The importance of amazon ratings & reviews
When a customer is browsing products on Amazon, what is the first thing he/she looks for? Sometimes the title stands out. Other times the product images are the initial thing that catches the customer’s eye. But more often than not, consumers will pay close attention to the star rating and reviews of a product. For every product on the E-commerce platform, Amazon displays a star rating and number right underneath the title of products in search results. The star rating is your product’s rating from 1 to 5 stars, and the number next to it is how many reviews the product received. Both ratings and reviews can strongly sway a buying a decision. Here we’ll review (no pun intended) why Amazon ratings and product feedback are so important, and why your products need to have a top rating and positive customer comments to compete.
First Impression
The first reason why rankings and customer reviews on Amazon are so essential is because they are often what gives the customer his/her first impression of your brand. When browsing on Amazon in search results pages, shoppers will see a star rating right below the title and above the price of a product. Thus, customers will immediately see how high your product is ranked upon searching and browsing. There is even an option on the sidebar on Amazon to filter your search to only display products with a specific star rating. This means when customers are shopping, they often only even see products with a high enough rating.
For reviews, consumers can easily see the comments left on your product page by clicking on the number right next to the star rating of a product on a search results page. This number tells consumers how many reviews your product has and links to the customer reviews on your product detail page. This can also give shoppers a good or bad first impression of your brand because if your product does not have a sufficient number of reviews, it will look like people are not buying your products. Thus, both your ranking and reviews can influence a buyer’s initial opinion of your brand and determine if he/she stays on your page or goes elsewhere.
Build Trust
A second reason why having good ratings and reviews is crucial is because it builds trust with the consumer. Shoppers are looking to see if the claims a business is making are actually true. One way they do this is by ensuring the star rating is high, and that the reviews report good things about the product. Having a high star rating will give consumers a sense of security that they are purchasing from a quality brand. Additionally, positive reviews and comments will show consumers that your product has been tested and does what it’s supposed to do. Testimonies from real people about a product have an appeal that brand graphics and advertisements don’t. Buyers want to see if actual people liked your product, and what their experiences were. Having reviews displayed openly shows consumers that your brand is honest and transparent, especially if you actively respond and address negative reviews.
Additionally, consumers will likely trust a product with lots of reviews over one that does not have many. This is because if a product has many reviews, it shows the buyer that lots of other people tried out this product, and if the reviews are positive, they liked it. It is much easier for a new customer to trust a brand that has this kind of backing. Having a large quantity of reviews conveys to consumers that your brand is tried and true, and that this has been confirmed by many people.
Reputation
Another reason high ratings and reviews are vital is because they will make your business appear professional. When customers shop online nowadays, they are expecting to see many reviews for a product. According to Statista, when shopping online, most consumers in the age group of 18-24 expected to see more than 200 reviews per product. This means that if your product is lacking reviews, your brand can appear unpopular and unprofessional, and look like customers are not actually buying your products. This is of course also true if your product is ranked poorly or displaying negative reviews. In other words, you need positive reviews, and a decent quantity of them, to have a good reputation as a brand.
sEO
Reviews are not just important for appearances, but actually influence the rank and visibility of your product page. Having good reviews and lots of them will help your Amazon product page come up on Google searches. This will draw customers to your page even if they were not already shopping on the Amazon platform. And when shoppers are already on Amazon, having high ratings/reviews will increase your product visibility on the platform itself. There are two factors responsible for this: Seller Authority and Seller Performance. Seller Authority is one of the elements shown on Amazon to influence the ranking, and hence, visibility, of your product pages. One way to improve your Seller Authority is to have good rankings/reviews. Seller Performance is also a factor because product pages that are doing well, those with lots of traffic and high conversions, will be more visible to consumers on Amazon. And because reviews play a role in Seller Performance, having positive reviews and ratings will make your product page more visible to Amazon shoppers.
Influence Sales & Conversions
Finally, customer reviews and rankings are central for a business because they have a lot of power to influence sales and conversions. When consumers are not familiar with your brand, they will often rely on reviews to decide whether or not they want to purchase from you. According to a July 2019 survey, a whopping 93.4 % of people said they read customer reviews before purchasing from an unknown digital retailer. Thus, for the majority of new customers who are not already familiar with your brand, reviews can make or break a purchasing decision. This means if you have positive reviews and a high ranking, that can lead to significantly more conversions from your product page.
Additionally, when consumers are unsure about a product, they will often go to the reviews to decide whether or not they want to buy it. The majority of shoppers at least somewhat trust reviews on Amazon. Reviews provide an additional source of information to customers so they can make informed buying decisions. If you have good reviews, a consumer will be more comfortable buying your product, increasing sales.
As we’ve seen, Amazon rankings and reviews are imperative for many reasons. They give consumers that push they need to purchase a product and feel good about it. They also make your product page more visible and lead to increased traffic, sales, and conversions . Now that you understand the importance of Amazon rankings and reviews, be sure to prioritize keeping your product reviews positive and establishing a high star rank. Good luck!