A customer usually starts his purchase journey by reading reviews online. In fact, 9 of 10 do so when looking for a local business. And aside from personal recommendations, about 2 of 3 trust their fellow customers’ feedback.
With that, we can already say how impactful and influential reviews are for both customers and sellers nowadays. They instill this kind of confidence that if nurtured, can multiply the benefits both ways.
Now, Amazon is one of the most trusted and go-to sites for consumers looking for authentic reviews. And we all know that it’s a customer-centric algorithm, considering a huge weight on customer behavior and feedback when it comes to ranking its products.
Thus, sellers who want the be successful faster and longer on the platform need to pay close attention to how to make their customers happy and improve their purchase journey.
Why do Reviews, Matter?
Customer psychology will point us out to herd mentality, which is rather an ancient belief. It is the tendency to go where everyone else goes. There’s this notion that you are safer with a lot of company and that you have to believe their beliefs so you’ll get accepted and approved of.
Word of mouth, even in this digital age, is still the most effective kind of marketing strategy. And with the variety of options and vastness of online marketplaces, reviews are like signals that point us to the best choice.
And also, on a huge platform like Amazon, reviews provide benefits to both sellers and customers:
Helps customers make informed decisions
Reviews made by present customers can help shoppers gain actual and real-time feedback. Reviews that usually focus on performance rather than appearance can help shoppers see the product from the perspective of usability, functionality, and value.
Builds an atmosphere of trust
Having more positive reviews can say about your brand delivering consistently, thus, improving your reliability score. This kind of confidence can spill to your other products, increasing your sales and encouraging brand loyalty.
Provides sellers some feedback for improvement
Sellers can also gain honest feedback and spot areas for improvement. Reviews can also pave the way for innovation and make your business gain that competitive edge, especially in niches with strong competition. They also help sellers meet their customers’ needs more effectively.
Increases conversion rates
Social proof adds to the value of your product, as well as supports your claims about its features and benefits. Thus, reviews can further increase your product listing’s conversion rate, gaining you more sales in the process.
Improves search ranking
The A9 algorithm considers your product listing’s review rating as one of its search ranking factors. Therefore, star ratings are not just about numbers – they can influence how the algorithm perceives your product as relevant to a shopper’s intent and need.
How Amazon Calculates Star Ratings?
The way the algorithm computes the overall star rating goes beyond mathematics as there are a host of factors it considers, too. No one exactly knows how it does it, but, there are some influencing variables:
- Verified or non-verified
- Age of review
- Length of review
- Reviewer’s profile
- Number of helpful votes
- Mean rating deviation
Another thing is that Amazon tends to display the longest and most detailed review that comes with the most helpful votes and is made by a reliable reviewer on top of your reviews list. And this can make or break your product.
Star ratings are another representation of reviews, or essentially, what customers have so far experienced about your product. Thus, you must be not only getting more but also better and higher-quality reviews.
How to Get MORE reviews?
Though we cannot disrupt the path to getting reviews, that is, through sales, you can still boost the chances of your customers leaving them.
Amazon Vine and Early Reviewer programs
If you are a new seller, you can still get to fill that reviews section immediately by enrolling on the Amazon Vine and Early Reviewer programs. They allow you to send your products over to Amazon’s own roster of reviewers in exchange for an honest review.
Just one caveat here is that you have to make sure you have a well-tested product, or else, you may not earn a good first impression on your products.
Use the Request Review feature
Amazon allows sellers to manually request a review up to 30 days from purchase. This allows you to maximize every sale you make by getting the customer to provide you with feedback or rating.
Send follow-up emails
You can use third-party tools to automate sending personalized email follow-ups to your customers. Not only it encourages more reviews but makes it easier for your customers to do since these emails usually come with a link they can just click to land on the reviews page.
How to Get BETTER reviews?
Over time, Amazon refined its rules about Reviews, and we highly encourage sellers to resort to white hat strategies to avoid getting their accounts closed and losing all of those years of hard work.
Every review counts and is impactful, thus, you also have to aim that it will be beneficial to your business.
Deliver what you promised
Your claims about your product should honestly reflect on it once your customers first lay their eyes on it and as they use it. Thus, focus on delivering quality products that add value and solve your customer’s problems.
Use reviews to your advantage
Gather your customer feedback and use them to your advantage. Look for unmet needs you can also tap into, innovate your product based on flaws, and continue improving your business to elevate every customer’s experience.
Personalize where you can
Ensure that you pack the product in a way that it will safely arrive at your customer’s address. Personalize the packaging that reflects your brand. Add notes of gratitude for the purchase and encourage neutral feedback through Amazon to further improve your product and service.
Stay active on social media
Spread the word about your product by being visible on other channels like social media. Having this kind of presence and encouraging engagement, you also spill the vibe to your Amazon business.
Conclusion
There’s a great return on investment when you bank on customer satisfaction. In this case, boosting product reviews greatly impacts your Amazon ranking, which will lead to more sales and increased brand loyalty.