Product Reviews: Grow Your Business - Engage Your Customers

7 reasons why product reviews are essential for your ShopFactory store

Easy access to the Internet has radically changed the way people shop for almost everything today.

From mobile phones to clothing, it’s rare to blindly make a purchase decision without reading through several online reviews. Study shows that 90% of shoppers read at least one online review before visiting a store.

More importantly, 94% of online shoppers reported that a negative review had convinced them to avoid visiting a store.

This means that whatever your business, having a positive online presence gives you several key advantages, which is why it’s becoming a crucial part of branding.

Understanding why you need online reviews will help you optimize your buyers experience to help create a positive online footprint. Let’s review the seven reasons why your customers’ published experiences with your brand are vital.

1. Social proof drives orders

We’re more likely to place an order if others around us—even total strangers—agree that it is a good decision. Nowadays, online reviews are the biggest source of social proof, and they have a clear impact on turnover.

2. They make your ShopFactory online store more visible

Being a successful store also means you’re a visible one.

When deciding what to buy, most buyers will look on Google and social media. These channels have their unique ways of indexing and surfacing content, and they all value original and up-to-date content. Customer reviews can help feed the content machine, keeping your shop favored by algorithms.

3. They make you look trustworthy

Your store can build significant trust and credibility from a steady stream of positive reviews.

One of the more interesting findings of recent research is how powerful reviews are at building your business’s online identity.

Many buyers distrust businesses that have ratings below (or even above) four stars. This leaves a small margin of error at the top, but websites with better average ratings are significantly more likely to see views converted to traffic and sales.

4. They expand the conversation about you

Very good (or negative) reviews have a way of quickly spreading.

Encouraging consumers to review your online store is an easy way to expand your reach.

When people have positive things to say, they are also more likely to share their reviews on more sites, including external websites like Yelp, Facebook, and many more.

These hubs are vital to your online presence, as Google collects data from their sites when building its own results ranking. Even on an individual level, having positive reviews can help push further reviews.

5. They are increasingly essential to decision making

A proactively cultivated image is one that increases your stores' online visibility, and today, that means encouraging several ways for buyers to talk about you. Social media is a great tool, but the ability for customers to talk about you on other channels is a crucial component of your presence.

Almost two-thirds of buyers think that online reviews are an essential part of the decision-making process. When they want to know the best places to go, they’re more likely to turn to Google, Facebook than they are to a newspaper or even their friends and family.

6. They have a clear impact on turnover

Case studies and theory can be misleading. Reality doesn’t always follow a logic, and there are always outliers. But there’s a growing body of benchmark data that proves that reviews do empirically lead to increased turnover.

A study by the Harvard Business School found that online reviews can demonstrably impact your bottom line. Websites that are viewed positively have better sales, but even improving your star rating can have a positive effect on your sales.

7. They give you an open line to consumers

More than simply posting reviews, buyers today expect companies to respond to their comments.

These reviews also give you a forum to be frank with customers and reinforce positive reviews with thanks, or promotions. More importantly, they also give you a way to quickly rectify a poor review and show that you care.

About Stamped

Stamped.io is an AI-powered eCommerce marketing platform that enables direct-to-consumer brands to accelerate business growth by enhancing user engagement, increasing revenue, and improving customer satisfaction through Reviews & Ratings, Q&A, Visual Marketing, Loyalty Programs & Referrals. Their constant focus on customer success and seeking new innovative ways to help brands get more value out of their products and services have made them one of the fastest-growing companies in the industry.

* the 3 months offer expires at the end of January 2022, after which the free trial period will be reduced to 14 days.
(PS: It is included for free forever in our ShopFactory Platinum Plan)

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