Most companies know by now that online reviews are a critical aspect of successfully selling products online. Consumers pay attention to reviews, will quickly write them, and are influenced by them in their purchasing decision. Mostly, reviews are these days standard and expected. Learn here more about why retail reviews are critical to online success.
Over 50% of consumers report that they trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Given they look real and not fake. Furthermore, additional research showed that over 75% of consumers regularly use online reviews to determine which business to use. This is especially true for localized businesses.
Most individuals look at 2-8 reviews to determine which business to use. Studies show that a business should have a large number of reviews to be effective. The larger the review base, the better the results tend to be.
Generating Retail Reviews
To be effective online with customer reviews, it is important to understand that generating online reviews on the company website is important, but so is on external sites. The online store should have for each product reviews enables as a feature. Most shopping carts have this feature now. Then, it must be promoted. Give your customer base incentives to visit the website and leave reviews for the products they have used. In addition, review websites such as the Google+ review feature, Yelp, and other key niche sites should be promoted for reviews.
Email Marketing for Reviews.
The email marketing in place promoting brand awareness and product sales, can also be utilized for generating reviews. Include review incentives to promote to customers, giving customers a reason to leave reviews on the website and external review websites.
Use Review Links
Include the links to review websites in outgoing emails to customers. This makes it very simple for customers to leave reviews. These links should be in all outgoing email correspondence and newsletters. When a customer purchases a product, the email they receive confirming the purchase should also have links to the review sites.
Offer Incentives for Reviews
To motivate the customer base to leave reviews on the website and review sites, brands should offer incentives. Giving away discounts, products, and other forms of incentives to motivate customers to leave reviews.
There are other tactics utilized for the generation of reviews, but the above are the most common methods. Companies that wish to increase conversion rates, boost online sales, and simply be more effective with retailing online, should start with the above tips first. Professional services are also available to retailers to assist with customer review generation. Companies can always get a marketing consultation to learn more about why retail reviews are critical. Get started with reviews to improve online sales.