Customer reviews and e-commerce: collecting, managing and distributing feedback

58% of French people say they consult customer reviews before making an e-commerce, marketplace or in-store purchase. Among 15-24 year-olds, 70% of buyers are even sensitive to online feedback (source: Toluna Harris Interactive for Fevad).

For Internet users, the presence of ratings and stars is now essential before making a purchasing decision. And for e-commerce sellers, these reviews have a considerable impact on product reliability, brand credibility and sales growth.

So how to best manage customer reviews in e-commerce? How can you collect, moderate and disseminate these reviews effectively, so as to benefit from positive spin-offs for your online store? Discover Rakuten's advice and the mistakes to avoid, to earn those (5) stars.

Customer reviews and e-commerce: how important are they?

How can you do without online reviews? Today, it's impossible. From star ratings to detailed comments, customer reviews are part of every buyer's shopping experience. Before making a purchasing decision, to compare several products or to ensure the reliability of an e-commerce site or marketplace seller, Internet users consult the feedback of their peers.

According to an IFOP study for Guest Suites (2023), 92% of French people no longer buy anything without consulting customer reviews. The priority for salespeople is therefore to collect, manage and disseminate these precious elements of customer satisfaction. And if you're still hesitating to do the same, here are the main benefits of customer reviews:

Increase buyer confidence

The presence of online reviews increases buyer confidence and reassurance. Even if the company or product you're looking for doesn't only have positive reviews. According to IFOP, 68% of customers don't trust an establishment with only positive reviews.

To win the trust of Internet users, it's essential to collect feedback. If some of them are negative, it doesn't have to be that way: respond to them publicly with kindness and empathy, apologize and get in direct contact with the buyer... So that they'll give you a "second chance to make a good first impression"!

Strengthen customer knowledge and continuous improvement

Whether it's product, brand or experience feedback (delivery, after-sales service, etc.), every customer feedback is a gold mine of information. By analyzing it, you can identify areas for improvement, complaint criteria and your own strengths. You improve customer knowledge, and take advantage of it to continuously improve your offers and the shopping experience.

Our advice? Create a ritual of analyzing customer reviews, at least once a month. Give priority to recurring remarks. For example, if delivery times are regularly criticized, take immediate action with your carrier. Conversely, if your product is regularly praised (for its comfort, ease of use, design, etc.), make sure you use these elements in your product sheets!

 

Improve sales and conversion rates

The presence of customer reviews on a product page (in e-commerce or marketplace) is a real growth driver: these ratings improve the sales and conversion rate of online stores. The presence of numerous positive customer reviews also helps reduce shopping cart abandonment.

Without these elements of social proof, it's difficult to attract consumers, reassure them and convince them. Conversely, the more reviews a brand and its products have, the greater the chances of a sale. All the more so if those reviews are positive!

According to McKinsey, online products with ratings between 3 and 4 stars (out of 5) achieve sales three times higher than products with only one star. The more positive the rating, the greater the impact on sales.

However, as we have seen, the collection of neutral or negative reviews is not fatal to growth. According to a Reevo study, the conversion rate increases by 67% in the presence of a negative review, if the seller responds and provides a solution.

Strengthen natural search engine optimization (SEO) and e-reputation

In addition to improving consumers' web experience, conversion rate, trust and customer knowledge, e-commerce reviews have a direct impact on SEO and e-reputation. Indeed, post-purchase reviews are natural referencing criteria taken into account by search engines such as Google.

These reviews are user-generated content that enhances the information and content already present on an e-commerce site or marketplace product sheet. They complement the "Rich Snippets" (link descriptions on search pages like Google), by directly displaying the rating and stars. The number of reviews, their recency and their positivity all contribute to increasing the visibility of e-tailers on search engines.

How do you collect, manage and distribute customer reviews?

Whether you run your own e-commerce site or sell through a marketplace, customer reviews are an essential metric. They showcase the quality of your services, and are an indispensable source of information for consumers. But before you can take advantage of their many positive impacts, you need to go through three stages: collecting, managing and distributing these online reviews.

1- Collecting user reviews

Collecting customer reviews is an essential step. To maximize your chances of obtaining post-purchase feedback, you can encourage customers to leave a web review. In fact, solicited reviews (as opposed to unsolicited reviews) are considered to be the best way to collect higher ratings: 4.34/5 on average for solicited reviews, compared with 3.89/5 for unsolicited reviews (source: ReviewTracker).

To solicit customer feedback on your e-commerce site or marketplace, you can :

• Integrate the review request directly into the shopping experience: for example, with a message displayed after checkout, to share feedback on the shopping experience.
• Send a request by e-mail or SMS just after the order has been delivered: ideal for obtaining feedback on the product(s) purchased.
• Send a satisfaction questionnaire 7 days after delivery, to gather overall feedback on the purchasing experience and product use.

