Product reviews are a very integral part of a business. It not only helps in making a customer feel more confident and secure about buying from your company, but it also helps in building an online presence which is extremely important to generate more and more sales and grow the brand value.
Before we had the internet, the only way to know how a product is going to turn out is by buying it and trying it for yourself, but now, the internet has led to the emergence of the e-commerce business industry; this has allowed us to read multiple customer reviews and read their experiences before we buy a product. This is why product reviews are important, it helps in building brand image and gives you a key edge over your competition.
Online Customer Reviews have massive influence over customer decisions
Let’s look at some of the statistics that back up this theory:
- Testimonial Engine found that a large percentage of people read reviews before buying a product, 72% to be exact.
2. Spiegel Research Centre has reported that products that already have reviews are 270% more likely to be bought than the products who have none.
3. A survey carried out by Clavis Insights has shown that reviews boost conversations by almost 50%. This in simpler words means that the customers are more likely to talk about your product with other people indirectly becoming your company’s “brand ambassador”.
What is the importance of product reviews and what are it’s benefits?
- Product Reviews Aid in Building Trust
The first thing a user does when they land in your website to buy something is product reviews before buying anything. Having positive reviews on products will sway the user’s decision of buying from your brand and feel more confident in buying from your brand. For example, let’s look at how huge companies like Amazon are effectively utilising product reviews. Amazon displays an average product rating based on feedback from user’s at the top of the page and the customer reviews are at the bottom, giving the customer a lot of information how the product has been received by the people who have previously bought it. This makes the user feel more confident in their decision of buying the product.
- Product Reviews Give The Users A Better Understanding Of The Product
Reading about other people’s past experiences, a customer can get a better understanding of how the product works and if they met the previous customer’s expectations or not. Brands will always try and highlight every feature of the product, but it is the customer reviews that will contain the most honest feedback.
- Product Reviews Give The Opportunity to Rectify Any Issues With The Product
If a number of people are pointing out a particular flaw, or the same problem, then it gives the company to rectify the defect and resolve the issue. In simpler words, Product Reviewsaids in finding problems and loopholes in your product and then gives you the chance to improvise on that particular area and rectify it.
- Product Reviews Work As Social Proof
One of the major benefits of Product Reviews is thatthey can work as social proof in the form of testimonials and that can do wonders for your company. Many companies showcase some of the their customer’s testimonials, this shows other customers that their brand is trusted by a large number of people and helps in building and growing brand image and trust in the eyes of the customer. Displaying testimonials on your website or through your social media pages is one of the best ways to promote your brand that will attract numerous potential customers to your brand and leave an excellent impression.
- Product Reviews boost conversions
Product Reviews really help in boosting conversions because the customers will be massively influenced by the positive reviews that the customers are leaving for your product. Even a single positive review can help in boosting conversion rates. There will obviously be a couple of negative reviews but that’s not something to get too worked up on, this is because it’s not possible to satisfy everyone. But, if the overall product is good and has a couple of positive remarks which highlight what’s good about the product, people will be encouraged to buy your product.
Are there any negatives to customer reviews?
Negative reviews play a massive role in determining if the user will trust the brand and buy from your company or not. Studies and surveys show that a customer is more likely to leave a negative review after a bad experience than writing a positive one. And this, can be very detrimental for a business. Results of some surveys and researches will shock you as to how big of a role product reviews really play in a customer’s decision to buy from a company or not. In 2016, Fan & Fuelreported that 35% of the surveyed participants said that just a single negative review can turn them away from buying a certain product. Small BusinessTrendsin 2017 found out and reported that one negative review can potentially turn away 22% of new customers, three negative reviews can possibly lose 59% and four can lose a massive 70% of potential customers. And ReviewTrackersin 2018 stated that 94% of consumers have avoided a business based on negative reviews.
The industries that are most affected by this are doctor’s offices, hotels, restaurants and hospitals where a negative review is regarding cleanliness. This can reportedly turn away a large number of women, 81% to be precise.
But negative reviews aren’t all just bad either, Small Business Trends also reports that a negative review can still boost e-commerce sales. As surprising as that sounds, this is because it can increase product awareness. A product’s sale is at its peak when the rating is between 4.0 and 4.7, and it gradually decreases as it gets to a perfect rating of 5. This is because a perfect rating of 5 with a lot of reviews makes it look like there is something fishy with the reviews. This shows us that a perfect review history can never in reality be perfect. Having positive and negative reviews is important because it shows to potential customers that the reviews are authentic. As SpiegelResearch Centre’sPower Reviews Researchin2017, more than 80% of customers specifically seek out negative reviews, believing that they show the brand’s credibility.
In Conclusion, product reviews are extremely essential in boosting your sales and not only that, but also in growing brand image and the credibility of the brand as well.
Reviews, whether good or bad, have the power to build credibility, customer trust and make the brand appear authentic. Customer interaction plays a part in improving profits for business.BrightLocal conducted a survey in 2017 and reported that in the United States of America, 68% of online shoppers are more likely to engage with a business that has positive reviews, and a whopping 93% determine if a business has a good reputation or not based upon the reviews available to them. Fan & Fuel also reported in 2016 that 92% of customers hesitated before making a purchase if there were no customer reviews already present, and almost all the people, 97% to be exact said that, customer reviews massively factor into their eventual decision of buying a product or not.
So if you’re a small business looking to improve e-commerce sales and don’t have product reviews, you should definitely start getting customer feedback and reviews as well because customer is king, and engaging with them is the best way to keep them satisfied.