How Do Product Reviews Benefit E-Commerce Businesses and Influence Marketing Plans?

Before purchasing any product online, the first thing we notice is obviously the image, and product descriptions and reviews come thereafter. In the virtual realm, customers don’t get the scope to experience the products physically, and it’s one of the primary reasons why several customers resort to product reviews to get the necessary insights. Nowadays, neutral online review sites like Wirecutter, Trustpilot, Angi, TestFreaks, Yelp, and Manta garner revenues by shedding the dilemma of potential customers. With the boom of digital channels, the proliferation of reviews has grown by leaps and bounds. More often, these reviews come in handy in shaping how E-commerce businesses are perceived online.

Benefits of Online Reviews for Your E-commerce Business
It won’t be wrong to say that online reviews can make or break your E-commerce business. Nowadays, every information relating to an organization is reachable to the public. This has created enormous opportunities for small and medium-sized E-commerce businesses to flourish, but it’s also a fact that negative reviews can degrade your brand value over time. Whatever it is, let’s explore how online reviews can give your E-commerce business an upper hand:

a) Boost sales: Undoubtedly, it is the most apparent benefit of online product reviews for your E-commerce business. Before buying any item, customers look for social proof these days. It implies individuals are likely to make decisions. So, if the users come across positive reviews from other customers, they will be more inclined to buy the product. In other words, these online reviews will generate confidence in their minds to proceed ahead. A study highlights that users consider reviews to be 12 times more trustworthy than other marketing collaterals.

b) Develop trust: Trust and sales go hand in hand. People can’t trust an e-commerce brand overnight. Several brands are aiming to gain the trust of customers to sell their products. Apart from reviews, users don’t have a way to verify reliability and quality. If a potential customer comes across dozens of reviews, the user can sense it is an established business with a noteworthy footprint. Research highlights that 63% of customers prefer to buy from an e-commerce store with reviews.

c) Low-cost marketing tactic: Organizations don’t have to spend any bucks to gain reviews. Hence, these online product reviews act as an affordable marketing source. Positive E-commerce product reviews encourage customers to buy the product. More specifically, these reviews curb the second thoughts in the minds of confused customers.

d) Level up SEO efforts: Every E-commerce business wants its name on the first page of search results. However, only a few succeed. Building an SEO-friendly website can simplify your efforts, but this isn’t enough. Customer reviews regarding your product can fuel your SEO efforts by a significant margin. In this instance, you don’t have to take any pain since Google will automatically prioritize your site owing to several customer reviews.

e) Facilitate word-of-mouth marketing: Even in this digital age, there is no shortcut to word-of-mouth marketing. It enables an E-commerce brand to connect with new audiences and creates a positive brand reputation. This organic marketing strategy can work wonders for your brand in the long run. Not only it increase the profitability of brands but also strengthens their connections with patrons.

f) Helps in problem-solving: Reviews can be positive or negative, and it won’t be a concern for E-commerce businesses. It’s impossible to satisfy every customer who interacts with your brand, but definitely, you can give it a try. Reviews will help you evaluate the pain points while identifying the areas that demand improvement.

In this age of competitive market environment, earning online reviews is important for E-commerce businesses to gain credibility. When customers are saying good things about your products, naturally other potential customers will be instigated to visit your store and initiate a purchase. Reviews also build a sense of community among customers. Being the marketer, you can also know the products in your E-commerce site individuals are most interested in.