According to Sam Decker of Bazaarvoice.com, approximately 68% of adult Canadians are online and many of them use the Internet for social communications, surfing and information-seeking. A lot of the social communication and information-seeking activities are utilized when researching products and reading customer reviews. Matt McGee of Smallbusiness.com notes that although only less than 26% of retailers contain ratings and reviews on their sites, 96% of those retailers argue that whether positive or negative, reviews are highly effective and valuable features that add value to the company.
Decker argues that people should incorporate a review feature on a company website encourages loyalty among customers by building a stronger customer relationship management. David Nowell of Nowell Enterprises asserts that many people argue that they look for negative reviews to make sure they can live with some of the pitfalls of the product they are about to purchase. For example, 48% of customers read reviews before buying a product, and 91% people research projects online before making an in-store purchase, notes Decker. Reviews can communicate to your company what a manager might not be able to read or hear upfront.
People’s perceptions are important to not only other customers (since it may effect their purchasing decisions), but also to the company. McGee argues that this insider information allows the retailer to either quickly remove their product from the store shelves to reduce returns, improve satisfaction and fix problems, and encourage customer loyalty and trust. Moreover, according to a study by Jupiter on ratings and reviews, 60% of online shoppers provide feedback about shopping experiences, and they are more likely to give feedback about a positive experience than a negative one. McGee confirms that this enhances authenticity and credibility.
McGee affirms that reviews can improve a company’s search engine optimization. Negative reviews offer a “peak” about how customers are talking about your product or service. There are several key words that customers use when talking about an aspect of your product/service that can improve how people search for your company on the Internet!