Engage customers with product ratings

In today's competitive and competitive digital marketplace, understanding the factors that influence customer retention and customer satisfaction is critical. Product reviews can play a key role in shaping consumer behavior and loyalty. In this text, we outline the importance of online reviews and the benefits that webshop retailers can gain by displaying product reviews in their online stores.

Negative product reviews are an opportunity to improve the customer experience

One study investigated the impact of product reviews on consumers' purchasing decisions by tracking eye movements. The insightful findings revealed that consumers actually pay more attention to negative comments than positive ones. The effect is also more pronounced among female consumers. Webshop managers can make use of this information and openly accept not only positive reviews but also negative ones. Negative reviews are therefore a place to engage with customers:

• Humbly accept the feedback and handle any complaint with respect and diligence
• If necessary, tailor the product or service description on your webshop to make it as truthful and realistic as possible.

The key is that the customer is not disappointed with their order.

A fair, respectful and interactive approach to negative online reviews can at best improve the shopping experience and potentially increase customer loyalty and satisfaction.

Customer loyalty increases profitability

Investing in strategies to ensure customer retention is known to be more cost-effective than acquiring new customers. Customer loyalty is also achieved through robust product review management.

Satisfied and loyal customers tend to make more purchases, spend more money and recommend products to others. The likelihood of selling to an existing customer is significantly higher than to a new customer. Not only do loyal customers buy more often, they also spend up to 67% more money per purchase compared to new customers. In addition, loyal customers are more likely to pay full price for a product, which in turn increases revenues even further without a commensurate increase in operating costs. 

Furthermore, the power of social proof - that online reviews manifest - cannot be overstated, as recommendations from satisfied customers are a very effective way of attracting new customers.

Product reviews create customer loyalty

Online retailers can therefore benefit greatly from actively managing and promoting product reviews:

• Improve customer decision-making abilities: verified product reviews, especially when carefully managed, are valuable information for consumers, helping them to make informed purchasing decisions. Addressing negative feedback promptly not only mitigates potential damage, but also enables engagement and demonstrates a commitment to customer satisfaction.
• Increased customer loyalty: when companies foster an environment where feedback is encouraged and acted upon, they increase customer loyalty. Satisfied customers are more likely to return, make larger purchases and recommend products to others.
• You invest significantly in cost-effectiveness: retaining existing customers through the effective use of positive engagement strategies, such as online reviews, is more cost-effective than acquiring new customers. The additional revenue generated from repeating purchases and increased order value underlines that focusing on and investing in customer satisfaction and retention is cost-effective.

Invest in right tools to enhance the customer experience

Product reviews are an important part of the customer experience in e-commerce and have a significant impact on customer retention and satisfaction. Investing in the necessary strategic tools, such as a review service, to drive business growth and customer loyalty is the right thing to do if you want to manage your business in a quality and data-driven way.

By leveraging the insights provided by customer feedback, online retailers can create a more engaging and satisfying shopping experience that not only retains customers but also attracts new ones through positive word-of-mouth (WoM) marketing.

Author: Noora Kahra, CMO
RateCompass / Vilkas Group