Journal

eCommerce Product Reviews: Why They Matter and How to Get Them

27 Oct
2023
eCommerce Product Reviews: Why They Matter and How to Get Them

Reviews are increasingly vital to the overall success of your eCommerce business. But why do they matter so much, and how can you keep positive and thorough reviews flowing in at all times? 

This guide will help you hack the review game, so you can focus on making your brand the best it can be. 

What is a product review?

A product review is a written or visual assessment of a product or service from a customer who has experienced it firsthand. More often than not, these reviews contain detailed feedback, opinions, and ratings based on the customer's personal experience with the product. They can be found on product pages, review platforms, social media, and other online channels.

//[inject:ad-reviews]

Why product reviews matter

Product reviews are a vital component of the modern eCommerce landscape, and their importance can’t be overstated. 

Product reviews serve as social proof that your products or services are trustworthy and credible. Potential customers often seek validation from others who have already used the product before making a purchase decision. 

Many consumers rely on previous buyers' experiences to gauge a product's quality, performance, and value. Positive reviews can sway potential customers towards making a purchase, while negative reviews may deter them. Customers are more likely to trust the opinions of fellow shoppers over marketing messages from the brand. 

Reviews not only influence your current and potential customers but also impact your search engine ranking. Search engines favor fresh, user-generated content; product reviews provide exactly that. Customer reviews contribute to SEO efforts by adding relevant keywords, generating more content on product pages, and increasing the time users spend on your site. 

Constructive feedback from product reviews, can provide valuable insights into what customers love about their offerings and areas that need improvement. This feedback loop enables businesses to refine their products and services, enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty. Responding to product reviews allows brands to engage with their customers, express gratitude for positive feedback, and address concerns in a transparent manner. This engagement fosters a sense of community around the brand and encourages customer loyalty.

Benefits eCommerce product reviews

eCommerce product reviews offer a wide range of benefits for both businesses and customers. From driving sales to building trust, these valuable user-generated assessments play a pivotal role in shaping the success of an online store. 

Drive sales

Positive product reviews act as persuasive testimonials that encourage potential customers to make a purchase. Customer reviews are needed so that when shoppers see that others have had positive experiences with a product, they are more likely to trust its quality and value, leading to increased sales and conversions.

Boosts credibility

Authentic customer reviews enhance the credibility of your brand and offerings. They demonstrate that real people have used and enjoyed your products, validating your claims and establishing your brand as trustworthy in the eyes of potential buyers.

Enhances SEO

Product reviews contribute to valuable user-generated content on your website. Search engines favor fresh and relevant content, and reviews add relevant keywords, which can improve your website's search rankings and visibility, driving organic traffic to your eCommerce store.

Creates personalized customer experiences

Product reviews often provide specific insights and use cases from customers with diverse preferences. This personalized feedback helps potential buyers understand how the product aligns with their needs, fostering a deeper connection and increasing the likelihood of a purchase.

Builds trust with customers

Trust is crucial for any eCommerce business. Positive product reviews demonstrate that your brand delivers on its promises and provides satisfactory customer experiences. This trust-building element can lead to repeat purchases and word-of-mouth referrals.

Opportunity to grow from negative feedback

Negative product reviews, while challenging to receive, offer a valuable opportunity for growth. They highlight areas of improvement and allow you to address customer concerns directly. Responding empathetically and offering solutions to negative feedback can convert dissatisfied customers into loyal brand advocates 

How to ask for an eCommerce product review?

Asking customers for product reviews is a delicate process that requires a thoughtful and strategic approach. 

Time it right

If you want to increase customer reviews, you need to send your review requests at the right time, ideally after the customer has received the product and had sufficient time to use it. This usually falls around 7-12 days post-delivery. Steer clear of requesting reviews right after a purchase, as it might seem rushed, and customers may not have had ample time to fully engage with the product.

Victoria's Secret email

Be personal

Personalize your review request by addressing customers by their names and mentioning the specific product they purchased. A personalized touch shows that you value their individual experiences and can help you get more positive reviews. The review block will auto-pull the product purchased on each send.

