In the ever-growing world of e-commerce businesses are constantly looking for new ways to reach more customers and increase sales. Product reviews are not a new thing within the commerce online and offline but they hold the big power of influence over the clients' decision making.

Product reviews are undoubtedly one of the most important parts of the purchasing process. For customers, reviews are as trustworthy as the recommendation from a family member or a friend. Reviews give customers important information that the product description does not contain so the customers perceive strangers opinion as more valuable than the details shared by the manufacturer or retailer.

Bad reviews are not that bad

95% of customers check online reviews before they decide to buy the product. Many people spend a lot of time looking through reviews because they give the “real” image of the product instead of polished information and pictures made by the seller. In that instance, positive and negative reviews are equally beneficial for the company. One star reviews allow customers to see all the cons of the product so they can decide if those flaws are important in the final decision. Mixed opinions build trust between the customer and the company as 68% of people won’t believe that the reviews are real if all of them have 5 stars.

Negative reviews have another advantage for the companies. They create the opportunity to gain feedback about the cons of the product and improve it. Unsatisfied customers are also a great chance to communicate with them and show them as well as others that the company cares about its clients.

Improve SEO with reviews

Besides the influence on shoppers decisions, reviews play an important part in the search engine optimization. Not only opinions add more content to your online store but they also include long-tail keywords that other users are more likely to enter into the search bar. Furthermore, the reviews section is something that users constantly update and upload new content to that signals the search engine that the product is still relevant and should be suggested to others. Therefore the more reviews customers add to products the higher it will rank in search results.

Ask customers for their opinion

People rely on reviews when shopping online and offline, but they usually don’t think about placing one after they receive and use the product. However, 70% of customer will leave an opinion if they are asked for it. Usually, companies would encourage their customers with discounts and coupons to write the review for a product that has fewer opinions or lower rating. The invitation to leave the review should be friendly or else clients would feel forced and react negatively.

At the same time, the process of submitting a review must be as simple as possible. People that were not that eager to rate the product in the first place will not proceed if they will need to go through the long process of giving their opinion.

Reviews are an important tool that companies could exploit to their advantage. When used effectively both negative and positive opinions can help improve the trustworthiness of the company and boost sales. The numbers say that reviews, no matter the star rating, greatly influence customers purchasing decisions and relations with brands, so every company should know how to use it for their benefit.