Are you worried about adding review functionality to your ecommerce store? It’s a big step, and one that shouldn’t be taken lightly. The upsides are amazing. According to verified customer rating and review site Reevoo, 50 customer reviews for a product can result in a 4.6% conversion rate increase. Plus, 63% of shoppers prefer to shop from ecommerce stores with customer reviews.
The downside…
Conversely, negatives review can have a detrimental effect on sales, which is enough to send some online retailers running for the hills. Your ecommerce store will need new functionality to manage the process too. And from the start, shoppers will see “be the first to review this product” on every product page, which won’t inspire confidence. Furthermore, a product with just one solitary negative review can put people off, so the first one is crucial. Oh, and did we mention that you’ll need to monitor reviews and respond to disgruntled customers too? Nothing comes easily, unfortunately.
New research turns the tide
If these worries sound familiar, we have good news for you. According to research from Feefo, online shoppers in the UK are more likely to post a positive review as opposed to a negative one. 2,000 UK consumers completed the survey, and the results are in. While 71% of Brits will leave a positive review based on a good experience, only 52% would post a review for a bad experience.
Matt West, the CMO at Feefo, said, “It’s quite refreshing to see that for UK shoppers the positive outweighs the negative when it comes to sharing reviews on-line. Yet although it’s great to be praised, no business need ever fear bad feedback. With advanced technologies such as sentiment analysis, all reviews become a hugely valuable source of insight into how a business is performing and where improvements can be made.”
Further findings
While written reviews are still the most popular option, people are increasingly opting for video and voice reviews. 51% of those served said they would be more likely to make a purchase if they could watch a video view, and 54% would be interested in voice reviews. According to internet and social media lawyer, Yair Cohen, “Video reviews have a higher level of credibility, especially when the reviewer is on-screen speaking to the camera.”
“Whatever the method,” added West, “Consumers know what they are looking for in reviews, so businesses need to respect that and provide them with honest, verified, but not filtered reviews they can rely on.”
The results also unveiled:
- The most popular subjects to leave reviews: restaurants top the charts with 48%, followed by electronic goods at 46% and holidays at 45%.
- People are too busy to read lots of reviews: Intriguingly, a whopping 91% of UK shoppers would prefer to see a summarised review for a single product, which incorporates multiple reviews into one. A great idea, which could help save time for the shopper.
- Reviews from people we trust count more: Again, another interesting idea. 75% of people surveyed would like to see if any reviews or ratings have been added by family or friends.
Ready to add reviews yet?
So, us super nice Brits prefer to leave positive review. Great, right? If you’re still not convinced by the idea of adding reviews to your ecommerce store, consider this: 71% of shoppers agreed that reading customer reviews could help them feel more comfortable about purchasing a product. Now that’s food for thought…
