More trust, more sales: This is how important customer ratings are for brands and retailers

"Product reviews in brands' online stores increase sales by up to 20 percent," says Markus Oeller, Managing Director of the agency group for omni-channel marketing MSM.digital. However, the topic of product ratings by customers (reviews) is not yet strategically anchored in the marketing of brands and retailers. The expert explains the reason: "There is often no budget for review marketing and so the topic is not included in annual planning. This is a mistake given the importance of product reviews for reputation and sales."
 
MSM.digital's latest study figures show how important review marketing is for brands. MSM.digital has visualized the results in the infographic "Customer reviews as a decision criterion for online shopping".

Customer reviews: Important for the purchase decision when shopping online

• 76 percent of German Internet users read product reviews (BVDW, Digitale Nutzung in Deutschland).
• Almost two out of three German online shoppers (65%) read product reviews in online stores before making a purchase (Bitkom). They obtain further information secondarily on price comparison sites (51%), in personal conversations with friends or family (50%), on retailer websites (49%) and in test reports in the media (TV, online, print with 42%). Of 14 to 29-year-old online shoppers, as many as three quarters use customer reviews as a basis for information and decision-making. 
• Without customer reviews, 39 percent of online consumers trust offers or products less (Bitkom).
• 45 percent of online shoppers state that they write online reviews of goods or services themselves (bitkom).
• Reviews are also important for in-store purchases
• Even when consumers buy products in stores, they inform themselves online in advance. 22 percent use Amazon as an information platform before buying offline (ECC Cologne, Cross-Channel - Quo vadis).
• Access to product reviews is even important directly in the store: 23 percent of European consumers would like to be served by sales clerks with tablets in the store in order to obtain better product information or view product reviews (ShopperTrac, Redesigning Retail, Part 2).
• 58% of European consumers use their smartphone to research reviews of a product in a store (inRiver). Among 18 to 24-year-olds, as many as 62% use their smartphone to access price information or product reviews before making a purchase in a physical store (inRiver).
• 38% of German internet users trust product reviews on the internet more than advice in a bricks-and-mortar store (BVDW, Digitale Nutzung in Deutschland, 2018). Among 14 to 34-year-olds, the figure is as high as 49%.
• Brands and retailers: More success through product reviews 
• From research to product purchase, German consumers today use many channels: Google search, shopping platforms, price comparison portals, retailer websites, brand stores or social media. 58% of users choose Amazon as an information platform before buying online (ECC Cologne, Cross-Channel - Quo vadis). 43% of German consumers start their product search there (PwC, Total Retail).
• The more reviews a product has, the more likely it is to be purchased. Even a single review can increase the likelihood of purchase by ten percent. If an online store visitor engages with customer reviews on the product page, the conversion rate increases by 58% (Bazaarvoice, Conversation Index 8).
• Eight or more product reviews also have positive search engine optimization (SEO) effects thanks to the new, product-relevant and user-generated content. With reviews on the product page, organic traffic can increase by up to 25 percent.
• Around 50 reviews are enough to give users the feeling that a product has been sufficiently tested, says a consumer study by PowerReviews with Northwestern University. Another result: With star ratings, 4.4 out of 5 stars are ideal for a positive product perception. 
• Customer reviews on retailer websites and in brands' online stores increase the likelihood of buying products by up to 20 percent. This has been proven by various analyses, for example by Revoo.

Digital trust signal

Markus Oeller explains: "Online product reviews from consumers are a digital signal of trust and work in a similar way to word of mouth. As an important tool in omni-channel marketing, review marketing should be strategically integrated into marketing. An important aspect of this is "review syndication". This means that the reviews collected from various platforms are bundled in a central location. They are then made available to consumers on various platforms, such as brand and retailer websites or in brick-and-mortar stores."