42244 0 3 econsultancy_xml <p> <strong>Show negative reviews</strong> </p> <p>Obviously, no retailer wants to have a lot of negative reviews for the products they are selling, but having some criticism in the reviews can be a plus for retailers, as long as there is some positive feedback at the same time. </p> <p>There is the issue of credibility here too, many customers will be looking for some negative reviews as an indication that the reviews are genuine. If your site has 20+ reviews of a product and all are positive, customers are likely to smell a rat. </p> <p>Retailers need not worry too much about negative feedback; a recent survey by Bazaarvoice found that <a href="/blog/2009-online-reviews-are-mostly-positive-bazaarvoice">87% of reviews left online are positive</a>. </p> <p> <strong>Provide an average rating</strong> </p> <p>If you have a number of reviews of a product, providing an average rating in both product search results and on the product page provides a quick guide for customers, some of whom may not want to read all the reviews:</p> <p> <img alt="Amazon average user rating" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3027/2594301071_d965b666d5_m.jpg" /> </p> <p> <strong>Use a submission form</strong> </p> <p>The reason for using a submission form is to make it trickier for fraudulent reviewers to post their comments. If you have a simple ratings-only system, then it's easier for people to exploit. </p> <p>Instead, you should ask people to write a review of 100 words or more. Not only does this make it harder for people to leave fraudulent reviews, it also provides other customers with more useful information. </p> <p> <strong>Consider Purchase verification</strong> </p> <p>By allowing only customers who have bought the product from your website to leave reviews, you can at least ensure that the feedback is genuine. </p> <p>The downside of this approach is that people want to see a good range of reviews when they are looking at a product, and it will take time build up a good number of reviews. </p> <p>Also, this prevents customers who have bought the product offline or elsewhere from contributing reviews to the website. </p> <p> <strong>Present reviews prominently on product pages</strong> </p> <p>Product reviews are an <a href="/blog/2185-user-reviews-a-must-for-etailers">excellent conversion tool</a>, so customers should be able to spot them on product pages where they are most useful. One way to do this is by showing the average user rating next to the product price. </p> <p>In this example from HMV, the user rating is prominently displayed, with a link to read the reviews underneath:</p> <p> <img alt="HMV user reviews" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3139/2595113600_e594068c50_o.jpg" /> </p> <p>However, in this example Comet doesn't give enough prominence to its user reviews, provided by Reevoo. </p> <p>The reviews are there, but on the right of the page, where it could be missed, and the site doesn't give an average user rating for customers to see quickly: </p> <p> <img alt="Comet user reviews" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3263/2595113760_495e5e4f15_o.jpg" />  </p> <p> <strong>Show user's review history</strong> </p> <p>One problem for consumers when deciding on a product is deciding which reviews to trust, especially when there are a lot of reviews on offer. </p> <p>Amazon and other online retailers do this by asking people if a review was useful, but it is also helpful to be able to see reviewers' other activity to help decide if their opinion is to be trusted. </p> <p>An average rating for a reviewer would be useful, but failing this, then provide users with the option of seeing a reviewer's history:</p> <p> <img alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3257/2595145180_fc7c12f861_o.jpg" /> </p> <p> <strong>Provide tools to filter reviews</strong> </p> <p>On some sites, Amazon especially, there are a lot of product reviews to look through. When this happens, users need some help making sense of them all. </p> <p>One way to do this is by providing an average rating, but this doesn't give any detail. Amazon has also added a chart showing the distribution of the reviews of the products. </p> <p>In addition, the site uses people's rating of reviews to display the most helpful reviews:</p> <p> <img alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3151/2595152914_6a25ba25ac_o.jpg" /> </p> <p>A search box has also been provided to help users look through the reviews:</p> <p> <strong> <img alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3050/2595154366_7b581b172d_m.jpg" /> </strong> </p> <p>Amazon.com does this better by displaying the most helpful positive and negative reviews, something which would be useful on the UK version of the site:</p> <p> <img alt="Amazon postive and negative user reviews" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3250/2595161536_f199aaab63_o.jpg" /> </p> <p> <strong>Related stories:</strong> <br /> <a href="/blog/1986-online-review-authenticity-do-we-really-have-a-problem">Online review authenticity - do we really have a problem?