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GROWING A BUSINESS

The Importance of E-commerce Reviews: Boosting Sales and Building Consumer Trust

5 min. read

4st April, 2024

In the present internet-driven market, if you want to excel in your e-commerce business, knowing the importance of e-commerce reviews is essential. Promoting and running businesses from e-commerce websites has become a popular way of doing business. But in this field, customer reviews play a major role; we must understand its significance to gain consumer trust and increase sales. So, to expand your business and make profits, it's important to know about reviews for e-commerce businesses.

Why are E-commerce Reviews Important?

Image shows a man leaving a review online, three stars are visible.

According to statistics, e-commerce reviews increase around 18% of sales of the business. If you want to establish your online store, customer reviews are very important, as it's a major way to promote it. Here are some noteworthy benefits of online reviews and why it is critical for your business success.

1. Attracts New Customers

For e-commerce businesses, attracting customers is a huge deal. Hence, by reading a review or seeing a product on websites or social networking sites, customers have a high chance of purchasing or getting influenced.

2. Product idea

In the review section, customers share their experiences related to a product or service. Positive product reviews, comments on good product quality, and feedback on satisfactory customer interaction will help boost the credibility of the items and business.

3. Decision Making

For many customers, e-commerce reviews help to get a proper idea about the product and whether it is a perfect fit for them. After understanding the products and what real buyers think about them, it is easier for the customer to make a buying decision.

4. Boost SEO

When customers across various demographics buy products from a website and share reviews, it increases traffic and sales. As a result, the search engine algorithm ranks the page better. It also helps consumers to find the page at the top of the search results.

5. Customer Insight

Customer reviews are great for understanding your clients better. It provides genuine information about their expectations. And even if there are negative e-commerce reviews from loyal customers, you can use the report to make a data-driven decision for improvements.

6. Product Development

With the help of e-commerce reviews and the ratings of the customers, as a businessperson, you can improve your business processes, such as lead time reduction, quality improvement, competitive pricing, and more. It is beneficial for your new product development as you can use the data to launch a better product.

Additionally, there is information that you might have missed. In such situations, customer reviews can identify minor yet critical flaws in your products.

Where to get reviews?

Image shows a man leaving a 5 star review on his phone.

There are many sources available from where customers can share reviews of the products. Below are the most common ways to check.

Review Page:
The Google review page is the fastest and easiest way for customers to share their thoughts. E-commerce businesses also can use this space to get correct reviews, ratings, and feedback.
Company Website:
The best way to get e-commerce reviews is from your company website. If you have your own e-commerce website, create an option where customers can share their reviews. On the company website, encourage customers to share their real experiences about the product. Many authoritative reviews show the genuine and actual experience of the item.
Social Networking Sites:
People often come to know about e-commerce businesses on social media or networking sites. That’s why knowing more about the business and checking customer reviews or experiences from social media platforms is quite important. Almost 76% of consumers get influenced by social media posts and then buy the product.
Email Follow-Ups:
Another effective way to get e-commerce reviews is shooting a direct email to the buyer. Follow up with a consumer via email after they've made a purchase to solicit comments and ratings. Make it simple for them to post a review by providing a direct link to the page where they can do so on your website.

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How to get more reviews for your online store?

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There are many ways to get reviews and feedback to accelerate your e-commerce business

Automate Request

The easiest way to get customer reviews is to ask them to share. You can practically boost customer trust by setting up automated emails asking customers about the product review. After a couple of days of purchase, send mail to your customers for a review. It’s as simple as that.

Link Website Page

After sending the product to the customer, in a physical card or mail ask them to share their rating or review on your web page, google my-business or social networking sites.

Make the Review Process Easy

Want more e-commerce reviews from customers? Make it easy for them. You cannot get many reviews if users need to put significant time and effort into sharing reviews. Make the review-sharing process on your webpage, business page, or social media page user-friendly and avoid making it lengthy.

Respond and Engage in Reviews

We all love to be heard. Even your customers. Make your customers feel that their comments are valuable. Even a simple “thanks” can make a big difference. It makes new users share their experiences as well.