Cometeer email example
Source

Keep it simple

Keep your feedback request email concise and to the point. Make the process as seamless as possible by including a clear call-to-action with a direct link to where they can leave a review.

Sight Glass Coffee email
Source

Express gratitude 

While still staying true to your brand voice, start your request with a sincere expression of gratitude for their purchase. Thank them for choosing your store and being a valued customer.

Withings email
Source

Encourage honesty 

Encourage customers to provide honest feedback, whether positive or negative. Let them know that their insights are essential in helping you improve your products and services.

Everlane email
Source

Offer an incentive

Consider offering a small incentive, such as a discount, coupon, or loyalty points, for customers who take the time to leave a review. However, ensure that the incentive does not influence the content or authenticity of their feedback.

Anthropologie email
Source

Send a gentle follow-up 

If a customer doesn't respond to your initial request, you can send a gentle follow-up reminder after a reasonable amount of time. Avoid being too persistent or pushy, as it might deter customers from leaving a review altogether.

J. Crew email
Source

How to get product reviews on your eCommerce website

To collect product reviews effectively and enhance your eCommerce website's credibility, you can utilize various tools and platforms. Here's how to get product reviews using Sendlane, Yotpo, Shopify Reviews, and BigCommerce Reviews.

Sendlane

Sendlane is an fully unified email, SMS and reviews solution for eCommerce brands.

Using Sendlane's email automation features, marketers can send personalized review request emails to customers post-purchase. Customize these emails with details like customer name and specific product information and time the review request strategically after customers receive their orders and have had a chance to experience the products. Then, use Sendlane's analytics and reporting capabilities to track the open rates and conversion rates of your review request emails. The best part? Sendlane’s Review product is completely free for all users! 

Sendlane reviews

Yotpo

Yotpo is an eCommerce marketing platform that helps brands collect product  reviews.

With Yotpo, embed review forms directly into post-purchase emails to simplify the review submission process for customers. Make it easy for customers to provide feedback without leaving their inbox. With customizable review widgets, you can place on your eCommerce website to showcase customer reviews and ratings. These widgets allow you to leverage UGC as social proof and build trust with potential buyers. Yotpo's management dashboard helps you to monitor incoming reviews and engage with customers who provide feedback. 

Yotpo reviews

Shopify Reviews

Shopify is a leading eCommerce platform that enables brands build and manage their online stores.

By enabling the Shopify Product Reviews feature within your Shopify store settings you can enable customers to leave written reviews and star ratings directly on your product pages. Although the customization options are limited, ensure the review display fits well with your store's theme and design. Promote customer participation by showcasing the existing reviews and encouraging customers to leave their feedback after making a purchase.

Shopify reviews

Benefits of Sendlane's product review feature 

Sendlane's product review feature offers a comprehensive set of tools to effectively collect, manage, and leverage customer feedback for eCommerce businesses. 

Seamless Integration

Sendlane's product review feature seamlessly integrates with your existing eCommerce platform, making online review monitoring easy so that you can start collecting reviews without significant technical hassle. Whether you're using Shopify or BigCommerce, Sendlane provides a smooth integration process.

Automated Review Requests

With Sendlane, you can automate the process of sending review request emails to customers after they make a purchase. These personalized review requests can be timed strategically, ensuring that customers receive the email when their experience with the product is still fresh in their minds.

Personalization and Customization

Sendlane allows marketers to create and send personalized review request emails.  Using custom fields, you can auto-pull information on each send to include details like customer name and product purchased. Customizing the review requests creates a more intimate and engaging experience, increasing the likelihood of customers leaving feedback.

Actionable Analytics

The product review feature in Sendlane provides actionable analytics and reporting on the performance of your review requests. You can track open rates, conversion rates, and other key metrics to measure the success of your review collection efforts and make data-driven decisions to optimize your strategy.

