Number of Product Reviews on Amazon Over Time
In 2021, shoppers don't just rely on word-of-oral fissure recommendations anymore—they lean on the Amazon reviews of their 200 meg most trusted peers.
Amazon, which has over 200 1000000 unique monthly U.Southward. visitors, accounted for more 37% of all online U.Due south. retail sales in 2020 and again dominated in the e-retail space with over $385 billion in net sales. As Amazon continues to encounter rapid growth, consumers are increasingly making purchase decisions with the help of one of the most powerful ecommerce tools: consumer reviews.
Reviews aren't just beneficial for shoppers trying to find the perfect product. They're 1 of the most effective ways for you lot to heave your brand'due south conversion, credibility, and overall ecommerce presence. If y'all have very few reviews—or if the reviews y'all exercise have are negative—you're less likely to convince consumers that your product beats the competition. It'due south equally simple as that.
Despite the importance of production ratings and their prominence in the Amazon shopping experience, consumers and sellers alike accept limited noesis of how Amazon solicits and shapes that data. Let's talk more than about the ins and outs of Amazon reviews and ratings and what brands can do to utilise them to their advantage.
Why are reviews of import?
Reviews are everywhere, from Amazon to Facebook to Google to Yelp and beyond, and for good reason. Research shows that 84% of shoppers trust online reviews as much every bit a personal recommendation, and 91% of shoppers occasionally or regularly read online reviews. Why? Considering they create trust and add together transparency to the purchasing feel and so consumers are more willing to purchase.
Shoppers who read reviews are often unfamiliar with a make and/or a particular product and lack the confidence to brand a purchase. These shoppers need social proof to trust they're getting what they're paying for. This is especially true when it comes to high-end appurtenances (like luxury items or tech products), functional goods (appliances, electronics, tools, i.e.), and clothing items.
The beauty of well-nigh reviews is that they requite shoppers 2nd opinions on a production sans the sales spin they've come to wait from many brands. Shoppers who read reviews do and so to assemble data, like whether or not an item is truthful-to-size, if it's comfortable, if it'south proficient quality, and if it's functional. That information helps them make a more than informed purchase.
**How do reviews affect your business organisation? **
While reviews are very of import for customers, they're too very important for businesses. Reviews directly bear upon your brand reputation (for better or worse), increase or decrease sales, and they can be the final nudge that either converts a customer or convinces them to never give your brand a 2d thought. More than measurably, the number of reviews you take impacts your SEO, as online reviews are factored into Google search results.
How do shoppers use reviews?
Amazon strategically places reviews in higher location priority before the product specifications and detail bullets. Client feedback appears before your own marketing team'south carefully crafted messaging and even gets its ain rollover graphic correct on the search page, just some other reason why it's so important to exist getting skilful reviews.
While the A9 search algorithm presents consumers with their options, ratings and reviews are what push consumers from consideration to buy. Approximately 93% of consumers read reviews before making a buy, and a whopping 68% of consumers form an stance on a product after only reading between 1 and 6 online reviews. With so many reviews available and so few being consumed before consumers make a purchase decision, it's like shooting fish in a barrel to run into why you should exist scrambling to get together positive feedback and respond to negative reviews on Amazon.
Practise reviews influence product ranking on Amazon?
Not necessarily. Product reviews are non the sole deciding factor in where items announced in Amazon rankings; sales are still the champion when Amazon's A9 algorithm delivers search results (read more on our analysis virtually how Amazon reviews influence conversion and sales). Amazon happily indicates "All-time Seller" and "Amazon's Choice" adjacent to products, only those only appear on two results for whatever given search. However, every production gets a boost from its review summary and star rating right in the results page:
It's worth noting here that, similar to the number of reviews y'all have, the keywords consumers employ in reviews can help your product fare better in search results, and according to Search Engine Land, Amazon rewards brands with great customer service that respond quickly to reviews and questions.
While reviews may not exist the nigh important factor in rankings, they greatly influence conversions on Amazon. Statistics show 22% of shoppers won't look anywhere else once they've identified an Amazon product they want to purchase, and reviews are a major push when it comes to purchase decisions.
How does Amazon build those review summaries?
Amazon is very secretive about how it arrives at an item'due south star rating summary. Reviews and ratings are weighted to calibration, simply star ratings don't necessarily correlate with Best Seller or item rank condition. We do know that Amazon'south models cistron in how recently a rating or review was written and whether the purchase was verified.
