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Pros and Cons of Online Customer Product Reviews

Julie Rains

Senior Writer - Freelance, Killer Aces Media

Summary

Making a purchase decision on an e-commerce site can be agonizing for me. I can't detect the item's sturdiness, read the care instructions,

      Making a purchase decision on an e-commerce site can be agonizing for me. I can't detect the item's sturdiness, read the care instructions, or figure out the fit from a digital image.

      Further complicating my decision-making processes are unusual methods of presentation: One company offers product descriptions that are the same for all items in one category; another gives sizes in terms of clothing but not body measurements.

       

      How should a cautious e-shopper like me choose? Sure, I can talk with a customer service representative, which is useful but often time-consuming. Getting insights from fellow shoppers who may have the same needs and concerns as I do is invaluable: enter customer-written product reviews.

       

      There are pros and cons to product reviews, not only for shoppers like me but also for e-commerce businesses. Here are a few.

       

      PROS:

      Drive sales and reduce returns

       

      Give shoppers a feeling of security by reading about others who have purchased and used products that they are considering

       

      Offer insight into most appropriate applications of products

       

      Provide additional resources to customers that can improve the product experience (for example, a reviewer provided installation instructions and pointed to an online product manual not included with the original item), potentially reducing returns

       

      Improve overall credibility of e-commerce business by allowing contrary opinions on the website

       

      Bring out positive attributes relevant to consumers but possibly not covered in original product descriptions

       

      Improve marketing and merchandising:

       

      Expand methods of filtering (or sorting) products by ratings

       

      Provide content for promoting products based on customer ratings

       

      Give merchandising teams insight into aesthetic design and functional features of most significance to customers

       

      Aid marketing team and copywriters in improving product classifications and descriptions based on common uses and desirable features of products cited by customers

       

      CONS:

      Give shoppers a skewed impression of a product if there is just one review or rating, especially if the review or rating is not positive

       

      Allow disgruntled customers to publish vindictive or damaging information

       

      Increase shoppers' wariness of items with a prominent "be the first to review this product" quote, which may further stall sales of slow-moving products

       

      Require resources to monitor either individual reviews or the product-review system as a site feature

       

      Seem irrelevant if a solitary review was posted years ago


      Shoppers can easily get bogged down by analyzing customer-generated commentary, hesitating to buy an item that seems like a good purchase but doesn't consistently get positively glowing reviews. 


      BOTTOM LINE:

      By asking customers to submit reviews of recently purchased products (typically, by sending a follow-up email), e-commerce businesses can increase the number of reviews on their sites. Generally, this approach will lead to a more reliable portrayal of product quality and usefulness.

      These requests can engage customers and convey the site owners' desire to improve the shopping experience.

       

      More sophisticated systems have capabilities that can mitigate many of the cons relating to product reviews. Features may include mechanisms for allowing site visitors to rate the helpfulness of customer-generated product reviews; add comments to reviews; and flag inappropriate comments.

       

      To create context and show the perspectives of contributing reviewers, personal information such as age, gender, and interests relevant to the product might be displayed next to the review on REI or backpack on L.L.Bean might indicate the depth and ruggedness of their experiences.

      Links to other product reviews may be provided to give a broader picture of individual likes and dislikes such as links to book reviews posted by customers on 
      Amazon.com
      . 

       

      In addition, contributors may be ranked or given badges to denote credibility. Other cool features include the capability to upload photos and videos, and the opportunity to share reviews on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Digg.

       

      If your e-commerce business isn't ready for customer-generated product reviews, consider these alternatives:

       

      1. Customer testimonials and simple return policy to give shoppers a feeling of security

       

      2. Detailed product descriptions that indicate best applications of products, convey unique features, and basic or premium value


      3. Hand-picked product offering of best items rather than multiple SKUs

       

      Don't lose sight of your overall goal: Help customers make good but quick purchasing decisions.

       

      Wise Bread is a leading personal finance community dedicated to helping people get the most out of their money. Get daily money tips by following Wise Bread on Facebook or Twitter 

      Published: August 26, 2010

      Updated: September 06, 2023

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