Customer Engagement

Sendlane's product review feature enables direct engagement with customers who leave reviews. Using the reply center, you can respond to their feedback, address concerns, and express appreciation for positive reviews. Or, set up an automation funnel to fire off responses based on star ratings! 

Conversion Boost

Positive product reviews act as persuasive testimonials that influence potential customers' purchase decisions. By showcasing these reviews on your website or marketing materials through Sendlane, you can boost conversions and drive more sales for your eCommerce store.

Integration with Marketing Campaigns

Sendlane's Rreview data can be seamlessly integrated into your marketing campaigns, too!You can leverage positive reviews as social proof in email marketing like abandoned cart messages and be exported and used for social media or paid ads.

If you’re ready to unify your tech stack and generate reveue through the power of reviews, speak to a Sendlane expert today!

//[inject:ad-demo]

eCommerce product reviews FAQs

Where should I show online reviews for the highest result?
What are the top product review metrics?
How should I export my product review data?
How should I add product reviews to my Shopify store?

Share article link

Subscribe to our blog!

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

The 2021 eCommerce
Email Marketing Playbook Part 2

Maximize revenue & customer loyalty in 2021

Mastering Customer
Acquisition & Retention in 2021

Tuesday, July 20

Better features. Better support. Better customer experience.

Get all the same features you need with a more intuitive UI you’ll love. Experience the difference.

No More Guessing; Make Data-driven Decisions at a Glance

Ditch the clunky UI; send high-converting messages with unified email & SMS data under one roof.

Find Hidden Growth Opportunities in your Shopify Customers

Build a retention-first strategy with real-time analytics and multi-channel automation.

Turn sales into reviews & reviews into more sales. All for free.

Collect, manage and dynamically display unlimited reviews all within one snazzy dashboard (and at no additional cost).

Uncover What your Customers Really Want

Get all the same features you need with a more intuitive UI you’ll love. Experience the difference.

Create Winning Campaigns Faster with Personalized Email Marketing

Spend less time building emails & more time creating experiences that drive your store growth.

Unified Email & SMS Marketing for BigCommerce

Send hyper-targeted email & SMS marketing that generates revenue with an easy one-click integration.

Uncover What your Customers Really Want

Get all the same features you need with a more intuitive UI you’ll love. Experience the difference.

Everything Your Brand Needs to Achieve Greatness with SMS

Build lasting, authentic relationships and tap into multi-channel revenue with all-in-one email & sms marketing.

Drive significant ROI for your
online store

Your eCommerce power couple - Unite your email & SMS marketing under one roof with Sendlane.

The Ultimate Guide to Maximizing
CLTV for Digital Retailers

Keep your store cruising onward and upward with these seven strategies to increase CLTV.

The eCommerce
Segmentation Handbook

12 eCommerce Email Marketing Segments to Maximize Your Customer LTV.

The Definitive Guide to Abandoned
Cart Emails for eCommerce

Perfect your abandoned cart email funnel and recover those lost sales on autopilot.

The Big Book of eCommerce Email Funnels

Boost your customer LTV & ROI with these 10 proven automated funnel templates.

Your 2021 Guide to eCommerce Holiday Marketing

9 tried and tested omnichannel marketing strategies to crush holiday sales

The Digital Retailer’s Email Copywriting Handbook

A Marketer's Guide to Writing Killer Email Copy That Sells.

The Future of eCommerce
in 2022

Omnichannel strategies to drive revenue plus trends to watch in 2022 and beyond

The Digital Retailer's Guide to Modern SMS/MMS Marketing

10 Best practices to convert more customers where and when they’re active most with text messaging.

Increase Revenue and Retention by Mastering the Digital Customer Experience

A step-by-step guide to mastering the customer experience and building a base of loyal, repeat buyers.

The BigCommerce Experience: Omnichannel Marketing Strategies for a Post-Cookie World

The Shopify Experience:
A Merchant & Marketer's Guide
to Scaling eCommerce Growth

Get started with your free
14-day test drive!

All our PRO level features at your fingertips.

Try for Free