Reviews outperform everything you write
Shoppers trust other customers more than they trust you, which is entirely reasonable. That makes reviews the most influential content on a product page and the least controllable.
The right response is not to control them but to collect enough of them that the average is representative.
Ask automatically, at the right moment
- Trigger the request on delivery, not on dispatch
- Allow a few days for the customer to actually use the product
- One request, one reminder, then stop
- Make it one tap from the email to the review form
- Ask about the product, not about your service — those are different reviews
Asking on dispatch is the most common configuration mistake. The customer has not received it yet, so either they ignore you or they review the wait.
Display them properly
- On the product page, not on a separate reviews page
- With the rating visible in collection listings too
- Unedited, including the critical ones
- With photographs where customers provide them — these are the most persuasive
- Marked up as structured data, so ratings can appear in search results
Reply to the negative ones
A calm, helpful reply to a critical review is more persuasive than the review is damaging. It demonstrates that you deal with problems, which is exactly what a nervous first-time buyer wants to know.
Never argue, never blame the customer, and offer to resolve it. Other shoppers are the real audience for that reply.
A perfect record looks fake
Nothing has a five-star average across two hundred reviews. Shoppers know that, and a flawless record makes them assume the reviews are filtered or bought.
A 4.6 with a handful of critical reviews, handled well, is considerably more persuasive than a suspicious 5.0.