Cookies Preferences
When a consumer visits your Shopify store for the first time, a few things come to their mind:
1. “Can I trust this online store?”
2. “Is this a credible business?”
3. “Can the products deliver what it promises?”
Often, customers use seller ratings, star ratings and product reviews to answer these questions. Before a new customer visits your website, they expect to see these indicators through the Google Customer Reviews program or other review tools.
You often see these ratings and reviews as you browse online stores and search engines . They’re just below the site’s name, and the stars are pretty hard to miss. So how can they impact conversion rates?
Reviews on your Shopify store put your brand’s reputation out in the open. It not only shows the positive experiences of consumers with your brand, but it also shows their negative experience too. This is why a site with 4.75 star ratings and thousands of reviews, are guaranteed to be credible. After all, the online world is often harsh, so bad customer service is rarely left unscathed.
Ultimately, customers rely on reviews to help whether they should buy from an online store. In one study, displaying star ratings besides ads resulted in a 28.72% higher conversion, compared to ads without star ratings. The data suggests that product reviews are associated with higher conversion rates.
But what if you don’t have a high star rating? What if you have a few really bad reviews? Should you opt out of all review sites and disable reviews on your Shopify store? Not exactly!
The data shows a consistent trend. Consumers are less likely to buy from an online store with no reviews. They’re also less likely to trust a business with absolutely 0 negative reviews. This comes as no surprise. Consumers want to see the good and bad side of a product—before they make a purchase. No product is perfect so they want to know the downsides in order to properly evaluate whether or not the product is worth it.
Smart online sellers know that the best way to get reviews is to ask. Give customers discounts, freebies or free shipping—in exchange for an honest review. Or, email them a review immediately after they’ve finished their purchase.
You can use apps like Product Reviews to add a customer review feature to your Shopify store. All you need to do is to visit its page and click the “Get” button.
The app allows you to view individual reviews before they’re published on the site so that only the relevant reviews are seen by customers.
Product reviews are an essential tool for building trust and credibility with potential customers on your Shopify store. They provide valuable insights into the experiences of previous buyers, helping new visitors decide whether to purchase from your store.
Need help setting up reviews in your store? Let’s talk!
Chris has been at the forefront of eCommerce and a pioneer of online retailing since the early 00s. A 5-time Drapers Award winner, Chris has extensive experience in developing fashion brands online.
Chris founded Cake in 2016. Based in Birmingham, with offices nationwide, Cake specialises in helping fashion brands understand their market online and then helps to develop appropriate strategical direction to achieve their plan, all backed by his 20 years of operating in the retail market.
