THE AUTHOR:
Online actions are a popular way of raising money for non-profit organizations. They have many advantages. You can promote everything, invite as many people as you want to and set your own rules for selling and bidding. Besides, there is always some gambling spirit in it. The only thing that seems alarming is the need to ensure auction security.
It does not matter what type of electronic auction you are thinking to start, the issue of data security remains essential. Sharing private details to a new unknown service is viewed as a high risk for many users. For that reason, both buyers and sellers have concerns about an auction platform’s reliability. Some of the most common user concerns include:
1. Buying an item without receiving it or selling an item without getting paid.
2. Acquiring an item of bad quality.
3. Getting trapped in scams and fraud money schemes.
4. Having their data hacked and disclosed through malware.
However, it is possible to mitigate these risks if you rely on the practices below which give users the feeling of safety.
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Software Solutions
Computools is a full-service software company that designs solutions to help companies meet the needs of tomorrow. Our clients represent a wide range of industries, including retail, finance, healthcare, consumer service and more.
There are several ways of increasing an electronic auction’s trustworthiness:
1. Make sure you work with real people or companies. If you’re an agent between sellers and bidders, you’re the one to ensure reliability. Ask users to fill real data. Control content on your platform. Validate your sellers and items created by them. For instance, you can require multiple good-quality photos of an item from different angles, its videos and documentation.
2. Notify every customer of the payment rules and conditions. Make sure the users are aware of the payment procedure and payment methods before they start to bid. They must also see the buyer’s premium and realize that one or another item may be costly. This way, it won’t be surprising for a bidder to get an invoice with a higher cost in the long run.
3. Maintain a dispute resolution center. You may have experienced cases when you wanted to call a support service but couldn’t find their contacts easily or had to wait several minutes before they picked up the phone. When it is hard for a user to get support, their level of satisfaction goes down until they decide to stop using your service.
4. Let your bidders be heard and give value to you. Similarly to the point above, let the users give feedback about your services on your platform.
5. Streaming. The feature is rarely seen in auction applications, but streaming as a whole can contribute to higher customer trust as they interact with a representative who helps them build empathy.
6. Transparency. Define your Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions and let users easily access it so that they understand their data privacy is maintained in due manner and the risk of data breach is negligible.
7. Find your niche. Research your competitors to keep pace with them. The knowledge of prevalent trends in your niche allows you to stay one step ahead. Learn from your competitors’ drawbacks and leverage them to improve your business. For example, if they have a poor interface design and lack usability, you can improve these features on this platform to attract more people. If their user account is not customizable, provide more flexibility to your customers.
8. Give fast and intuitive experience with a mobile application. Let bidders participate in auctions wherever they are. Encourage users to engage and turn auctions into superior experience.
The major advantages of auction mobile applications:
- it is easier to bid on a mobile app than on a mobile-friendly web version;
- the user can see all the needed data as mobile applications usually have a simpler navigation;
- it is possible to use the application everywhere as a result of user engagement and retention increases;
- push notifications are sent directly to the user’s phone encouraging them to be more active.
If you are not sure if your customers will favor your mobile application over other websites and platforms, according to Pew Research Center, the percentage of Americans who own smartphones continues to grow progressively, which is indicative of a shift in user behavior towards smartphone usage.
Smartphones are used by 96% of people aged 18-29, 92% – 30-49, 79% – 50-64, 53% – 65+.
“Americans check their phone on average once every 12 minutes – burying their heads in their phones 80 times a day”, according to New York Post.
According to Statista, the total number of smartphone users is going to reach 3.8 billion mark by 2021.
Source says the average smartphone owner spends 2 hours and 15 minutes a day using apps.
9. Use payment services for the best protection. Some users avoid giving their credit card or debit card information as it is connected to their identity. The best way to show you are transparent in terms of payment is to use reliable third-party services such as Paypal or Stripe that hide card details to sellers.
Let bidders get quick answers about the item. It may be a chat with a seller or a form that then will be shown in the item Q&A section to other bidders.
10. A successful auction application allows you to host auctions anytime and anywhere. You can organize events and invite different audiences that will be willing to donate, especially when your mobile app offers unbelievable and entertaining experiences.
For further information
If you are interested in mobile application development, get in touch with Computools’s expert team via info@computools.com. They have over 7 years of experience in software development and know how to design high-performing and user friendly apps for different purposes, including those intended for banking and finance services.
Computools was selected through an RFP process. They were shortlisted and selected from between 5 other suppliers. Computools has worked thoroughly and timely to solve all security issues and launch as agreed. Their expertise is impressive.