Reviews matters!
The positive impact of using reviews to sell products online, is already a well-established fact. I think few people who have been professionally active in e-commerce would dispute it. But all the same, let’s take a look at some of the findings from some trustworthy surveys and reports.
Reviews gave an 81% increase in conversion rates in the CE segment
In a recent study Yotpo (yotpo.com) found that online consumers who were shopping for CE products and read reviews had a 81% higher conversion rate than consumers which didn’t look at reviews. In an extremely competitive segment such as electronics where price is arguably the most important factor, I think that 81% really tells us a story.
Consumers trust reviews 12 times higher than marketing messages
Product reviews and seller reviews are excellent tools in helping consumer feel more trust. Few consumers these days really trust the marketing message of either the seller or the manufacturer. In fact, a survey of US Internet users concluded that consumers trust reviews 12 times more than descriptions from the seller or manufacturer (econsultancy.com).
65% feel reluctant to purchase a product with less than 10 reviews
In a survey performed by Steelhouse.com, a whopping 65% of consumers answered that they would not feel confident buying a product with fewer than 10 reviews. The ideal number of reviews for maximized conversion depends on the type of product and product price but in an Amazon study from 2013 it was found that products which had twenty one or more reviews converted two times better than those with fewer than twenty reviews.
“Be the first to review” is not a phrase you want on product pages
On Amazon, products which have 1 review get twice the traffic and convert 65% better than products which doesn’t have reviews. The first review is thus the most important but the conversion increase curve is steep up to 5 reviews, where likelihood of a purchase is nearly 4 times higher than for a product without any reviews (Spiegel Research Center).
Reviews are even more important for higher priced products
In general, reviews are even more important for higher priced products. This was the conclusion by PowerReviews (powerreviews.com) who concluded that for higher priced products, the average conversion increase was 380% compared to 190% for lower priced products.
I could go on forever (really I could) but let’s take a moment to ponder why the effect of reviews is so high? What is it really that makes reviews so important to us online consumers?