Reviews – Celebrate the good & learn from the bad

Customer reviews have become more and more important both for buyers and sellers. As online shopping behaviours are evolving rapidly, so is the need to satisfy the trust factor along the buying journey. 

I have attended numerous webinars, spoken to many industry experts and shifted through a ridiculous amount of data (some of which I have sprinkled in this article), however, I approached this topic as a shopper. What do I need answered as a shopper? and, how do I easily find that when I am shopping online? 

In the “State of Ecommerce” white paper that was released by BigCommerce, they asked,  “When looking at consumer reviews, which are most likely to make you buy the product?? (select the top 3) 72% answered “Seeing a realistic mix of both negative and positive comments but overall positive results”, followed by, “Reviews marked as verified or genuine” which came in at 60% and, third in the last question at 56% “Positive reviews from recent months” 

Another question I get asked a lot it is, “How do you deal with a bad review?”. There is a lot that we can find out from “bad” reviews. I always see them as an opportunity to better the product and or service, depends which pertains to you of course. Inviting all types of reviews and not steering away from the negative ones can only improve your offering. I love the line Andrew Gray from Giftobox used during a webinar. He said, and I quote “we would call the person that gave the negative review. However, we would never call within 10 minutes as they may still feel angry and upset and would not be in the right frame of mind to talk”. I would definitely agree with that. 

Further to the above, here is a top list, if you like, of why you should invest in a reviews strategy. 

• Reviews help with Brand Credibility, Integrity, Authenticity, Validation, Trust.
• Thinking a little further and outside the box,  Reviews actually help with client retention. They are a great means to help improve/better your product/service. 
• Reviews have a direct growth impact on local business. We are seing an upwards trend of shoppers wanting to support local business and promote this through reviews. 

What is the best way to ask for reviews? 

There are many factors to consider before answering this question. For example, time. Make sure the order has been received by the customer and in full before sending an email, or text asking for the review. Inviting them to provide a review could also involve a little “sweetener”. % off your next order if you could take 5 minutes off your time to let us know about your experience with our company. Another good idea is to provide them with the link so they can write the review. Don’t make it hard, respect their time. 

What platform do I use to set this up?

There are many reputable third party platforms you can look into. https://au.trustpilot.com/ and https://www.yotpo.com/ are two that I have found are very easy to integrate into most ecomm businesses. One thing is for sure, you need to leave it up to the experts, plus, real product reviews from real people carry more weight than an email sent to your business that has then been copied onto your site. 

If you need more details around this or any other subject to help your online store grow in revenue, don’t forget to get in contact with us or follow us on our socials.