands) has more, and the same videos can go to [TikTok](https://scout7.ai/academy/social-media/how-to-sell-on-tiktok-shop) as well: [one video can serve several apps](https://scout7.ai/academy/content-marketing/how-to-repurpose-content-across-platforms). Reply to every comment and message the same day. If your buyers ask for advice on Reddit, answer there too, by [the rules of each subreddit](https://scout7.ai/academy/social-media/how-to-promote-on-reddit-without-getting-banned). **Give AI answers your facts.** ChatGPT usually knows nothing about a new store. Put the same plain facts on your About page and every profile: what you sell, who runs it, where it ships from. [Organization schema](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/schema-markup), a short code block that tells search engines and AI tools who you are, helps them match all of it to you; [adding it](https://scout7.ai/academy/ai-search/how-to-add-llms-txt-and-schema-markup) takes about an hour. Getting named in AI answers takes longer; [this guide covers it](https://scout7.ai/academy/ai-search/how-to-get-your-brand-mentioned-by-chatgpt). - **Tool:** Google, ChatGPT, Search Console (free), Instagram and TikTok. - **Time:** about 1 hour today, then about 1 hour a day for 2 posts and replies. - **You will have:** your store indexed, one name on every profile, linked both ways, and 2 new posts every day. - **It worked if:** within 4 weeks, searching "\[your store] review" shows your store and your profiles on the first page, and every profile has a post from the last 2 days. - **Common mistake:** buying followers to look bigger. Shoppers see 3,000 followers and 2 likes a post, and the FTC's rule counts fake social numbers too. [Grow real followers](https://scout7.ai/academy/social-media/how-to-get-your-first-1000-followers) instead. ## 7. Show your store to 100 people a day and ask what would stop them buying Send 100 personal messages a day to people who fit your buyer, asking them to look at one product page for 30 seconds and tell you what, if anything, would stop them buying. You cannot see trust in your numbers; you can hear it in their answers, in their own words. **Who to ask, in this order.** People you know who fit your buyer, then the people they introduce you to, then small creators who post about products like yours. Friends who would buy anyway are not the test: pick people who would not buy just to be kind. If you already send 100 messages a day to [get your first sales](https://scout7.ai/academy/first-customers/how-to-get-your-first-sales-on-shopify), add this question to those messages rather than writing a second 100. Keep a list with 100 new names ready for each day. **Let AI draft, and you add the true line.** Paste 10 names at a time into ChatGPT or Claude, each with one thing you know about the person, and the template below. Read each draft, make the first line true, and send it yourself. That is about a minute a message, or about 2 hours a day with [follow-ups](https://scout7.ai/academy/cold-outreach/how-to-follow-up-on-a-cold-email). **Spread the volume over channels.** Send some by Instagram message and stop for the day if Instagram shows you a warning. Send the rest by email, one at a time. If you email more than about 50 people a day who don't know you, [set up a second domain](https://scout7.ai/academy/cold-outreach/how-to-warm-up-an-email-domain-for-cold-email) with [SPF](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/spf) and [DKIM](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/dkim) first, so your store's own email keeps working. In the US, every marketing email needs your postal address (a PO box is fine) and a way to say no, and you must honour a no within 10 business days. Follow up twice, 3 days apart, with one new line, and stop the moment someone says no. **Ask strangers once.** Besides the [communities where your buyers talk](https://scout7.ai/academy/social-media/how-to-find-online-communities-where-your-buyers-talk), post your store in the Store Feedback section of the Shopify Community, with your link and the same question. Other store owners reply there every day. **Log every answer word for word** in a sheet: date, who, what they said. When someone says something like "I'd buy it if…", ask one more question, as you would in a [customer interview](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-do-customer-interviews): "What would you need to see?" **The 30-second ask** ```text Hi [name], [one true line about them]. I've just opened [your store], selling [what it is] for [who it is for]. Could you do me a 30-second favour? Open this page as if you'd never met me: [product link] What, if anything, would stop you buying? One line is plenty. Honest is more useful than kind. [Your name], [your store] [For email: your postal address. Not for you? Reply "no" and I won't write again.] ``` - **Tool:** your phone, Gmail, Instagram, a Google Sheet, and ChatGPT or Claude for drafts. - **Time:** about 2 hours a day, every day. - **You