It’s definitely worth buying: how recommendations work in an online store

Reviews are one of the most powerful marketing levers. It doesn’t matter if your goal is to increase sales, get more likes and subscribers, or encourage your audience to sign up for your email newsletter. A universal tool that can be of great help for almost any site is reviews. Many resources have a section with reviews, and you should consider doing it as well. And deciding to embed business reviews from your Google account may be worth trying here.

But just having a review page is not enough for success. We’ll show you how to use the reviews to your advantage. We will explain what steps you need to take to develop a review strategy that will be effective for you. First of all, consider the reasons why customer feedback is really useful for any website.

Why reviews work

Most of the reviews work on the basis of social proof. Social proof is a psychological process that causes people to copy the actions of others and try to mimic the correct behavior. A famous person, or at least someone that people can relate to, is using a product or service. When others hear about it, they will interpret it as correct behavior and follow suit. This way of promoting with the help of influencer reviews is called Influencer Marketing. This approach has become very popular, especially for the promotion of goods and services in social networks. When a famous and authoritative person recommends something on their Instagram account, followers buy it. After all, if a celebrity has approved, then it is really worth buying. Social proof, whether it comes from celebrities or loved ones, contributes significantly to the effectiveness of reviews.

However, social proof is not the only reason reviews are effective. At least it doesn’t have to be the only one. While many of the reviews we see on eCommerce sites are rather vague, even they shed light on the quality of a product or service. After all, five stars is an indicator, right? That’s what I think reviews should do—demonstrate the real experience of buyers and customers so that others can form their own opinions based on it. It’s not enough to just say this product is good. It is important to mention the following:

• why is it good
• how does it work
• how useful it was for the person who wrote the review

This is only half the battle. Your site should also have testimonials about:

• the ordering and purchase process;
• delivery;
• guarantees, if they exist and someone used them

Let your visitors know that other customers have been happy with every element of your online store.

When do reviews work?

Customer reviews significantly increase the credibility of the resource. Studies have confirmed that positive reviews can significantly increase sales. The researchers acknowledged that customer reviews are more important than the actual overall reputation of the store. This was the case a few years ago, and the situation has not changed until now. Of course, you don’t just have to post good reviews about your store on your site. Texts should inspire confidence, and not give the impression that you ordered them from someone or wrote them yourself.

That’s why it’s important to have negative reviews on your website as well. But in order not to spoil the reputation, you need to carefully consider the client who posted a negative review and give him an adequate answer in the comments. Sometimes getting negative feedback is normal. How you respond to them is what matters to the potential client. Therefore, it is not necessary to remove negative reviews.

Posting reviews

We have noticed that many sites that have recommendations and reviews choose the wrong place to place them, although the reviews are excellent. But if they are only on the reviews page and nowhere else, few people will see them. Therefore, you need to place them on different pages. Here are some options:

• on the home page;
• on the page of a specific product;
• next to the call to action;

Conclusion

Reviews only work if you use them correctly. In order not to waste the potential of this tool, follow our recommendations:

1. Get feedback not only about the product, but also about all the elements of your online store (delivery, service, feedback);
2. Adequately and timely respond to negative reviews;
3. Ask customers to attach photos or videos to reviews;
4. Try to get recommendations from influential people;
5. Post reviews not only in a special section, but also on other pages of the site;