To encourage consumers to leave a review (and boost the number of comments), you can also offer them a reward. At Rakuten, we offer cashback in the form of Rakuten Points to every customer who leaves a review on an order or a seller. The customer can then use this amount for future purchases on the platform. It's a simple way of boosting the number of reviews by offering buyers an attractive return. A win-win situation!

2- Manage, qualify and respond to customer reviews

After collecting customer reviews, the next step is to manage them. First of all, we would like to remind you that it is forbidden to delete reviews you don't like, unless they contain abusive or violent language, illegal content or are unreliable and linked to proof of purchase.

It's essential to analyze both positive and negative reviews: once collected, you'll be able to identify the main reasons for customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction, and better understand any glitches or nuggets.

For a low volume of comments, you can manage this analysis manually. For larger volumes, you can automate the qualification process, using Sentiment Analysis tools for example. These tools enable you to identify the intent of a review, by pinpointing recurring keywords, so you can continually improve the buying experience and the products offered for sale.

After this analysis and qualification phase, you must then respond to all the reviews you receive. Respond to them every day, so you can offer quick, responsive answers to web users. Keep your messages short, effective and friendly:

• Start by thanking the buyer for their review, whether positive or negative.
• In the case of positive feedback, create an additional positive interaction: for example, by openly telling them that their opinion means a lot to you, and that you hope they'll enjoy the products they've purchased.
• In the case of a negative review, offer a professional, solution-oriented response: for example, offer the buyer a refund, exchange or voucher. Always apologize for the unfortunate experience, and invite the consumer to continue the exchange live and in private.

To take customer relations even further, here's a bonus: activate the "Questions/Answers" feature on your Rakuten store. In addition to the reviews on a product page, Internet users can read questions from their peers, and the seller's answers. This tool provides valuable additional information, useful for boosting marketplace sales!

3- Optimize your distribution of customer reviews

Once collected and managed, the final step for your company is to distribute the reviews online. Obviously, product reviews have their place on the relevant product pages. But you can also relay the feedback you receive at different points on your e-commerce site (right from the home page).

And don't forget to highlight good reviews via your marketing and communication channels: e-mailing, social networks, SEA ads... Optimizing the distribution of these social proof elements will strengthen your credibility!

Customer reviews: 5 mistakes to avoid on your e-commerce site or marketplace

You now have all the tools you need to collect, manage and distribute customer reviews... But beware of these 5 mistakes, which can damage the shopping experience and your company's image:

1- Not soliciting reviews

As we saw in this article, solicited reviews are very popular, and provide better feedback than unsolicited reviews. 39% of French people even say they are encouraged to leave a post-purchase review when a brand sends them an e-mail (source: YouGov, 2022). Now you know what you have to do..

And remember, with Rakuten, your customers get cashback in exchange for their feedback!

2- Don't respond to reviews (or respond badly)

Failing to respond to reviews can damage your brand image and e-reputation. Internet users are sensitive to the commitment and consideration shown by sellers on e-commerce sites and platforms: so take the time to respond to all feedback received, whether positive or negative!

When drafting your responses, be sure to personalize your messages. Generic or automated responses should be avoided at all costs. Instead, write a unique response, mentioning the customer's name and thanking him or her personally.

3- Publish fake web reviews

The legal framework surrounding customer reviews is strict: be careful not to break the law! For example, you don't have the right to delete negative reviews that you don't like, in order to publish only positive reviews, and thus artificially boost your online reputation. You're not allowed to publish fake reviews either: that would lead to legal sanctions. Worse still, such actions destroy buyer confidence.

4- Failing to improve service after responding

Imagine a dissatisfied customer to whom you reply: "We're aware of the problem. We'll take care of everything" ... Without ever taking any action to actually deal with the problem.

The customer remains dissatisfied, and you lose any chance of making up for the bad experience. To avoid this scenario, here's our advice: with every review you receive, demonstrate continuous improvement, at every level of the buying journey (payment experience, delivery, product quality, customer service, etc.). Then provide concrete evidence to dissatisfied users, to show that you're taking their word into consideration.

5- Not valuing web reviews

Every positive review you receive is a golden opportunity to promote your brand and your products: when implementing your marketing strategy, always integrate the dissemination of user feedback across your various channels.

Newsletters and e-mails, SEO and SEA ads, publications on social networks... Your online reviews can also be useful for boosting your sales, during the major commercial holidays. To find out when to use brand and product reviews effectively, check out our calendar of e-commerce highlights.