5 Reasons Why You Should Implement Product Reviews On Your Shopify Store

As you build your online store, even small adjustments can make a big difference in standing out among your competition. The margins in eCommerce tend to be thin, and your ability to convince your potential customers about your brand credibility and your product quality may just be the difference that results in a sale.

Product reviews can play a major role in getting to that point. When implemented the right way, they help to elevate your Shopify store, allowing your customers to easily see what others think about the products they’re considering.

5 Reasons to Implement Product Reviews on Your Shopify Store

Let’s dig into the “why” of product reviews. As it turns out, in eCommerce they can be a game changer. Consider these five reasons to implement reviews on your Shopify product pages.

1. Give Your Audience What They’re Looking For

The first reason is simple: potential customers specifically look for reviews when deciding whether to buy a product. In fact, 93% of new customers actively seek out reviews from their peers when making a buying decision.

That stat explains why, according to one study, even products with as few as five online reviews are 270% more likely to sell than those without any reviews. By adding this feature to your online store, you streamline the process for your audience and make the more likely to complete the purchase.

2. Build Crucial Audience Trust

Another reason why product reviews are so successful are the credibility they inherently build:

• 84% of online shoppers trust business reviews from other customers as much as personal recommendation and word-of-mouth.
• Online reviews are trusted 12 times more than other, more traditional promotional messaging.
• Online audiences are 63% more likely to trust brands and online stores that have largely positive results.

Put differently, online reviews can help you build valuable trust, which can in turn raise your revenue. Especially for small businesses in competitive markets, they play a significant role in enhancing brand perceptions.

3. Enhance Your Search Engine Optimization

You likely know search engine optimization (SEO) as a comprehensive concept to build your entire website and content strategy around improving your search rankings. But you might not know that online reviews have their own SEO part to play as well.

With the right implementation, your review averages will become visible in Google search results, driving additional traffic to your website. And, in its most recent algorithm update, Google began to push pages with customer reviews higher on search engine results pages.

4. Use Your Positive Reviews for Customer Insights

Beyond their outward-facing benefits, don’t underestimate the ability of product reviews to provide high-level audience research. Once you begin to receive a steady stream of reviews, you can gain a number of learnings:

• Product features and benefits that resonate with your audience, which you can emphasize further in future promotions.
• Questions and uncertainties that can provide the basis of future content, like blog posts or how-to guides.
• Frequently-used keywords about specific products, which you can use for more relevant SEO optimization and copywriting.

These learnings don’t replace other audience research. At the same time, they can become a valuable addition, especially as more reviews make trends and commonalities more representative.

5. Use Negative Feedback as Opportunities

Of course, chances are your reviews will not only be positive. However, even negative reviews can create opportunities to improve your credibility and business as a whole.

To start, they offer an interaction activity. Responding to a customer with a negative experience can raise your credibility for anyone reading the review. Even more importantly, it can turn angry customers into loyal brand advocates, especially if you can address their issue in an effective, comprehensive way.

At the same time, negative reviews are another opportunity to learn about your business and products. Spotting trends and commonalities among them can help you improve your marketing, messaging, and even the products themselves.

Ready to Start Optimizing Your Online Store Presence?

Put simply, product reviews have the potential to make a massive impact on your Shopify store. Of course, you’ll also need to build a strategy that collects positive reviews from satisfied customers. Contact us to get started, or stay tuned for the next part of this guide in which we cover how you can solicit and implement reviews on your online store.