Ecommerce product reviews are important for marketplace rankings and also a great source of social proof. Alongside descriptions and pictures, reviews from real buyers give customers a comprehensive overview. Reviews build trust and give new customers more confidence to take a chance on a new brand.
When you go to make an online purchase, what’s the first thing you do? In an ecommerce-driven world where customers can’t physically experience products before purchasing, many consumers turn to online product reviews.
As online review sites such as Google and Facebook have expanded, finding an opinion on just about anything is only a few clicks away. The proliferation of reviews has even gone so far as to shape how businesses are perceived online.
Customers like to see lots of reviews. A single review with a few positive words makes up an opinion, but a few dozen that say the same thing make a consensus. The more reviews, the better, and one study found that consumers want to see at least 50 reviews to justify trusting an average star rating. However, a few reviews are still better than no reviews.
With the vast array of review sites and the level of trust most consumers have in reviews, it’s a safe assumption that virtually everyone considering your products, no matter your target demographic, industry, or market, is reading online reviews before making a purchase.