Amazon has migrated through several programs to foster unbiased, trustworthy reviews and currently does and so through Amazon Vine, an invite-just program that invites trusted Amazon reviewers to review new products.
Amazon Vine reviewers, chosen Vine Voices, are invited to participate in the plan based on the helpfulness of their reviews and their expertise in specific categories. Vendors participating in the program pay for the products, and reviewers give their honest stance in return.
While a strong review can lift a production's conversion, it's a violation of Amazon's customer review policy for sellers to incentivize customers into giving product reviews exterior of Amazon Vine. Of course, fake reviews and black hat tactics still are common on the market, as we discussed with Buzzfeed News and the New York Times.
More reviews, more problems?
A true black market has materialized through Facebook, Reddit, and other platforms for brands and merchants to game the conversion funnel with fake reviews, despite these reviews existence in direct opposition to Amazon'southward selling policies. Although Amazon claimed in 2018 that more than than 99% of consumer reviews are legitimate, some researchers and consumers take come to vastly unlike conclusions.
In 2018, The Washington Post found some product categories in which upwards to 67% of reviews were fraudulent and artificially boosting item ratings. Fifty-fifty though some sellers may argue that they're non artificially boosting ratings if they don't enquire for specifically positive reviews, ReviewMeta found that incentivized reviewers are most 4 times less likely to leave a critical product review.
Three years later, information technology appears the problem is as relevant as ever. In August 2020, Financial Times found that Facebook groups that solicit incentivized Amazon reviews are thriving, with some groups posting thousands of offers a day. Afterward the initial commodity was posted, Amazon deleted 20,000 product reviews on Amazon Great britain.
Amazon, which is proactively working to change this perception, stopped allowing paid reviews in 2016 and has since cracked down on platforms like Amazon Review Trader. Services like FakeSpot and ReviewMeta provide consumers tools to research products and weed out suspected fake reviews.
Amazon has said it has a zero-tolerance policy toward production review policy violations, and brands that offer incentives similar gratuitous products or discounts in exchange for reviews are subject to punishments including permanent delisting from Amazon, legal action, and the withdrawal of selling privileges. Long story short, it'due south a much safer bet to focus on improving your legitimate production reviews.
What'south the deal with ratings?
In fall 2019, Amazon changed its review arrangement verbiage from "reviews" to "ratings" and started letting shoppers get out a product rating out of 5 stars in one click. Previously, customers who wanted to leave a star rating also had to exit a written review.
This change, which made it easier for shoppers to leave their impressions of a product, has resulted in a college quantity of ratings and higher star ratings for products. The new system can be positive for brands since it eliminates some of the negative bias that frequently accompanies online reviews, according to Marketplace Pulse, but it also makes it harder to verify which reviews are trustworthy.
Phonation suggests that Amazon's movement to swap reviews with ratings makes it easier for new Amazon sellers to gain momentum and that increased feedback from legitimate customers will give false reviews less power. In fact, customer ratings aren't even considered in an item's overall star rating unless the rating has Amazon Verified Buy status.
Even if customers choose to leave but a quick star rating at commencement, they'll e'er have the option to add more than text, photos, or videos to create a more than detailed, media-rich review.
How should you handle negative reviews?
Later reading all about how positive reviews lead to conversion, you lot might be panicking about every negative review. But take a deep breath—inquiry really shows that occasional negative reviews tin can be good, co-ordinate to Forbes, as a make seems less credible if it has perfect reviews.
That doesn't hateful you lot shouldn't respond to negative reviews. In fact, responding to these reviews can be a great way to build credibility and prove consumers you lot're bachelor and willing to fix potential problems. You can read more well-nigh handling negative reviews here, just apologizing, fixing the trouble, and, in some cases, removing the review are all good steps to have.
You know Amazon reviews are of import, and so what's next?
Amazon is continuing to better its review processes and encourages brands to interact with production feedback. Shoppers appreciate this interaction and are becoming increasingly savvier when it comes to detecting trustworthy reviews. Brands should be ready to partner with companies like Pattern to surpass shoppers' expectations and go on the authentic positive reviews flowing.
Need aid managing and improving your product'due south Amazon reviews? We get information technology. Tell us what issues you're having with reviews, and allow our brand experts fill up in the gaps.
Read Next: How to Get Reviews
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Source: https://pattern.com/blog/why-are-reviews-on-amazon-important/
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