Why You Need Customer Testimonials for Your E-Commerce Site

Let your customers do the talking!

E-commerce websites should open up the review facility to enable buyers to give their review of the product. It can be quite scary to do this. It is a double-edged sword. In allowing your customers to give you rave reviews, you are also opening your website up to customer complaints and rants.

So, why do you need to have customer testimonials? Here are some reasons:

• Customer reviews are a decision clincher. Prospective buyers tend to listen more to what other customers have to say. If a customer is wavering and putting off a decision to buy, a customer testimonial can help clinch the deal for you. Even with all the effort you make to present a product through pictures and descriptions, for some people this will not be enough. They need to see that someone has bought the product and liked it. This is what is called “social proof”, the validation that one’s purchasing decision is really the right one.

The surprising thing is that research indicates that bad reviews do contribute to sealing the deal on one’s purchasing decision. Bad reviews indicate to a potential buyer that you are not guilty of fabricating reviews or allowing only the positive reviews to come out.

• Customer reviews give more information to the buyer. With the volume of product descriptions you have to create for your e-commerce site, customer reviews can work to give additional insights on your product. Statements like: “I like how soft the fabric feels”, “The color looks better and brighter in actual”, “My skin felt softer after one week of using this” give a prospective buyer more information than the basic facts that a product description provides.
• Customer reviews improve search engine results. Google and other search engines give value to customer reviews. For one, reviews add more unique content to the website. It is also user generated and search engines can use this to see your pages as being increasingly relevant and as an authority. Another aspect is that product reviews can result in more organic search results when you use the keywords “product name + review”. The more reviews you have of the product, the more chances that your website will appear as one of the top search results.
• Customer reviews build customer loyalty. A customer who can freely give their reviews on your product will have a higher level of trust in your brand. Opening reviews to customers indicate that you know the quality of your products and that you care about what your customers have to say.
• Customer reviews help you improve your product lines. A consistent number of poor reviews can indicate that a certain product may be giving bad experiences to your buyers. Regularly take a look at your reviews to see what products you may need to remove from your lineup.

Now, how do you drum up customer reviews for your e-commerce website? Here are some ideas:

• Manage negative reviews. First, forestall the possibility of a negative review by having a fair money-back guarantee program. Give unsatisfied customers the chance to return or exchange the product in question rather than allowing them to rant about it. When there are negative reviews, be open to communicate with the reviewer to ask what you can do to improve their experience with the product.
• Make it easy for customers to write reviews. You can send a follow up e-mail after the delivery of the product, complete with “Review Product” as your call to action. You can also place review buttons on the product page, or other areas of your website, as well as in newsletters and brochures.
• Use social media. Sometimes, customers leave feedback on your social media accounts such as Facebook. You can then link these reviews back to your website. You can even ask your customers directly. You can post the latest arrivals and ask, “Have you tried these products? What can you say about them?”
• Incentivize reviews. For post-purchase reviews, you can have a program where reviews (be it positive or negative) can earn points that customers can redeem on their next purchases or can generate entries to a raffle.

About Adaptivity Pro

Grow your e-commerce business with the experts you can trust – Adaptivity Pro. We have a team of experienced Utah web designers, copywriters, graphic artists and programmers to address your e-commerce website requirements. Adaptivity Pro also provides a wide range of Internet-based services, including SLC Search Engine Optimization, Internet Marketing, Pay-Per-Click Marketing and Social Media Management.