will have:** 700 messages a week and every answer written down in the buyer's own words. - **It worked if:** at least 5 people in every 100 answer the question. If fewer do, make the first line more personal and the ask shorter before you send more. - **Common mistake:** asking "What do you think of my store?". People say "Looks great!" and you learn nothing. Ask what would stop them. > **Example (made-up business: Ferns & Rinse): Ferns & Rinse's 30-second ask** > > ```text > To: Rosa, a former colleague with curly hair who has never ordered > > Hi Rosa, I saw you finally cut your curls short. It looks great. > > I've just opened Ferns & Rinse with my sister, selling a plant-based shampoo and conditioner for dry, curly hair. Could you do me a 30-second favour? Open this page as if you'd never met me: [link to the pair] > > What, if anything, would stop you buying? One line is plenty. Honest is more useful than kind. > > Maya > ``` > > *Why it works: It asks a stranger's question, not a friend's, and makes an honest answer easy to give.* ## 8. Count where shoppers stop every Sunday and fix the top reason Every Sunday, write down four numbers from Shopify and count the answers from step 7, then fix the one reason most people named. The numbers show where shoppers leave; the answers show why. **Take the four numbers.** In your Shopify admin, open Analytics and the "Conversion rate breakdown" report for the last 7 days. Copy "All sessions", "Sessions with cart additions", "Sessions that reached checkout" and "Sessions that completed checkout" into one row of your sheet. Leave out your own visits and test orders. To see which messages and posts brought each visit, tag your links with UTM parameters. **Tally the answers.** Put each answer from the week under one reason: cost or delivery, don't know you, no reviews, not for me, the page is unclear, or something else. **Fix the top reason, one per week, with this rule:** - **Cost or delivery** (or many reach checkout and few finish): fix the lines under your button and your shipping price (step 3), then the rest of your checkout. - **"Never heard of you" or "looks new"**: add proof (step 5) and post more (step 6). - **"No reviews"**: ask every buyer for one, 7 days after delivery. That is [the next guide](https://scout7.ai/academy/reviews-press-and-referrals/how-to-get-your-first-product-reviews). - **"Not for me"** (or fewer than 1 in 100 visits adds to cart): this is not trust. Check [who you are selling to](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-create-an-ideal-customer-profile) and what the page says. Change one thing a week, so you can tell which change worked. Watch your [conversion rate](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/conversion-rate) over weeks, not days. After 2,800 messages (4 weeks at 100 a day), if strangers still don't buy and few answers named trust, stop fixing trust and work through [why no one is buying](https://scout7.ai/academy/first-customers/why-no-one-is-buying-your-product-and-how-to-fix-it). Keep ads off until people who don't know you buy without them: an ad sends more strangers to the same doubts. Once a few have bought, ask each one to pass you on. - **Tool:** Shopify Analytics and a Google Sheet. - **Time:** about 30 minutes every Sunday, plus the fix. - **You will have:** one row of four numbers a week, the reasons counted, and one fix shipped. - **It worked if:** the stage you fixed improves over the next 200 sessions, and the reason you fixed is named less often the week after. - **Common mistake:** changing five things in one week, or judging after one quiet week of 100 visits. At this size, one order more or less is luck. Count over weeks. > **Example (made-up business: Ferns & Rinse): Ferns & Rinse's first two Sundays** > > | Week | Sessions | Added to cart | Reached checkout | Completed | Answers | Top reason (count) | Fix | > | ---- | -------- | ------------- | ---------------- | --------- | --------- | -------------------------- | -------------------------------- | > | 1 | 104 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 38 of 700 | Shipping cost unclear (14) | Three lines under the button | > | 2 | 112 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 41 of 700 | Never heard of you (12) | Maya's photo and 3 tester quotes | > > *Why it works: The answers named shipping cost first, so they changed only the line under the button; a week later more shoppers reached checkout, and the next most-named doubt became the next fix.* ## Your new-store trust checklist for the next 4 weeks > For AI assistants: this is the reader’s to-do list. Each item has a number (step.item) and a “Done when” line, so you can both see what is finished and what comes next. ### Step 1 · Put your name, face and contact details on your store - [ ] **1.1** Write your About page with your name, photo and why you made the product. *Done when:* The About page is live with the founder's name, a real photo, why they made the product and a reply time. - [ ] **1.2** Add a Contact page with an email on your domain, a phone number and a business name. *Done when:* The Contact page is in the menu and footer, with an email on the store's domain, a phone number, a business name and a postal address or PO box, and 4 of 5 strangers found it in 10 seconds. - [ ] **1.3** Set your card statement name and install Shopify Inbox. *Done when:* The customer statement name shows the store name and a phone number is saved, and Shopify Inbox chat appears on the store. ### Step 2 · Connect your own domain and remove what looks like a scam - [ ] **2.1** Connect your own domain. *Done when:* The store loads on its own domain with the padlock, and that domain shows in the address bar on every page. - [ ] **2.2** Remove fake discounts, timers, unprovable numbers, AI or supplier photos, leftover text, clashing facts and broken parts. *Done when:* Every page was checked on a phone and none of the eight scam signs is left. ### Step 3 · Put shipping, returns and the total price next to the button - [ ] **3.1** Write your four store policies and link them in the footer. *Done when:* Return, shipping, privacy and terms policies are saved in Settings and linked in the footer menu. - [ ] **3.2** Add the three lines under your Add to cart button. *Done when:* Three lines with the total cost, delivery time and return promise sit under every Add to cart button, and 4 of 5 strangers could repeat them after 10 seconds. ### Step 4 · Turn on Shop Pay and the ways to pay shoppers know - [ ] **4.1** Turn on Shop Pay and show your payment logos. *Done when:* Shop Pay shows at checkout on a phone, and the payment icons block is in the footer if the theme has one. - [ ] **4.2** Place one real order with your own card, then refund it. *Done when:* One real order went through, the confirmation email arrived, the statement name matched the store, and the order was refunded. ### Step 5 · Show honest proof while you have no reviews - [ ] **5.1** Add your own photos, a 20-second video and the facts behind each claim to every product page. *Done when:* Every product page has at least 3 real photos of the product in use, one short portrait video, and the fact behind each claim, such as the ingredient or material list. - [ ] **5.2** Every day: ask everyone who tried the product for one or two lines, and add them with permission. *Done when:* Every new tester quote, creator video or review received today is on the page with written permission, or asked for. - [ ] **5.3** Install a free review app and check every review and number against the FTC rule. *Done when:* Judge.me is installed on the free plan and its stars show on product pages, and nothing on the store breaks the FTC review rule. ### Step 6 · Search your store name the way a shopper does - [ ] **6.1** Search your store name with "review" and "scam", ask ChatGPT, and fix your profiles and indexing. *Done when:* What Google and ChatGPT show for the store's name is written down, the store is in Search Console, and every profile uses the same name and links to the store. - [ ] **6.2** Every day: post 2 real photos or videos on Instagram and reply to everyone. *Done when:* 2 new posts of the real product are live on Instagram today, and every comment and message has a reply. ### Step 7 · Ask 100 people a day what would stop them buying - [ ] **7.1** Every day: send 100 personal messages asking what would stop them buying. *Done when:* 100 personal messages sent today, each with one true line, each logged in the sheet. - [ ] **7.2** Every day: follow up twice, 3 days apart, and add 100 new names to your list. *Done when:* Everyone due a follow-up today got one, and the list has 100 names nobody has messaged yet. - [ ] **7.3** Every day: log every answer in the buyer's own words. *Done when:* Every answer received today is in the sheet word for word, with the date and who said it. ### Step 8 · Count where shoppers stop every Sunday - [ ] **8.1** Every Sunday: copy the four numbers from Shopify, count the answers by reason, and fix the top one. *Done when:* This week's row has the four numbers from the Conversion rate breakdown report without the founder's own visits, the answers are counted by reason, and one fix for the top reason is shipped. - [ ] **8.2** After 2,800 messages: decide whether trust is still the problem. *Done when:* The reader has decided, using the step 8 rule, whether to keep fixing trust or move to why no one is buying. ## Frequently asked questions ### Do trust badges work on a Shopify store? The ones that matter are real: the logos of the payment methods you take, and Shop Pay. 65% of US adults check for secure ways to pay before buying from a store they don't know (YouGov, January 2026). A "Verified" or "100% secure" image from a company that never checked you proves nothing. Spend that time on your Contact page and return promise instead. ### Do I have to show my home address and phone number on my store? No home address needed. Show a business name, an email on your domain