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Why Customer Product Reviews Boost Online Sales Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, Web Marketing Today - Feb 19, 2008

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A big trust builder for online retailers, large and small, is easy access to product reviews. They act as off-the-cuff testimonials in adding credibility to your products and services.

Reviews Strongly Influence Sales

When my wife and I were planning an anniversary trip to Carmel, California, we ran across what seemed like the perfect Bed and Breakfast. We were almost ready to call for reservations when we decided to look at online reviews. Oops! Here are excerpts of the reviews we found:

• "This was the worst B&B my husband and I have ever stayed in!"
• "Extreme ungraciousness to the extent that her behavior reminded one of a prison warden."
• "Great Spot, Quaint House, Rotten Attitude."

We ended up reserving a room at an inn that was a bit more expensive but had nearly all 4 and 5 star reviews. Yes, there was a bad one-star review, but you could tell that it was an exceptional case and reflected more on the reviewer than on the establishment itself.

Social Researchers

People who check reviews are known "social researchers" and make up a strong subset of Internet shoppers. A 2007 study by the Kelsey Group found that 24% of searchers for several types of offline services, such as hotels, checked online reviews. 87% of hotel seekers who checked reviews said that the reviews strongly influenced their purchases. Gift basket e-retailer DelightfulDeliveries.com added customer reviews and within two months reported a 20% increase in conversion rates for items rated with four or five stars.

Negative Reviews Add Credibility

Should you carry reviews on your own website? What if someone says something bad about you? Online shoppers are becoming rather sophisticated. They expect reviews rating merchant customer service on Amazon and eBay. They've browsed reviews dozens of times. They know that there is always going to be someone who has a bad experience. But if the strong majority of the reviews are positive, a bad review doesn't hurt. On the contrary, it adds credibility to the other reviews. If a series of reviews are uniformly positive, many shoppers will discount them as rigged.

Investigate how leading websites in your industry are using reviews. If the leaders use them, you'll need reviews on your site to compete effectively. If the leaders don't have reviews, perhaps including reviews could give your site an added edge of helpfulness and credibility -- and boost your online sales.

Customer Review Software Vendors

A number of vendors provide software that can add reviews to your website. These include: Bazaarvoice (www.bazaarvoice.com), PowerReviews (www.powerreviews.com), iNods (www.inods.com), and Reevoo (www.reevoo.com). If you have access to a programmer, there are inexpensive scripts available both in Perl and PHP that can give you a start.

Perl:  http://cgi.resourceindex.com/Programs_and_Scripts/Perl/Survey_and_Voting/Ratings_and_Reviews/
PHP: http://php.resourceindex.com/Complete_Scripts/Survey_and_Voting/