Real consumer assessments are an effective sales tool and a certain indicator of brand trust. Online entrepreneurs who do not pay enough attention to it lose some of their potential profits. This is due to the fact that reviews often become a decisive factor at the time of making a purchase decision. This article is about how to set up work with this tool and get the necessary recommendations from buyers.
The role of reviews in promoting an online store
Reviews are specific opinions, emotions of individual customers expressed in relation to a particular product or service in the company. They form the expectations of the target audience, influence the purchase decision and provide a lot of important information to the business owner.
This information is worth its weight in gold. Thanks to it, it is possible to assess the demand for the product, identify gaps in the company’s work from the point of view of the buyer, and eliminate shortcomings in a timely manner. This is a free, objective audit of an online store. By the way, you must also consider quickly embedding business reviews from Google or any other review site to your store in order to provide more credibility.
How reviews influence ecommerce:
- Facilitate buying. Before deciding to place an order, 2 out of 3 potential buyers study reviews about the store and about the product itself. Positive feedback and ratings finally convince up to 91% of consumers of the expediency of buying. For 76%, online reviews are just as persuasive as recommendations from friends.
- Increase the level of trust in the company. 83% of shoppers trust online stores with reviews more than without them.
- Increase turnover. If there are a lot of negative opinions about the company in the network, this can reduce up to 70% of sales. Buyers spend 31% more money on brands with great reviews. Positive ratings can increase website conversion by at least 25%.
The conclusion is obvious: the more positive opinions buyers leave, the higher the conversion and tangible profit.
How to get more reviews?
The main problem is that most buyers do not like to write reviews. It takes time to do this, and not every business owner is happy with such a prospect. When the client is satisfied with everything, he takes it for granted. Quite the opposite experience if the buyer was dissatisfied with the product or service. In this case, he will most likely go and tell others about it.
As a result, we get more negative than positive feedback, which may cause a distorted picture of reality in the subconscious of the target audience. Also, negative reviews are often placed by competitors, trying to undermine the reputation of colleagues.
How to deal with it?
- Firstly, to track mentions of the online store in the network, quickly work out emerging objections and claims, and smooth out conflict situations.
- Secondly, to motivate buyers to leave reviews, share positive impressions of the purchase.
Let’s see how to do it below.
Influence reality, not perception
This is the first and most important rule. It is necessary to make sure that the expectations of potential buyers coincide as much as possible with what is actually there. For instance, you have worked out the target audience, segmented it, correctly selected advertising platforms, and paid for its high-quality customization. In your ads, you talk about what a great product and service you have, great prices, instant ordering and super-fast delivery.
But in reality, there are problems with logistics, the goods are not always delivered on time, the order form is very long, the manager responds for a long time, prices are higher than those of competitors. The client is disappointed, because the advertisement has formed other expectations for him. Positive recommendations are out of the question.
Therefore, first you’ll have to develop a really profitable offer and improve the service, and only then make promises and keep them. As a result, the likelihood that the client will be satisfied and write a positive review will increase significantly.
Don’t be afraid to ask for recommendations
You should not wait until the client wants or guesses to share their opinion. Sometimes it’s enough just to ask for it at the right time. The most convenient and appropriate moment is the period when the buyer realizes the benefits of the acquisition and understands that the online store has done an excellent job.
This usually happens immediately after receiving the order, if there were no problems with it. Then the client experiences an emotional lift and is in a good mood, so he can leave a recommendation even without additional rewards. According to statistics, up to 73% of customers respond to such requests.
How to request a review:
- by phone. This method is not the most popular, but occasionally occurs in the practice of online stores. The manager interrogates the client in the course of a telephone conversation in order to control the quality of service. At the end of the dialogue, they ask the interlocutor for consent to publish their opinion in the form of text or audio. The advantage of audio reviews is maximum naturalness, as they show real emotions;
- via email. Include a request in the order status notification, add a motivating text, thank you for the purchase, a link to the section for publishing a review;
- through an electronic or printed receipt that is attached to the parcel. Formulate a request to share your impressions in 2-3 sentences and insert the text at the end of the form;
- via sms, instant messengers or push notifications. Send messages with a concise request and the right link directly to the user’s smartphone. There are special services for this.
Conclusion
The reputation of an online store is one of the main factors that influence the decision to purchase. Therefore, you need to pay special attention to how the brand is perceived by the target audience and make efforts to create a positive image.
Collect as many reviews as possible. They will help push doubting customers to buy, increase the loyalty of the audience as a whole, timely identify and eliminate gaps in work, if any.
