A few weeks ago, our CEO Riccardo Osti made a video about the importance of reviews for traditional retail. Today, he’ll explain the importance of reviews also for e-commerce businesses.
They are not only extremely valuable for the products, but for the online stores themselves. As you’ll see, this happens for several reasons:
- They create trust,
- They are freely generated,
- They represent a great point of interaction,
- They help SEO and finally,
- They help to drive sales
Wanna know more about it? Go ahead and watch this video on why reviews are essential for e-commerce. If you like the content, don’t forget to subscribe!
Some weeks ago I’ve explained on this video why reviews are important for traditional retail. Now, I will tell you the importance of reviews for e-commerce, and why they are becoming so relevant in a digitalized world.
There are five main reasons why reviews are one of the most important things for online stores:
First one, reviews create trust.
This happens because they are independent opinion from people like you and me, consumers. It’s not a brand sponsoring itself, but actually real people talking about their own experiences using the product.
And this experience doesn’t even need to be good to make reviews worth it. A study revealed that a product that has only negative reviews sells more than a product with no reviews at all.
This happens because people like to take risks in group, instead of doing it alone. So if other consumers have tried this product before and reported the bad experiences they had, at least you won’t expect any surprises. On the other hand, if you buy a product with no reviews at all, you don’t know what to expect from it, what can generate insecurity and frustration.
Second one, reviews are voluntarily generated, in free text format.
This means they represent truly what consumers want to say, without any possible filter.
When purchasing a speaker for example, consumers might start by searching for reviews about the sound quality, in which brand A may not be the best. However, after reading reviews, they realize other customers are really satisfied with the design of this product.
Design is a value that, before reviews, didn’t even exist. But now, it turns up to be important.
Third, reviews are a point of interaction between a brand and its clients.
Very often, brands talk to customers through reviews’ channels, starting a conversation with them. And its proven that when customers feel heard, their feeling about the brand improves.
Forth, reviews improve SEO, since they help brands to better rank on Search Engines.
Reviews mention product name several times, and some important keywords used by clients to search for a product. This text improves the relevance of a webpage, and search engines like Google will see it positively when ranking this e-commerce page.
Finally, probably the most important factor, reviews drive sales.
There are plenty of numbers that support this affirmation. In fact, 95% of people read reviews before purchasing something, and more than 80% have their purchase decisions influenced by what they read in reviews. On average, customers trust reviews as much as they trust family and friends!
Reviews are beneficial not only for the product but for the e-commerce itself. Another study shows the results of adding reviews to an e-commerce store: 42% of the site administrators reported increases in average order value, versus only 6% that report a decrease with the inclusion of reviews. So it’s a win-win, for the product, and for the channel.
I hope this explanation gives you a clear understanding of the role reviews play in e-commerce.
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