The Most Important Reason Why You Need Product Reviews

March 8, 2008

The simple answer: Because customers love them.

Nothing more important than that, right? Of course, I would not expect you to take my word just like that. So, here’s the explanation. It’s all about word-of-mouth marketing. What’s the first you thing you do before buying anything which you do not have much knowledge about? Get recommendation from your network of family and friends.

Now, translate that to the online world. According to the information gathered by Future Now (this is a really cool site by the way), about 70% of customers check more than 4 reviews before buying anything. More than half of them spend more than 10 minutes to read these reviews. Because reviews are honest opinion from recent buyers, their insights do matter to shoppers looking for the best product in town.

That’s why you should not tweak product reviews just to favor your products. Aside from being unethical, it destroys the trust between customers and sellers. Be brutally honest all the time.

Product Review Prototype

Luckily, big e-tailers have spent money and time testing different Product Review models that will help improve sales and build credibility. Of course, Amazon.com is one of the best in this field. Do not just copy the whole template but adjust it according to your needs.

Circuit City is one good example for product reviews. It is multi-dimensional, meaning it evaluates and sums up the key attributes common to a group of products. In this case, the item is Toshiba Satellite Laptop. Using different measures like battery life, performance, and display, it gives interested buyers a glimpse of the strong and weak points of the product.