You might have heard that product reviews are essential for eCommerce stores, but you didn't understand WHY.
This post is going to help you figure out exactly why product reviews are so important for your eCommerce store and how to leverage them to make more sales!
What are Product Reviews?
In general, product reviews are the aftermath of a customer giving a business an opinion or feedback about the product that they received.
Product reviews are almost always used on eCommerce to give customers a chance to rave about or air their grievances on the websites.
Beautiful, simple reviews for your site
Easily collect, show & grow customer reviews, photos & videos for your business.
Why Reviews are Important for eCommerce
Product reviews are important because they:
- Boost sales
- Increase trust and loyalty
- Give customers insights into your product
- Can help improve customer service and product quality
- Are great social proof
- Can improve your search engine ranking
- Are a great marketing tool for your business
Let's dive into all these benefits individually
Benefits of Product Reviews on Boosting Sales
Online reviews are essential for eCommerce businesses because they boost sales!
When eCommerce stores show off product reviews, they typically see more sales. Here are the stats on how reviews increase sales!
- Reviews produce an average of 18% uplift in sales.
- Businesses with more than 9 recent reviews (posted within the past 90 days) earn 52% more than average.
Benefits of Product Reviews on Increasing Trust and Loyalty
Not only that but product reviews improve customer trust and loyalty. Having product reviews on your online store shows what sets your products apart from other similar brands and can strengthen your credibility.
Product reviews encourage your past customers to interact with your brand. This customer interaction is what we call loyalty!
Importance of Online Product Reviews From a Consumer’s Perspective
When you display product reviews on your eCommerce store, you give your shoppers an idea of what the product is like before they buy it.
Reviews give shoppers on your site the information they need to make the decision to purchase the product since they can't 'test' in real life!
Reviews Give Customers Insight
Typically reviews cover things like
- Quality
- How accurate the photos are
- Shipping times and
- Customer support
All this information helps customers gain knowledge about the pros and cons of the product you're selling.
Remember, almost 40% of the consumers say that they wouldn’t buy electronic items without reading online reviews first!
For customers, reading reviews makes it easier to feel confident about buying!
Why You Should Read Your Customer Reviews
When you read your reviews you will typically be able to identify where you are excelling and falling short in the following categories
- Customer service
- Quality
- Price
- Shipping
1. Customer Service
Reading reviews and taking them into consideration when charting a course for your business.
When you look at your reviews, you will be able to see where you stand with respect to customer satisfaction in general.
For example, if you find that people are complaining that they send several emails with no response, you can be sure to create a process for responding to emails every 24 hours.
2. Quality
Again you'll know what action to take if you see that people are leaving reviews about the fit of a product.
You can use this as an opportunity to create a size guide to help people choose the right size dress or redesign your line to make them fit better.
On the other hand, if you find people really like a particular feature, you can replicate it across your product line.
3. Price
If you read your reviews, you may discover that people think your product is a steal of a deal.
You might discover that people are paying 2x more with your competition. This is an opportunity to increase your prices, while still being under the price of your competition.
Now, on the other hand, if you see that people are always complaining about the price (50% or more - ignore this feedback if it is around 10% of your customers) you may want to either increase the quality or unboxing experience or reduce your prices!
4. Shipping
This is a big one, that even I have struggled with.
If you notice that shoppers are raising concerns about shipping times, you know it is time to change your shipping provider OR offer more options for shipping.
Again, it's not just enough to get product reviews for your eCommerce store!
You have to read them.
Reading your product reviews will help you:
- Double down on what is working
- Improve what isn't working
Importance of Product Reviews in Online Shopping
The bottom line is this: When you have more product reviews, the more a shopper will be convinced that buying from you is the right thing to do!
Reviews are Social Proof
Humans are social beings and like to follow the crowd. Reviews are a strong form of social proof that is just as good as a personal recommendation.
A very good way of making a review even better is to add a photo of your customer. This creates a personal connection and a stronger recommendation!
Reviews Improve Search Engine Ranking
We all know how important being on the front page of Google is!
Customer feedback like reviews and testimonials appear on each one of your product pages. the more reviews you have, the easier it will be for people to find your shopping listing and click through to it.
Also, keep this in mind, customer product reviews seem to be the most prominent factor for local search.
Review Give Your Customers a Voice
When you have customers that take time out of their day to leave you an online review they are more likely to be loyal to your brand!
When you respond to a review you are showing that you care about what your customer says.
They will feel like they have a voice. This is especially true if you respond and tell them you are going to implement their feedback!
Reviews Let Your Customers Market for You!
If your customers are sharing their products on their social media that just more exposure for those products and your brand!
Letting your happy customers do the talking is much more powerful than any campaign you can create!
These acts of micro-marketing are free and keep working long after your customer has posted their photo or review. Not only do these reviews create brand awareness they encourage other customers to leave their own feedback.
The simple appearance of reviews is enough to incentivize others to give their own opinion!
Why Do People Read Reviews?
People read reviews because they need help making informed decisions!
In fact, 93% of customers read reviews before purchasing a product.
It is hard for them to make the right decision without ever touching your product in real life.
Reading Reviews Helps Online Shoppers Understand
- If what they are buying will solve their problem
- If they will like what they ordered
- What the quality of your product is
- How good your customer service is
Implementing Customer Reviews on Your eCommerce Website
Here are the steps you need to take in order to start getting more reviews and showing them on your eCommerce website.
- Download a reviews app
- Create compelling incentives
- Email your past customers for a review
- Display your reviews on your website
- Respond to your reviews
1. Download a Reviews App
If you want to get all the benefits of product reviews, you'll want to start by downloading a good product review app like Fera! A good reviews app will allow you to ask your past customers for a review and set up automatic review requests for future sales.
2. Create Compelling Incentives
Some great incentives for customers can be
- A discount off a future purchase
- Loyalty points
- Cashback
Choose something that works well for your customers and your business. Here is a post on the pros and cons of each type of incentive.
3. Email Your Past Customers for a Review
One of the easiest ways to to get a customer to leave a review is just to ask! You can send out an email to your past customers asking for a review, or send them a QR code in the mail with a little gift.
4. Display Your Reviews on Your Website
It's not enough to ask for a review, you have to display them!
Displaying your reviews, even your negative ones, encourages your customers to leave a review since everyone else is doing it!
5. Respond to Your Reviews
Finally, you want to show that you are a brand that cares! You should be responding to every review, so help your customers feel like their feedback matters.
So make sure you gather as many reviews as possible! If you need a solution to gather product reviews you can try Fera for free today!
