Mar 06, 2020
According to JobsInMarketing, the 95% of online shoppers who seek out reviews before placing an order are looking for things like details of quality, pricing, and what amounts to a dividend of “social validation.” Any business can turn this phenomenon to its advantage. For instance, if you manage to associate just five reviews to your product, your chances of making a sale can increase by 270%.
Simply put: attracting online reviews is a profitable strategy that can help you build a great reputation, as it has many others.
Some Insight on Online Reviews
Here are some outstanding ecommerce stats to keep in mind:
- 67% of online shoppers only feel confident about making a purchase after reading six or more positive reviews.
- 80% of consumers change their minds about a purchase decision after seeing a negative review.
- 75% of positive comments related to a product or a service make consumers comfortable about what they intend to buy.
- 79% of online shoppers see online reviews as equal to personal recommendations.
- 48% of consumers have searched for brands with four-star or higher ratings in 2017, rising higher to 57% in 2018.
- Online shoppers trust online reviews 12 times more than they trust manufacturer descriptions.
It’s clear that online shoppers’ buying choices are closely aligned with reviews. But why would should that be particularly critical for online businesses? Let’s run down the three key reasons why reviews are so critical to ecommerce success.
- They Build Trust
Trust must be earned. And online reviews are a great way to earn it. Seeing a brand name come up time and again in good reviews leaves new audiences with a strong impression of your products. User-friendliness, reliability, and quality are a must-have, of course, but detailed user comments contribute to an overall positive perception.
If you’re eager to go the extra mile, seeking out genuine reviews from non-biased and credible review sites will help you build consumer loyalty. It’s apparent that you care about the customer experience not only when your audience buys from you, but when they spend the time to articulate how much they like your products.
- They Reduce Cart Abandonment
Along the customer buyway, there are several points during which a consumer can decide to give up on the purchase. So-called “cart abandonment” is that final moment just before they hit the “buy” button, when a person’s interest peters out and the online cart is left full of un-bought product. The more the customer knows about your brand, the more reason they have to continue their journey and follow through with purchase.
And when your products are backed up with good ratings and reviews, your customers will have more confidence in what you offer. If you’re struggling with high cart abandonment rates, reviews can help reduce them significantly.
- They Reveal Audience Insight
But what about when some reviews are bad or just sort of meh?
This can be tough, but it’s not altogether a terrible thing. When running an ecommerce business, it’s essential to be adaptive and curious about customer needs and comments so that you can grow. Learning about online criticism is the best way to improve problems like lackluster user experience, low customer satisfaction, and even flawed product quality.
Even just a small collection of honest customer reviews can help you with this. Looking through them for not just the most positive but the most insightful comments will help you tailor a catalog of products that meets the needs of your audience and drives sales.
The Takeaway
Online reviews are a powerful tool when used strategically. They can boost sales, improve your positioning on search engines, and build your reputation. If you aren’t using online reviews on your site, the best time to start doing so is now. Start getting game-changing insights about your customers on Mobile Insight. Check out the JobsInMarketing infographic below for a ton of extremely useful stats and insights.
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