Impacts of Online Reviews in Business

Reviews are evaluations posted online on diverse platforms about a product or its service.Its a process of sharing customer experiences and making it visible to the internet population.

In these Ecommerce & online shopping days, when you go to make any purchase, what is the first thing you do ?
In an e-commerce technology online shopping, customers can’t experience the physical features of the product. All is decided upon an image and its descriptions. So before purchasing online, many buyers check over online reviews.

Does Anyone Read Online Reviews?

Online reviews are important for any company existing in Digital Space, when it comes to trust building & maintain online reputation. As per some statistical data :

a) 88% of the customers trust online reviews among 92% of users who actually read them.

b) 72% of the people say that positive reviews help them to trust a local business.

c) 86% of the customer hesitate to opt for product or services from a brand having negative ratings.

d) Study shows a customer is ready to spend 29% more on brands having good ratings.

e) 89% of users trust local business if they have at least 4 star ratings.

Review Platforms Customer Mostly Use?

Google My Business.
Yahoo.
Yellow Pages.
Amazon.
Trust pilot.
Yelp.

Impact of Online Reviews on Your Brand-

1. Acts as Social Proof –

It is basically a psychological phenomena, where people rely on the collective judgement of the millennials. In essence, a customer relies on positive reviews from other users who used the same or similar product. It drives confidence and more likely to purchase a well reviewed product.

2. Increased Visibility –

Most shoppers search on Google & Bing, even on Facebook to buy and check reviews. So, each search engine has their different way of indexing and surfacing unique, fresh contents. So automatically their ranking goes up. Therefore, positive reviews give a steady conduit valued by Search Engines and shows in search results.

3. Trust Building –

Global e-commerce sales to reach 4 trillion by 2021. Your brand can easily build trust with the help of positive reviews. Also, increased competitors made it difficult to distinguish between product quality and reliability. Positive reviews serves as a catalyst to differentiate & develop trust and eventually drive more sales.

4. Essential Decision Making –

Every business has mixed reviews. It’s a myth to make everyone happy. Giving a chance to your Customer to talk about your Brand serves two purposes. Firstly, helps to analyze & expand your presence. It is also an essential part of the decision making process. The negative reviews helps to identify your loopholes and are in dire need of improvements.

5. Clear Impact on Conversions Rate –

Increased visibility, trustworthy comments, customer credibility automatically leads to higher CR. Brands that are reviewed positively have more sales compared to others. Even a minor improvement has a major impact.

Conclusion-

Online Reviews are basically mouth marketing strategy. It has different positive and negative impacts on your brand and business. With review basically you are allowing people to discuss your brand. Therefore, positive discussion about your brand can quickly and effectively recommend your marketing efforts. Understanding the importance of review, balancing both positive, negative feedback and leveraging them into your decision making process can get you ahead in the competitive marketplace.