Customer Reviews — A Powerful KPI for an E-Commerce Business
When was the last time you booked a hotel for your most-awaited trip or bought yourself a pretty dress from the comfort of your home?
Maybe a few days or a few weeks back?
And I am guessing you’d checked customer reviews before making the purchase.
Image sourceImpact of Online Reviews
Well, with an ever-growing adoption of technology and innumerable options to choose from, be it while ordering clothes, or booking a hotel, or even figuring out the next movie to watch, we all rely on customer reviews. According to Shopify, 9 out of 10 customers actively seek out reviews before they make any purchase.
Another study by Power Reviews states that “94% of shoppers say ratings and reviews are the most important factor in their decision, compared with 91% who said price”. It has also been observed that product page visits with 1–10 reviews are 52.2% more likely to convert than those without reviews.
Statistics as powerful as these, make ‘Ratings and Reviews’ a very crucial KPI for any e-commerce platform.
What Makes a Review Good?
Let’s first understand about a few Review factors that make consumers choose a certain product.
As per another study, out of ~9000 customers, 97% of them said that review recency holds importance. People were more likely to buy a product with a smaller number of reviews, provided the reviews were more recent. It has also been observed that reviews with a ‘Verified’ tag increases customer trust in a product/ service. It helps filter out fake reviews.
Customer Motivation to Drop a Review
Now that we have introduced a few Review factors, let’s see what motivates a customer to add a review on a product.
Most customers generally write a review for a product after having a positive or a negative experience post usage. A good percentage of customers and influencers tend to leave reviews when they are incentivized or are provided with free product samples. Ensuring that incentivized reviews are authentic and non-biased, businesses can benefit from a boost in customer engagement and improved SEO rankings across their catalogue.
Image SourceIntroducing “Review Accelerator Program”
Walmart Marketplace, our platform for third-party sellers, has a huge range of assortment and offers customers an endless aisle of items they need and love. Demand for high selling items and sellers’ focus on converting sales makes it even more important for us to have a significant volume of quality reviews.
The sole intent of this program is to increase the number of Native Reviews on a product page. Native or Verified reviews are the ones that are posted by verified customers on the website. These are tied to actual transactions customers have made, which is why people trust them as they’re based on real customer experience.
Walmart sellers are invited to enroll their items for this program. Our Post Purchase Analytical Model recommends items to each seller from their wide range of assortment. Items with high sales and high conversion rate are ranked at the top.
Seasonality acts as another crucial factor in recommending items to sellers. It is defined as the fluctuations in customer purchasing behavior that occur throughout the year.
Once an enrolled item reaches its target number of reviews, it is then moved to Completed state, post which it is disenrolled from the program. Each customer is incentivized for the authentic reviews (irrespective of it being positive or critical) that they drop on the website.
Benefits to Sellers and Customers
How do you think sellers benefit from a review program?
A study by Yotpo states that after receiving 10 reviews on an item, conversion rates are expected to increase by 53%. On an average, reviews produce an 18% lift in sales.
With Review Accelerator Program, items with less to no reviews are targeted first. High sales and appropriate reviews will not only increase the chances of item conversion but will also help boost item ranking on SEO engines.
Through both positive and critical reviews, sellers can get insights on items that are in demand and the ones with room for improvement.
And what about the customer?
As discussed before, incentives are a big factor in motivating a customer to drop a review. Reviews from verified purchasers can help build more trust in new buyers for the product. Most customers often mention their honest opinion which leads to a higher review authenticity. This can help new buyers make better decisions while buying any item.
Conclusion
In the world of eCommerce, reviews can act as a bridge between customers and sellers, thus making it as one of the most important KPIs. Ratings and reviews can help sellers understand customer needs better. Customers provide feedback about their positive experience and ideas to improve a product through reviews.
Customer Reviews — A Powerful KPI for an E-Commerce Business was originally published in Walmart Global Tech Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
Article Link: Customer Reviews — A Powerful KPI for an E-Commerce Business | by Sara.Sharma | Walmart Global Tech Blog | Sep, 2023 | Medium