We’re constantly reminding our website shop clients to make sure they feature customer generated product reviews and service testimonials on their online shops. When there are so many unfamiliar companies selling products out there on the net, a good assortment of customer reviews and testimonials is a great source of reassurance for online shoppers.
Customer Generated Product Reviews
Research conducted for Feefo which is an outsourced online customer feedback forum (clients include Thomas Pink & Charles Tyrwhitt) has confirmed the importance of product reviews. Over half of those polled said they are more likely to buy from websites carrying independent product (53%) and service (51%) reviews from past customers. Another survey by Bazaarvoice found that product reviews can increase conversions by 20% and push up order values by 15-30%.
With this in mind, a few tips for you on product reviews:
- Include some of the less favourable reviews you get as well as the good ones (maybe showing how you addressed the less favourable ones) because this is more credible than a list of reviews that only say how wonderful the product/your service is.
- Make sure your ecommerce website software has a product review feature that allows customers to easily give you their feedback and also shows those customer reviews prominently on the relevant product pages. It’s also helpful for website shop owners to have a filtering facility for all reviews they receive before publication. Try to have at least 4/5 reviews per product.
eCommerce Software Product Review
- Include a selection of testimonials on your home page or via a prominent link from the home page. Testimonials that talk about your service (delivery, customer care etc) are just as important as product reviews especially when there’s loads of competition out there selling the same products as you.
- Incorporate expert reviews from the media or any magazines that your product or website shop has been featured in. These are very powerful, so make use of any PR channels open to you. Also if your business has won any awards, always show these on your website.
- Encourage your customers to give you feedback (via customer surveys) or via a forum/blog. You could ask for feedback via email or include an insert in your delivery package. You might consider an incentive for these reviews (automatic entry to a competition, for example).
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Tags: ecommerce website, ecommerce website software, product reviews, website shop
