Imagine you’re an online shopper and you’re looking for a brown leather wallet that will last you for years to come. You’ve been saving for a while and want to spend your money wisely.

You find an online store that sells some beautiful leather wallets. In fact, there’s one that could definitely be yours, but how do you know it’s good quality? Will it be real leather? What if it breaks at the drop of a hat?

I myself have been this customer who doesn’t know if he can trust his money to an unknown store. What do you do when you are in this situation? Probably the same thing I do: take a look at the product reviews to make sure that the wallet will be of good quality and will survive for many years.

And I’m not the only one. There are studies (ENG) that claim that 91% of customers tend to check reviews before making a purchase.

Why your customers’ reviews are important

In the ecommerce world, customer reviews are essential for three reasons. First, they convince potential buyers that you are trustworthy and have excellent products.

Physical stores have the advantage of allowing you to see the products in person. In contrast, in an online store, you can’t touch the fabric of an item or try on a pair of shoes to see how they fit, so it’s the reviews from other shoppers that give you an idea of the quality of the products.

Secondly, reviews are a type of social proof. The more you show that other people wear, enjoy or approve of your items, the more likely it is that a new buyer interested in your product will show up.

It’s essentially a digital version of word-of-mouth marketing. In my case, seeing photos of satisfied customers showing off their new wallets convinced me that it was safe to order one from that online store.

And finally, customer reviews are necessary for your store to rank higher in search results. Reviews tell Google that this website is a fresh and frequently updated site.

The more positive reviews your store has, the higher you will appear in the search results.

The importance of bad reviews

Yes, you read that right. Bad reviews are important and there are several reasons why you should keep them in your store. We’ll tell you about the most important ones right now, so stay tuned!

Bad reviews build trust

The saying “it’s too good to be true” has some truth in ecommerce. Customers know that no product is perfect for everyone. That’s why they want to know if any of the item’s features won’t work for them the way they want.

Studies confirm that 82% of customers deliberately seek out negative reviews. These negative reviews give them the certainty that you are not hiding anything in your store.

However, your reaction to negative reviews gives your customers an idea of what could happen in the worst case scenario and the attitude they can expect from you as the owner of the business they are buying from.

In this review of an Amazon product, the store owner apologizes for the error and responds to the customer in a friendly way that she hopes everything is correct in the reshipment.

Negative reviews give you an idea of what you need to improve.

Although ignoring bad reviews may seem like the easiest option, if you do, you lose valuable information.

Instead of pretending these reviews don’t exist, think of them as a gateway into your customer’s mind. In the end, your buyers are the ones interacting with your product. Take advantage of it!

If there is some aspect of your product or services that needs tweaking, by knowing it first hand, your customers will be better positioned to let you know what’s wrong. Be smart and use this type of feedback to your advantage.

Bad feedback is an opportunity to show your attitude.

We agree that negative reviews can have a negative impact on your reputation. But I’ll tell you something else: the response you give to these comments is one way you can improve your image.

Use these types of situations to show your commitment and the excellent customer service you have. And let me recommend that you don’t respond with a sales pitch that is too focused on selling your product.

There is nothing more off-putting to a potential customer than to see a store owner arguing with your customer in the review section. Even if the customer is wrong, stay calm and be professional.

Keep in mind that while bad reviews help you improve, you should focus on generating positive reviews. Some experts explain that it typically takes about 40 reviews of between 4 and 5 stars to undo the damage (ENG) of a single negative review.

How to respond to negative reviews

Now that you’ve learned how bad reviews can help you, let’s look at some ways to respond to them. Dealing with reviews can be challenging, but we’ve prepared some principles to help you navigate these waters safely.

Act fast

Rule number one is: respond as soon as possible. If you take too long to respond to an unhappy customer, they may decide to contact your direct competitor.

Consumers generally expect a response within a week (ENG), so it’s best to meet that expectation.

Get to the point

Have you ever received a half-hearted apology? You know, one of those that says something like, “I’m sorry if I hurt you.” Indeed, this type of apology is not really an apology, but an attempt to avoid the responsibilities that come with bad behavior.

The same goes for bad reviews. Don’t just stop at “I’m sorry to hear that”, get to the bottom of the incident and find out what happened to make it happen. Was it a failure on your part and something you could have avoided? Or was it simply something beyond your control?

You don’t have to go into all the details, but in your apology you should include an explanation of why the mistake occurred and how you are going to fix the problem.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *