Product reviews are increasingly seen by online shopping companies as an extremely important way of marketing as ultimately you’re only as good as your customer thinks you are. From the online shopper’s perspective, something without a review is virgin territory and could mean that it is too ordinary or plain too bad for others to write about. In this post we’ll look at the importance of product reviews for businesses and customers alike.
The online shopper
Have you ever looked at a common, low end product and seen no reviews on it? What did you think?
Research from the US Pew Institute suggested that, “Roughly eight-in-ten Americans (82%) say they consult online ratings and reviews when buying something for the first time. In fact, 40% of Americans (and roughly half of those under the age of 50) indicate that they nearly always turn to online reviews when buying something new. Moreover, nearly half of Americans feel that customer reviews help “a lot” to make consumers feel confident about their purchases (46%) and to make companies be accountable to their customers (45%).”
This shows that in most cases, the American public finds that reviews by other online shoppers is one of the key deal makers or deal breakers in their online shopping decision. No review could turn you off as quickly as an overall negative set of reviews.
This research from the Pew Institute is one of the reasons that you as a shopper may be asked to give a product review for something you have bought from an online marketplace such as Amazon or eBay.
The online shopping company
A great set of reviews can really boost business. You may have a radical new business model that people haven’t seen before. In this case to get traction you really need a Google or Trustpilot review for your business so people understand you are not a scam.
According to the European SaaS e-commerce solutions company Actinic, “Products with positive ratings sell up to 200% better than products without reviews and amongst those sites that display reviews, 42% saw an increase in average order value…”
This is why getting positive feedback from your online shopping customers is so important for sales – it could mean that your sales do far better than should they have no review at all.
Both together
As you have seen above, good product reviews are almost as important for the online shopping company as SEO to get seen in the first place. For the shopper it gives peace of mind in making the decision to make a purchase while for the shopping company it means that you gain visibility.
Product reviews are very much a part of social media – people like to see what people like them are buying or testing out. Look before you leap – it could mean the difference between money well spent and money down the drain!
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Related Categories: Reviews, Products, Shopping
