In the times of today, the world is flocking with Ecommerce stores all around us. Nearly all business platforms are practically, in a way, an Ecommerce store. With easy access to the Internet everywhere and knowledge about the procedure, the market for Ecommerce has boomed to glorious heights in the recent past.
There are a number of parameters which contribute to define the success and credibility of an Ecommerce store. However, one very important factor in elevating the reputation, standard and evaluation of an Ecommerce store is Product Reviews. Not taken much into serious account, Product Reviews provide an Ecommerce store with one of the most valuable resources available: Customer Feedback. Merchants very frequently underestimate the importance of Product Reviews for an Ecommerce store, while paying more attention and being preoccupied by too many tasks to manage like, optimizing site designs, eliminating customer doubts, helping opportune customers decide which product to buy, customer services and administrative tasks. Now, enable product reviews in your Prestashop Store easily!
One very important task for the Ecommerce store is to maintain its reputation in the online market. Quite naturally, it takes a lot of effort to gain that reputation but not much to lose it: Product Reviews are the best ways to maintain their winning streak. Product Reviews and feedbacks have changed the game for online market since internet has become a very household thing. The Product Reviews are the factors which either make or break the relationship of the consumer with the store – they help build loyalty and trust and lets the potential consumer know the product much more clearly and the aspects that differentiate it from the rest of the products elsewhere. An Ecommerce store which has a good compilation of consumer reviews for the products shows the wide consumer base it incapacitates. The store, thus, anticipates positive reviews to gain more customers in the future.
Another key feature that Product Reviews provide us with are the branding, marketing and advertising of the Ecommerce store as well as the product in question. With the right push at the correct angle, an Ecommerce store can very easily advertise its prospects in the market via the customer feedbacks. Say, a product has a number of good reviews on a certain Ecommerce store, consequently the user interest in the product rises on a general scale – consumers talk more about the product with each other when they meet personally due to the available online reviews which catches their eyes and hence, directly or indirectly the advertising and marketing of the product extends like a chain reaction, a forest fire. This is the reason why brands like Samsung, Levis, etc. have gained a huge market in a very short time – apart from the quality of the products they sell. Positive Product Reviews help establish a favorable image to the product which actually persists long after the product has already been launched. Also, for the serious marketer, Product Reviews are a great way to interact with the consumer directly and know the details of their product from the eyes of the consumer and make developments wherever necessary. With the correct follow up of the Product Reviews, the seller can accurately know the loopholes of its products and the areas in which it can improve its product to meet the needs of the end consumer. This leads to a positive experience for the consumer which ultimately helps the business in the future.
However, the biggest advantage Product Reviews provide for an Ecommerce store is the increase in its Sales or the increase in the number of purchases from the consumers. Online reviews are so important to businesses because they ultimately increase the sales by giving the consumers the information they need to make the decision to purchase the product. People are always more likely to buy the products which has already been recommended by other users. When customer reviews about the product has been added to the Ecommerce store, 42% of the site administrators have reported increases in average order value, versus only 6% that report a decrease with inclusion of reviews.
Okay, so having mentioned above clearly about the uses and advantages Product Reviews provide the administrator and the Ecommerce store with, viz – building up online reputation, advertising & branding of the store and the products and making developments in the products wherever necessary based on customer feedback- there is one very important role played by Product Reviews that highly benefit the consumer who wishes to buy products online.
Nearly all the stores claim and commit that their product is the best. We cannot trust their words as a parameter of evaluating different products from different sites. The best judges for a product are the consumer of the product themselves. But all the consumers cannot even theoretically use all the products: this is where Product Reviews come into play. With the help of Product Reviews, a customer knows exactly what he is buying, what he is being offered and what are the things he can expect from the product. Product Reviews have become more important due to the lack of the ability to ‘test’ the product prior to its purchase online; whereas checking and ‘testing’ the product physically before buying them is feasible in brick-and-mortar concept of business – naturally, if a consumer who wishes to buy a product online is unable to practically try the product in the beginning and is at risk at accesing the quality and buying a new product, the only way he can be confident about the usability of the item is by going through the reviews it has received – by having the full accessibility and knowledge about all the pros and cons of the specified product. According to stats, nearly 40% of the consumers say that they wouldn’t buy electronic items without reading online reviews about the product. Needless to say, the immediate benefit of Product Reviews is that they can make the potential future customers feel much more confident. The more positive reviews a product has, the more convinced the consumer will be in buying that product and believe in the idea that they are making the right decision. Nowadays, apart from Product Reviews, even product ratings prove to be an important aspect for the consumer while purchasing the online product. Potential customers these days, first check the product rating (how many stars the product has acquired out of five) and then see if the Product Reviews authenticate the product or not. However, negative reviews are also helpful for the consumers and the business enterprise: for a consumer, a negative review provides him with the worst case scenario he can expect from the product – he would have the exact knowledge about what loopholes he might encounter with the product and make prior precautions; for an Ecommerce enterprise, a negative review aids in maintaining the credibility and authenticity of the product – if all the reviews are positive then the probable customer tends to trust the product less (since everyone knows every product must have some drawbacks).
According to Advances in Economics and Business “85.57% of the participants stated that they read reviews often or very often before they purchase online. Of the participants who read reviews, 83.65% compare positive and negative reviews with each other”.
In essence, it is clear that Product Reviews are essential for both buyers and sellers – Potential Consumers/Customers and the Ecommerce Store. Product Reviewing gives the power to either make or break the deal. They are, in a way, a major parameter which governs the business transactions and longevity of any Ecommerce store.
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