When most online customers are considering a new purchase, the first thing they do is read the reviews. If there are no reviews, it is immediately suspect. If there are reviews, but they all appear generic, copy-pasted, or very unfavorable, the sale is over!
For eCommerce businesses, positive online evaluations have become the ultimate gold standard in social evidence. They are often the initial point of contact for shoppers, even before they reach your website or are aware of your brand. eCommerce reviews are getting increasingly popular, with entire sites dedicated to their promotion.
As a result, 93% of new internet shoppers read reviews before purchasing something. So, let us delve more into why Online Customer Reviews Are the Ultimate Salesperson for Ecommerce.
Is it true that online reviews are so critical?
The benefits of online reviews for customers in eCommerce cannot be emphasized. We no longer believe something simply because a brand claims it is accurate, and many of us shop with a strong sense of skepticism. Online consumer reviews have become the new word of mouth: rather than relying on the seller, we look to our fellow buyers and make purchases based on their experiences.
To back up the notion, we know that nine out of ten online shoppers viewed reviews before purchasing in 2022, and 77% of customers implicitly believe online reviews.
So, let's look at what makes it prominent; good internet reviews effective for driving sales, how and where to select your reviews, what dangers to avoid, and how to deal with unfavorable reviews.
1. Online Reviews Address Consumer Concerns
Globally, 89 percent of consumers, or nine out of ten, read reviews before making a purchase. Trust is essential in any connection, including that between brands and consumers. When shown, a combination of sound and negative online reviews is an excellent tool for brands to dispel any uncertainty.
Surprisingly, rating problems have a more substantial positive effect on internet shoppers. While getting numerous 5-star ratings is the goal, reviews with less-than-perfect ratings indicate "authenticity." As a result, immaculate 5-star evaluations may appear genuine paid reviews, prolonging the purchasing path.
2. Online Evaluations Make Your eCommerce Strategy More Interesting
These days, consumers are inundated with messaging from a plethora of brands. As a result, establishing a long-term relationship with shoppers — or even capturing their attention — is difficult if you can't relate to them authentically, observed by ecommerce web developers.
Your approach must prioritize your consumers to earn their trust truly. Your eCommerce business strategy and entire marketing efforts should reflect the importance of the customer's voice. User-generated content (UGC) in online reviews can assist you in accomplishing this. So, start modifying your marketing strategies and using UGC to give an authentic and persuasive personal touch.
3. Online Assessments Help SEO
If your website's reviews are correctly formatted in HTML, Google will extract, highlight, and showcase them. As a result, your items or services can be prominently shown in search results almost for free! This enables Google to offer users the most relevant results for their queries.
Customer feedback or online reviews are also excellent sources of keywords used by online buyers. As a result, copywriters and marketers can strategically interact with their target market by focusing on language and appropriate topics that consumers find appealing.
4. Online Evaluations Allow for Customer Communication
Customer communication is how a company interacts with its consumers using various communication tactics. Customer feedback is a route to engagement and retention if you develop an effective customer communication plan.
Make sure you're present and ready to interact at every point of consumer contact, from the start to finish of their trip. These touchpoints include advertisements, social media pages, ratings, reviews, and your website.
Where Should You Display Your Online Reviews to Increase Sales?
You've established the importance of online reviews and why online customer reviews are the ultimate eCommerce salesperson. Here's how you can strategically put them to provide your market with the social evidence they require and dispel any doubts they may have along the way:
● Product Listings
Conversion rates improve 3.5 times with only one review on product pages. Include evaluations beneath each product description on the appropriate product pages to boost sales by allowing visitors to read perspectives from prior customers with whom they can identify.
● Social Networking Sites
Approximately 55% of social media users examine product ratings and reviews. As a result, establishing a solid online presence on relevant social media networks is critical. Determine which platforms your target market prefers, then incorporate them into your eCommerce business strategy.
● Dedicated Section or Page for Reviews
On the product page, the reviews should ideally be placed next to the specifications and description of the item. Alternatively, make them easily accessible by having a "Reviews" link that aggregates all reviews. To increase trustworthiness, include all reviews and do not filter out bad ones.
● Follow-Up Emails for Abandoned Carts
As per Baymard's report, approximately 70% of internet buyers must check out to abandon shopping carts. This might be attributed to various factors, including a need for more trust and social proof. Including reviews in your abandoned cart emails helps address purchasers' concerns and urges them to complete the purchase.
How to Gather Customer Reviews or Feedback
A dissatisfied customer is likelier to leave a review than a satisfied customer. As a result, learning how to generate customer evaluations and what are the benefits of online reviews for customers, particularly positive ones, is critical.
Make It Simple
A consumer is likelier to leave a review if the process is simple. No customer, understandably, wants to jump through more hurdles after receiving the merchandise. So keep the procedure simple and eliminate any potential stumbling blocks by:
- A scale of 1 to 5 stars is provided.
- Having as few fields as possible to fill out.
- Posing open-ended inquiries to them.
Ask for Review
Most clients require a little prod before leaving a review. Before asking, wait and allow your customers ample time to use the product. However, please immediately because gathering client feedback is preferable while the product is fresh in your consumer's memory. You can request post-purchase reviews by contacting:
- Email.
- SMS.
- Posts on social media.
Encourage Reviews - But Only In Moderation
If given an incentive, 73% of consumers think they would be motivated to post a review. Incentivized or paid reviews can only be effective if you retain transparency and solicit direct input. Here's how to gather consumer feedback using incentives:
- A discount on your next purchase
- Coupon for free shipment
- Points for loyalty
Negative Reviews Should Not Be Suppressed
Surprisingly, negative evaluations contribute to brand legitimacy; therefore, they are an expected rather than an option. Consumers particularly seek out unfavorable evaluations to acquire new perspectives. When you get bad feedback:
- Do not disregard or remove them.
- When necessary, convert the data offline
- Utilize them to enhance customer service
Respond to Customer Feedback
Not every review will be a glowing recommendation of your company. Whether or not you agree with what was stated, how you respond to criticism shows a lot about your company's standards and can either discourage or inspire new consumers to post a review. So, whether you get one or five stars, make sure to:
- Tell thank you very much.
- Maintain your professional demeanor.
- Commit to resolving concerns.
Investigate Online Review Features
Genuine evaluations usually include specific facts and odd experiences that only some clients would have. These added features can increase the trustworthiness of your online reviews when it comes to enticing potential customers to buy and encouraging current customers to submit feedback:
- Purchase tagging system that has been verified
- Character count is required.
- Photographs
- Video testimonials
Wrap Up
Reviews are the word of mouth. Some firms will only invest in reviews that are easy to associate with sales in an age of direct attribution and correlating every penny earned with every penny spent. Fortunately, it will cost your firm very little in terms of person-hours or money, and all research and anecdotal evidence indicates that it will be a game changer.
It's also true that modern eCommerce platforms simplify adding reviews—from solicitation to formatting, moderation, and posting to the website. Besides being friendly and sensible, there is very little work necessary on your end, making reviews one of the most straightforward and potent sales weapons in your arsenal.
Published: 08-02-2023
