When you’re building an online brand you want to capture the feedback of your current customers. This helps your brand build credibility with the new prospective customer. When a customer sees that your product has reviews it lets them know that you are a company that cares.

Reviews In An Online World

It’s the e-commerce equivalent of word-of-mouth marketing which is a very powerful form of advertising. Hearing about a product or service from a friend or family member builds trust that your company is worth spending money with. When your company is all online the product and company reviews become the digital form of word-of-mouth advertising.

Reviews online show your customers both current and potential that you care. By initiating and asking for feedback from your customers it humanizes your brand and in this day and age is a unique thing. When searching for products and stores online customers want to know that there are people behind all the screens and all the flashy photos. And so by following up with customers and asking for their comments you’re letting them know you care about more than just the cha-ching of the order.

What You Need In Reviews

Honesty & Authenticity: This is basic. People can read through fake reviews so you always want to collect reviews from actual customers. This gives your product a review from a voice that people can get on board with trusting.

Gather a Variety of Reviews: It’s been said that prospective customers decide to trust a business once there are 7 reviews. And having a variety of those reviews will help the new customers believe you sell quality products in addition to it making it more clear that the reviews are real.

Embrace The Negative: Ironically, not all your reviews should be over-the-top positive. In fact, that’s often seen as suspicious. The sweet spot in reviews in the e-commerce industry is between a 4.2-4.5 star rating. The perfect 5 star scores make new customers skeptical, and by a brand publishing both the good and the bad it helps them trust what everyone says.

What This Means For You

Reviews are an important part of any e-commerce business. Use them to build trust and credibility with your new customers by capturing the attention of your current customers. When you setup reviews you establish a relationship with your customers and begin a strong new relationship with prospective customers.