All companies will, unfortunately, have dissatisfied customers. When this happens in-store, you as a brand could solve the matter on the spot, in person, and privately. However, online is another story. People may take their frustrations out by posting a negative review about your product or service, ensuring everyone can read about their experience. And they will. In fact, 89% of consumers worldwide will read reviews before buying a product. Moreover, marketplaces such as Amazon place a lot of importance and value on reviews. But you don’t need only 5-star reviews to build consumer trust and convince them to buy from you. So let’s talk about why all reviews are essential to your business.
Reviews are considered a reliable source of information
Why are reviews so important? Because 84% of consumers trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation. And about 52% of those consumers consider reviews to be the most reliable source of information when buying a product.
However, one review isn’t enough. 76% of online shoppers would prefer to buy a product with more reviews with a slightly lower rating than a product with few reviews but a slightly higher rating. And 92% of consumers hesitate to buy an item with no reviews.
How many reviews does it take to generate consumer trust? Around ten to twenty. And ideally, those need to be recent reviews that are less than six months old.
No need to aim for only perfect
Given the above stats, you’d think that you need to generate as many excellent reviews as possible. But would you feel comfortable buying an item that has a perfect 5-star rating? The average consumer does not. Shoppers feel more trusting of a company when a product’s rating is between 4.2 and 4.5 stars. Negative reviews can have a positive impact even if you may not like to read people’s criticism because people’s authentic testimonials build trust.
Besides the fact that customer reviews, both good and bad, are important. Your brand can also use these to your advantage. Negative reviews provide you with feedback and positive ones are like free publicity. Good reviews put the spotlight on your products without you having to do anything apart from delivering quality and helping to convince more people to buy from you.
Reviews on marketplaces
What is also very important is that reviews give you a good account metric. This increases your visibility. Customers can choose to leave either a star rating or a written review of your individual product or service. Alternatively, individuals can also rank your overall brand and experience by giving you a review via Amazon Feedback.
What is also very important is that reviews give you a good account metric. This increases your visibility. Customers can choose to leave either a star rating, written text, or video. Amazon, for example, calculates the total number of reviews, unreliable reviews, and ratings, and turns them into a ‘global rating’ on the listing. Note that this is done on a product basis. Alternatively, individuals can also rank your overall brand and experience by giving you a review via Amazon Feedback.
The value of reviews on Amazon
Reviews and ratings allow you to stand out from the sea of competitors selling something similar to you on Amazon. This is how reviews can help you and your bottom line:
- Convert clicks into orders
Amazon’s algorithm uses ratings and reviews as a benchmark to gauge an item’s popularity. The higher number of positive reviews, the higher you can rank for a search query. - Improve your existing products
View customer reviews as feedback. What could be better about the item you sell? Can this be modified in development or production? Reviews allow you to identify new product opportunities and potential updates. - Help customers make a decision
Reviews build trust. Many positive reviews and real experiences help shoppers pick one item over another when they are hesitating. Simple as that. - Improve customer satisfaction
Like improving your products, you can use reviews to improve customer satisfaction. For example, does your shipping method need to be modified? Are your sales representative slow to respond? See what changes you can implement to make your customers even happier.
Make your brand shine
Reviews are essential to place your company on the map. Whether on Google or Amazon, reviews build your presence and help consumers get to know your brand by reading about authentic experiences.
Want to gather more reviews? Discover how to do this by reading “getting good reviews to building lasting customer relationships” or reach out to our marketplace experts who are happy to help.
