Wondering whether you need to have reviews and testimonials on your eCommerce site? Click here to learn the importance of reviews for online businesses.

In 1994, Amazon was established. Back then, there were only a handful of online businesses. Almost three decades later, there are now over 1.3 million ecommerce companies.

The internet has made selling easier. With the vast majority of consumers in the United States shopping online, every online business has a good shot at success.

However, competition is rife. Big e-retailers dominate the market. For your small online business to stand out, you have to invest a lot in digital marketing services, including review management.

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In this article, our focus is on the importance of reviews.

Continue reading to learn how your ecommerce shop will benefit from online reviews.

Social Proof

The internet has revolutionized how we shop, but it has also introduced several challenges. There are fraudsters on the loose, looking to lure unsuspecting online shoppers into scams. Millions of consumers have lost money to fake online businesses.

The modern consumer is now more vigilant. They’re always cautious, especially when shopping from small ecommerce shops that have no reputation. This is one of the biggest advantages Amazon has over small e-retailers.

So, how do you solve this problem as a small online business? How can a customer who has never heard about your business believe that your business indeed exists and is not one of those ecommerce scam sites?

This is where reviews come in handy.

Online reviews give your business social proof.

Before a customer makes a purchase, they are going to look up your business’ reviews. They want to know whether there’s anyone who has bought anything from your business. If they find that your business has a good number of reviews, they’ll know your business is real.

Build Customer Trust

At this point, a customer has proof that your business indeed exists. From the reviews, there’s enough evidence that people have purchased your product or service.

Now, how can they trust your business? Just because it exists doesn’t necessarily mean you offer the best service. Perhaps you take ages to deliver orders or your products aren’t of the highest quality.

To build trust, this prospective customer will go back to your reviews.

At this stage, they aren’t about the number of reviews your business has. They’re more into what the reviews are saying. They’ll certainly read a couple of them before deciding whether to trust your business or not.

If your business has lots of positive reviews on the web, building trust with someone who has never bought anything from you becomes a lot easier.

Grow Your Sales

90 percent of online shoppers read reviews before visiting a business.

If your business doesn’t have any reviews, can you imagine the amount of money you’re leaving on the table? But it’s more than just reviews. You need a ton of positive reviews.

Have you ever received an order from a new customer who doesn’t even bother to call your business and enquire whether you have the product in stock? If yes, ever thought where that customer came from?

There are two options: either they’re referred to your business by a close friend or relative, or they read your online reviews and resolved that your business offers excellent services.

In other words, online reviews will improve your sales a lot more than any direct marketing strategy will do. What’s more, customers are more likely to spend more money on an online business with excellent reviews.

Demonstrate Your Professionalism

Here’s the thing. Online reviews are a double-edged sword. Besides ecommerce shops, medical companies also benefit from reputation management for healthcare. While positive reviews will help propel your business to greater heights, negative reviews can burn it to the ground.

Worse, you really have no control over the reviews your business gets. Most review sites don’t allow businesses to edit comments and ratings. And as much as you can offer the best services that will (and should) attract positive reviews, it’s still possible to get a lot of negative reviews.

However, you shouldn’t let negative reviews ruin your business. In fact, you can make them work in your favor.

All you need to do is respond to the negative comments professionally. When a prospective customer sees that you respond to negative comments, they’ll certainly feel that your business is professional and trustworthy.

Yes, you can use negative reviews to showcase your business’ professionalism and win over skeptical customers easily.

Increase Your Business’ Web presence

As an online business, one of your goals is to keep expanding your online presence.

How do you this when all you have is an ecommerce website and a couple of social media pages? Online reviews can help boost your web presence.

There are several business review sites. Some even focus on specific industries. If you run a home improvement business, for instance, there are niche reviews sites like HomeAdvisor, Houzz, and And Phyxter (read more now about how these sites work).

If your customers leave reviews on these sites, they’ll have played a part in increasing your business’ digital footprint. An expanding web presence makes your business more visible, which can also help increase your sales.

The Importance of Online Reviews Cannot Be Overstated

If you run an online business, you have to care about reviews. Don’t assume that just because yours is a small e-store nobody will be interested in saying something about it online.

Having read this article, it’s now easy to embrace the importance of online reviews. It’s time to leverage the power of online reviews.

Keep reading our blog for more digital marketing tips and insights.

Author

Northern girl Laura is the epitome of a true entrepreneur. Laura’s spirit for adventure and passion for people blaze through House of Coco. She founded House of Coco in 2014 and has grown it in to an internationally recognised brand whilst having a lot of fun along the way. Travel is in her DNA and she is a true visionary and a global citizen.

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