The Impact of Online Reviews on Consumers Buying Behavior

Impact of Ratings and Reviews on Consumer Buying Behavior

Customer Reviews
Oct 29, 2016
Impact of Ratings and Reviews on Consumer Buying Behavior

Smartphones and applications have eliminated all the problems related to buying or selling anything online. E-Commerce is now at your fingertips. Buying is no more a time-consuming affair now.

The biggest benefit of buying online is that you don’t need to move outside for your needs. You get everything at your doorstep. But, it comes with a problem also and that is you cannot touch or feel the product before buying.

To overcome this problem, people have started depending on the ratings and reviews posted by the consumers who have already used that product.

It is well said by Matt Moog – CEO of Power Reviews that “Ratings and reviews are no longer an option, but an expectation.”

Do you know why customer reviews and ratings have become an integral part of the buying decision? The primary reason behind that is – customer reviews if positive, give confidence to the buyers.

When it comes to online buying, the consumer is concerned with various issues like product quality, delivery speed, ease in returns, and customer support. Reviews for each and every aspect can have an impact on consumer buying behavior.

Product Quality

Basically, there are two types of products sold online – search products and experience products.   Search products mean those items for which complete information is available like mobile phones, television, refrigerator, etc.

Experience products refer to the items for which the buyers are unable to find accurate information before buying them like clothes, cosmetics, jewelry, etc. Thus, the experience products depend on reviews and ratings more than the search products.

Delivery Speed

Each and every online buyer expects quick delivery of products purchased. Longer waiting times can result in a bad review of dissatisfied customers. So, just partner with good logistics companies and deliver your products quickly to stay competitive.

Ease in Returns & Refunds

An online buyer always expects the return also to be picked up from his place. They don’t want the hassle to courier the product on their own even if the costs are borne by the merchant.

So, if you want good reviews for your online store from your customer keep your returns and refund process simple.

Customer Support

Do you provide 24/7 support to your customers? If not, then really it can be a big drawback for the growth of your business.

If your phone is continuously busy or you are delaying in replying to the emails of your customers, obviously they get angry and can leave negative feedback for you.

As per the research on customer reviews –

  • 90% of consumers read online reviews for you before adding your product to the cart.
  • 88% of the customers trust online reviews
  • Customers are likely to spend 31% more for products having positive reviews
  • 72% of consumers trust those merchants have positive reviews.
  • 86% of consumers would refuse to buy the product with a negative review or from the merchant having a negative review.
  • One negative review can lose approximately 30 customers for you.

Thus, from the above statistics, it can be known that positive and negative reviews can have a great impact on consumer buying decisions.

So, just be consistent in the quality and services towards your customers, and provide them accurate information with support before sales and after sales.

Ask your customers to share their experiences with you so that you can improvise and avoid negative reviews being written for your online business.

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