Popularity is persuasive. Knowing others have bought and enjoyed a product gives customers confidence as they contemplate a purchase.
Reviews are a smart way to leverage the power of social proof on your online store. But how can you get more reviews for your eCommerce site?
Why are reviews important?
Reviews play an important role in the research and consideration process. According to Bright Local, 85 percent of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.
Product reviews are a key factor that influences a customer’s decision to buy. Online reviews have been shown to impact just over 67 percent of purchase decisions.
The benefits of reviews
Product reviews have a number of benefits including:
- building brand trust
- supporting research
- influencing buying decisions
- increasing conversions
- improving visibility in search results
Popular review platforms
Product reviews are easy to integrate into your eCommerce site thanks to the wide range of handy review platforms on the market.
Take your pick from:
11 ways to increase product reviews
So, how do smart brands get more reviews? Here are eleven ways to increase your product reviews:
1. Making it easy
Don’t make your customers jump through hoops to leave a review. Make their lives easy.
Link directly to the page where your customers need to leave their review and you’ll be sure to get more of them.
2. Making it mobile friendly
Clunky mobile experiences make leaving reviews a drag. Don’t let this limit the number of reviews you collect.
Over half of reviews are thought to come from mobile devices. So, make sure your review process is optimised for mobile.
3. Sending a post-purchase email
Automate the collection of reviews by setting up an automated email that is triggered when someone makes a purchase. The review request email is sent out after an appropriate delay.
Make sure that the time you send the email makes sense for the product. For example, if your product is a computer game that takes a long time to complete, don’t ask for feedback too soon.
In the world of fashion, you can be a bit snappier. Ask for feedback shortly after delivery. This captures your customer’s love for their new item while they are still on a new purchase high.
4. Allowing people to review directly in an email
Don’t make people go through to your website to leave a review if you don’t have to. The fewer steps, the more likely your customers are to complete them.
By offering the ability to review a product directly in an email, you can maximise the number of responses you get.
5. Using your social channels
If you have a strong following on your social channels, use them to ask for reviews. This is an effective way to attract feedback.
You can also use your social channels to promote existing reviews and drive conversions. Do make sure you ask customers first, though. Include an opt-in in the review collection process to seek permission.
6. Adding a link to your company email signature
Another way to increase product reviews is through your company’s email signature. Simply add a call to action that links to the page where they can leave a review.
This allows you to maximise reviews even when emailing customers for another purpose.
7. Adding a review call to action on product pages
Your product pages are another place you include a review call to action.
This reminds customers browsing for new products to review those they’ve already bought.
8. Responding to reviews
Responding to the reviews you have already shows customers that you appreciate and listen to their feedback.
This makes them more likely to leave you reviews in future and improves brand sentiment.
9. Using website personalisation
Try using website personalisation to entice your customers to leave a review.
You can use personalisation tools to dynamically insert a personalised review request. This could ask your customer to review a product they bought recently on their next website visit.
10. Making it easy to review multiple purchases at once
If a customer has bought more than one product from you, don’t tire them by asking them to review each product separately.
Making it easy to review multiple purchases at once increases the chance your customer will see the process through.
11. Incentivise reviews
If your brand is seriously low on reviews, consider incentivising them.
You could offer a discount on the customer’s next purchase or a free gift in return for feedback. Or enter them into a prize draw.
This really is a last resort, however. Implementing the some of the other tactics we’ve explored should be your first port of call.
Takeaway
We hope this post has given you plenty of ways to increase your product reviews and ultimately, your conversion rates.
Reviews not only play an important role in improving your website experience, they can also be used in your marketing. Highlighting positive reviews in email marketing and advertising campaigns is a great way to increase your return on investment. Read our guide to growing conversion rates with social proof to learn more.
Want to learn the secrets behind creating a high growth eCommerce business? Well we’ve written an entire guide. Grab it below.
