Amazon may dominate 39.5% of all the US retail e-commerce market sales by the year-end. In addition to being the largest online marketplace, it is also the second-most influential search engine (first for product searches) after Google. It is especially popular for direct transactional queries and informational queries about products. Current online buying process includes scrutinizing the brand and its product through reviews and Amazon excels in providing that information to the consumers through its revered review and rating management system. Unfortunately, that means sellers need to work more on gathering positive reviews and improving their eStore ratings if they want to increase their conversion rate, build trust, and expand sales. Still wondering how reviews and ratings come in handy and support your sales? Here are 7 benefits to help you get going.
Buying products has become a complex process because of the abundance of options in the market. Consumers are more inclined to shop online because of the ease it offers, but also just as wary. They have to be careful to safeguard themselves from any kind of fraud. That’s why product reviews and ratings are the critical factors consumers consider while shopping online. For instance, nearly 95 percent of shoppers read customer reviews before making a purchase, and 86 percent consider this a significant differentiator when shopping online.
Reviews are helpful for everyone, not just buyers looking for the ideal item. For sellers, it is one of the best ways to increase their credibility, conversion rate, and overall presence on the Amazon platform. Sellers will be less likely to persuade customers that the product is superior to the competition if they have fewer reviews or more negative ratings than positive ones.
As reviews have many benefits for the consumers, so it does for sellers on Amazon. So let’s see what benefits these reviews yield for a seller.
Importance of Reviews and ratings on Amazon
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Increase sales
Research suggests that brands spend around $1 trillion each year on advertising and marketing strategies to convince their consumers to buy the product. For example, brands try to draw customers to their websites, provide a good buying experience, persuade them to choose their goods, and direct them to the payment screen. But unfortunately, many brands fail to increase their sales despite spending a lot on marketing.
Thus companies need to direct their focus on real reviews of their product by the customers. Our common dependence on reviews is a result of human nature. Consumers seek peer suggestions and guidance before buying any product to be extra sure about it. Before spending their money, buyers want some sort of guarantee that they’re obtaining a high-quality good. And reading reviews is the only way to do this online.
This is the reason more positive reviews lead to increased sales. Research also suggests that brand revenues rise by 20% with positive product reviews. And given that global internet transactions now total $2 trillion annually, reviews have a huge influence.
A marketing research company BloomReach discovered that Amazon product reviews are the most well-liked and reliable. And these reviews compel shoppers to buy the product from Amazon rather than any other site.
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Build customer trust
Zero reviews for your goods lead to mistrust and a decline in revenue. If all of the reviews for your product are five stars, people start to wonder and become suspicious. But long, detailed reviews from the verified customers increase the trust in the brand and its products. 72% of buyers will not make any purchases until they read reviews about the product
Amazon’s product reviews reassure customers that the item can be trusted. Therefore, the brand should keep its total rating good; otherwise, customers will start to avoid their listing since they will think it is doubtful and not a good place to make purchases.
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Increase search ranking
In such a competitive market, to compel customers to purchase the products, sellers first need to work on Amazon listing optimization so that products rank in front of the target audience. Apart from this method, reviews are also one of the primary components used by Amazon to sort and rank products since a high number of favorable reviews is an indicator of a good-performing item.
The rating of a product on Amazon is determined by the algorithm, which considers the likelihood that it will sell and satisfy customers. Amazon does this by first determining if a product is completely related to a given keyword search. Then they examine how frequently a product sells over time.
Let’s say a product gets consistent Amazon sales and is entirely relevant to a particular keyword. Then, they consider certain additional factors, such as click-through rate, conversion rate, and reviews. So, Amazon will automatically rank the product higher if it has more positive reviews as compared to the competitors.
So, adding more positive reviews on Amazon will significantly increase traffic to your product listing.
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Help sellers get customer data and insight.
Before creating a new product to sell on Amazon, sellers may utilize reviews to discover their target market. Understanding what people want in a product may be made more accessible by reading the thoughts of your competitors’ products.
When developing your product, keep in mind that individual reviews typically clearly indicate the region where the customer gave such a great review. On Amazon, users frequently search for products based on their ease of use, price, or quality. If you go through product evaluations, further distinctive areas can provide your product with a competitive edge over rivals.
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Help the seller in the research and development process
Reviews help the seller identify the flaws that a number of customers are pointing out. This helps sellers to work on the product as soon as they notice such reviews. Working on the product’s fault and providing customers with a better product will also show your dedication to customer satisfaction. As customers notice everything, this can positively impact the brand, leading to an increased loyal customer base. Thus we can say that customer feedback gives sellers a chance to work on developing the product and provide the improved product to please the customers.
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Help seller win within the complex rating
Positive client feedback may help you establish credibility and a solid reputation in general, but it’s crucial if you sell complex items or cater to a specific market. When making a significant purchase or purchasing something unusual, it is natural for people to search for a reliable source of support. And in such cases, people want to be double sure that their money won’t go to waste after purchasing the product. So in complex categories, positive reviews become more important.
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Free marketing tools
When you run ads to advertise your products, customers will see them as sponsored ads. And it is obvious that the brand will advertise the positive aspect of the product and not the negative aspect of the ads. But online reviews are a free marketing tool that attracts loyal customers and builds trust toward the brand without any investment.
Companies need to invest 0 money on reviews, but to get positive reviews, they need to invest a good amount of effort, time, and money in the product itself so that it stands out in the market to win the hearts of the customers.
Conclusion
Customers are the priority; they have the power to either significantly lower or raise the bar for your company. Their opinions are very valuable since only their experiences will determine how wonderful your product is. Given that 79 percent of consumers trust online reviews just as much as word of mouth reviews, it goes without saying that companies should endeavor to amass a collection of good 5-star evaluations.