Integrated Promotion

It's a great way of getting reviews for your e-commerce business. Here, as the business owner, offer a discount or a free product on the next purchase to the customers who share their reviews and ratings. Or ask them to make a video of your product and upload it to social media by tagging your e-commerce social media page. This way, the customers will put extra effort into submitting a review. It is proven that 91% of shoppers like to receive free products, and 67% tend to purchase a future product for a discount.

How Do You Deal with a Negative Review?

A negative review isn't a good feeling, but an online store can only improve and grow if its customers are happy. So, there are a few things you can do to handle a negative review from an unsatisfied customer.

Reply Fast
Whenever you notice a review, especially a negative one, avoiding it is the worst decision. Rather, reply by apologising for the issue the customer is facing and assuring that you will resolve it as soon as possible.
Guide the Customer
Ask customers with negative reviews to contact you through mail and try to understand their problems thoroughly. Send an honest reply and, if possible, guide them to resolve it.
Show the Change
After a negative review, look into the issue and resolve it as soon as possible. This behavior will encourage the customers to come back. It will show that you care about the customer's opinion and are ready to resolve the problem.
Stay Humble
While handling the negative review, you must always stay polite and calm. As the online store owner, inappropriate behavior can affect your business reputation. Even if it is the customer's fault, hear them patiently and convey your message with a personal touch.

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SmartBiz by Amazon delivers smooth, mobile-friendly website creation services, guaranteeing that your website will load well across different devices from the very first day. With SmartBiz by Amazon, you can build a sophisticated, visually attractive, and mobile-friendly eCommerce store that effectively demonstrates products or services. This will help you engage your visitors and drive them to purchase your products or services.

SmartBiz by Amazon makes the process of building an eCommerce website super easy, with no coding knowledge required. Here's how you can build your eCommerce website and take your business from local to global:

Download the Smartbiz by Amazon Web Builder app from the Google Playstore.
Sign in with your existing Amazon account credentials on the app or create a new account by entering your name, email address, mobile number, and password. Then, enter the OTP you received on your mobile to confirm your mobile number.
Type in your store name and all the different categories of products your store offers. Be careful when entering the store name, as it cannot be changed.
Fill in the complete address of your store and then select the location on the map. After entering the location, you will be directed to a page where you can set your store policies. You change the policies by clicking on the tick box, and that's it! Your eCommerce store is set up.

After setting up your store, you can add unlimited products by clicking on the Catalog tab. You can add details about your product, such as its name, images, MRP, selling price, business category, product category, and product description.

You can also customize your eCommerce store by clicking on the Profile tab on the Homepage and selecting the Appearance option. You can change your logo and header and select from more than 10 theme colors to change the look and feel of your storefront.

Final Words

Ultimately, it's not hard to understand the importance and benefits of online reviews. When soliciting feedback, remember to be open and honest. Avoid manipulating reviews, as this can hurt your online credibility and is often against the rules of review sites. In order to enhance your offerings, you need your consumers' candid feedback, both favorable and negative.

FAQs

Where do consumers read reviews?

Consumers mostly read reviews from the company website, business reviews, social networking sites, social media, etc. It directly shows the review of many consumers, their experience, and their rating of the product.

Why do consumers avoid filling out reviews?

Consumers don't like to fill lengthy reviews about a product, or the review process is not user-friendly; keeping a pop-up review page on apps or websites and offering discounts for submitting reviews at social networking sites is enough.

Is it fair to remove a negative review?

Owners should never remove or manipulate negative reviews, as it will reduce the integrity of the online store. Negative reviews allow the customers to share their pain points and frustration. Take it as an improvement point and handle it properly.

Can an e-commerce business survive without reviews?

For any e-commerce business, it's hard to survive without customer feedback. Customer reviews and ratings are key to building trust, showing business integrity, and attracting new buyers. As a business person, you must reach your customers, and with the help of online reviews, the consumers can connect to your business.