Shoppers no longer put down their money based on pretty images and promotional influences. They want raw facts. The truth about the products and services provided through the worldwide web. You and your marketplace may say a lot about genuine quality, high speed delivery and pakka return policies. But people will only believe you if other (non-bias) consumers like themselves justify your statements.
So you need something along the lines of good word-of-mouth which works so well in physical retail. The closest you can get to this in ecommerce is online feedback posts and reviews. Feedback and reviews reach more people in comparison to traditional word-of-mouth. In addition to that all the right people will see it, making it worth the effort.
In 2015, Econsultancy said, 61% of customers read online reviews before making a purchase decision. Last year business.com also stated, 77% of people read online reviews before buying. This means more than half of the total online consumers look through your product reviews before making actual purchases.
Can you Generate Consumer Feedback and Reviews?
Most customers can’t be bothered to leave feedback. This makes it really difficult for online sellers to collect reviews that could lead to phenomenal sales. Getting reviews requires you to coax and encourage your buyers to head to your product page and leave valuable words for more consumers to read.
It is an uphill climb, getting people to write feedback, but not impossible! It’s like they say, ‘If you never try you’ll never know.’
Encouragement for Feedback and Reviews
Call up Customers
Amazon and eBay provide sellers with consumer contact details. So after a consumer makes a purchase, call them up. By speaking with them directly you know what they think about your product. This is where your personal skills come into play. Interact with them and ask them to leave a comment against the product on your web store, Facebook store or online marketplace. You took the extra step to personally call up, so the consumer may feel the need to reciprocate by taking the time to write feedback for you.
Not going to lie though, most people don’t always reciprocate, so let them know their reviews:
– Will help other people to shop easily and understand online products better. Appeal to their emotions. Give them a situation how reviews would help them if other customers wrote some for them to read.
– Earn sweepstakes. Sometimes it takes more to get buyers to review your products. Incentives are a good way to keep people interested in leaving reviews and feedback. This is possible if you own an online store because online marketplaces have predetermined rules. If you do decide to offer prizes or rewards to review writers, make sure you pick the winning review at random. Also ensure the positive reviewers don’t always win!
Send them text messages
You can also contact consumers by sending them messages and emails. Most marketplaces send consumers links that take them to the seller’s product review page. You can also send your consumers a link to your website or marketplace to leave a review after purchases are made. This is more convenient for both you and your consumer. Your message can also inform the buyer about your sweepstakes for reviews and the benefit other consumers will receive from their feedback.
Reply to Reviews
When people leave feedback about your products acknowledge them. In case of bad reviews, give the consumer a helpful response and thank those who leave good reviews. Also add more information to good reviews (if possible), to give readers the whole picture. It shows you are reliable and approachable.
Embrace bad reviews
Bad reviews are unavoidable and if you don’t have a single bad review, people will be a bit skeptical. You will diminish consumer trust in your brand, if you wipe out all bad or negative feedback. You don’t want people thinking you bought your reviews. So as absurd as it sounds, some negativity towards your products can serve you good. Just make sure the bad feedback does not exceed the good. That’s when you could be in trouble. There’s also the fact that people will feel free to leave reviews when they see negative comments because no matter what their views about the product are, you will publish their reviews.
Make it easy
Make it as easy as possible for consumers to leave reviews because no one is going to make special efforts to post a review. Unless that review is a negative one! Like we’ve already said, email and text your buyers the link to your product page to make the whole process hassle free. Tweet this same link and post it on Facebook to make it easier for consumers to write their feedback.
If you own an online store, use all the positive feedback you receive to your advantage. Even social media posts can be put on your site so visitors understand you are a good brand in the eyes of the people. You can also quote positivity shared over the telephone. You can inform consumer about this or publish it as an anonymous quote.
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