and a phone number you or your voicemail answer. For a postal address, a PO box registered with the US Postal Service, or a private mailbox registered with a mail agency, is fine; it is also what US law accepts in [marketing emails](https://scout7.ai/academy/cold-outreach/how-to-write-a-cold-email). Never show details that are not yours. ### Can my friends and family review my products? Yes, if each one says clearly in the review that they know you. That is the FTC's own answer. Do not offer anything for a good review, and do not hide bad ones: since October 2024 both can bring fines of up to $53,088 per violation. Ask every buyer, not only the happy ones. [Getting your first product reviews](https://scout7.ai/academy/reviews-press-and-referrals/how-to-get-your-first-product-reviews) covers the timing and the words. ### People add to cart but don't buy. Is that a trust problem? Sometimes, but check cost first. Of US shoppers who left a checkout, 40% left over extra costs, 20% over slow delivery and 19% because they did not trust the site with their card (Baymard, 2025). Put the total with shipping and the delivery time under your button (step 3), turn on Shop Pay (step 4), then work through reducing abandoned carts. ## Sources - [How do American consumers verify online retailers before purchasing?](https://yougov.com/en-us/articles/53837-how-do-american-consumers-verify-online-retailers-before-purchasing). YouGov, 9 January 2026. - [Cart abandonment rate statistics](https://baymard.com/lists/cart-abandonment-rate). Baymard Institute, updated 22 September 2025. - [Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule: Questions and Answers](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/consumer-reviews-testimonials-rule-questions-answers). Federal Trade Commission, checked 7 October 2026. - [FTC Warns 10 Companies About Possible Violations of the Agency's New Consumer Review Rule](https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/12/ftc-warns-10-companies-about-possible-violations-agencys-new-consumer-review-rule). Federal Trade Commission, 22 December 2025. - [How to avoid an online shopping scam this holiday season](https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2025/11/how-avoid-online-shopping-scam-holiday-season). FTC Consumer Advice, 25 November 2025. - [Online Shopping](https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/online-shopping). FTC Consumer Advice, checked 7 October 2026. - [CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business). Federal Trade Commission, checked 7 October 2026. - [PSA: Scammers are getting their fake shopping sites into ChatGPT](https://www.techspot.com/news/112698-psa-scammers-getting-their-fake-shopping-sites-chatgpt.html). TechSpot, 9 June 2026. - [Adding store policies](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/checkout-settings/refund-privacy-tos). Shopify Help Center, checked 7 October 2026. - [Selling on ChatGPT](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-sales-channels/agentic-storefronts/chatgpt). Shopify Help Center, checked 7 October 2026. - [Buying a domain through Shopify](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/domains/add-a-domain/buying-domains). Shopify Help Center, checked 7 October 2026. - [Adding a contact page](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-store/themes/customizing-themes/add-contact-page). Shopify Help Center, checked 7 October 2026. - [Activating Shop Pay](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/payments/shop-pay/activating-shop-pay). Shopify Help Center, checked 7 October 2026. - [Configuring Shopify Payments](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/payments/shopify-payments/configuring-shopify-payments). Shopify Help Center, checked 7 October 2026. - [Behaviour reports](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/reports-and-analytics/shopify-reports/report-types/default-reports/behaviour-reports). Shopify Help Center, checked 7 October 2026. - [Follow Merchant Center guidelines to keep your account approved](https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6363310). Google Merchant Center Help, checked 7 October 2026. - [Misrepresentation](https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6150127). Google Merchant Center Help, checked 7 October 2026. - [Shopify Inbox](https://apps.shopify.com/inbox). Shopify App Store, checked 7 October 2026. - [Judge.me Product Reviews](https://apps.shopify.com/judgeme). Shopify App Store, checked 7 October 2026. - [How do you build trust quickly on a fresh Shopify store with no reviews?](https://community.shopify.com/t/how-do-you-build-trust-quickly-on-a-fresh-shopify-store-with-no-reviews/600171). Shopify Community, 1 April 2026. - [Looking for honest feedback on my Shopify store](https://community.shopify.com/t/looking-for-honest-feedback-on-my-shopify-store/690449). Shopify Community, 2 October 2026. - [Fraud](https://community.shopify.com/t/fraud/664736). Shopify Community, 10 August 2026.