</a> <br /> <a href="/blog/610-interview-with-reevoo-ceo-richard-anson">Interview with Reevoo CEO Richard Anson</a> </p> <FormattedContent xmlns="http://www.e-consultancy.com/schema/formattedContent/"> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>Show negative reviews</Emphasis> </Paragraph> <Paragraph>Obviously, no retailer wants to have a lot of negative reviews for the products they are selling, but having some criticism in the reviews can be a plus for retailers, as long as there is some positive feedback at the same time. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>There is the issue of credibility here too, many customers will be looking for some negative reviews as an indication that the reviews are genuine. If your site has 20+ reviews of a product and all are positive, customers are likely to smell a rat. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>Retailers need not worry too much about negative feedback; a recent survey by Bazaarvoice found that <Link URL="/blog/2009-online-reviews-are-mostly-positive-bazaarvoice" Window="Self">87% of reviews left online are positive</Link>. </Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>Provide an average rating</Emphasis> </Paragraph> <Paragraph>If you have a number of reviews of a product, providing an average rating in both product search results and on the product page provides a quick guide for customers, some of whom may not want to read all the reviews:</Paragraph> <Paragraph Align="Center"> <Image AlternateText="Amazon average user rating" Source="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3027/2594301071_d965b666d5_m.jpg"> </Image> </Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>Use a submission form</Emphasis> </Paragraph> <Paragraph>The reason for using a submission form is to make it trickier for fraudulent reviewers to post their comments. If you have a simple ratings-only system, then it's easier for people to exploit. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>Instead, you should ask people to write a review of 100 words or more. Not only does this make it harder for people to leave fraudulent reviews, it also provides other customers with more useful information. </Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>Consider Purchase verification</Emphasis> </Paragraph> <Paragraph>By allowing only customers who have bought the product from your website to leave reviews, you can at least ensure that the feedback is genuine. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>The downside of this approach is that people want to see a good range of reviews when they are looking at a product, and it will take time build up a good number of reviews. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>Also, this prevents customers who have bought the product offline or elsewhere from contributing reviews to the website. </Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>Present reviews prominently on product pages</Emphasis> </Paragraph> <Paragraph>Product reviews are an <Link URL="/blog/2185-user-reviews-a-must-for-etailers" Window="Self">excellent conversion tool</Link>, so customers should be able to spot them on product pages where they are most useful. One way to do this is by showing the average user rating next to the product price. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>In this example from HMV, the user rating is prominently displayed, with a link to read the reviews underneath:</Paragraph> <Paragraph Align="Center"> <Image AlternateText="HMV user reviews" Source="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3139/2595113600_e594068c50_o.jpg"> </Image> </Paragraph> <Paragraph>However, in this example Comet doesn't give enough prominence to its user reviews, provided by Reevoo. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>The reviews are there, but on the right of the page, where it could be missed, and the site doesn't give an average user rating for customers to see quickly: </Paragraph> <Paragraph Align="Center"> <Image AlternateText="Comet user reviews" Source="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3263/2595113760_495e5e4f15_o.jpg"> </Image>  </Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>Show user's review history</Emphasis> </Paragraph> <Paragraph>One problem for consumers when deciding on a product is deciding which reviews to trust, especially when there are a lot of reviews on offer. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>Amazon and other online retailers do this by asking people if a review was useful, but it is also helpful to be able to see reviewers' other activity to help decide if their opinion is to be trusted. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>An average rating for a reviewer would be useful, but failing this, then provide users with the option of seeing a reviewer's history:</Paragraph> <Paragraph Align="Center"> <Image Source="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3257/2595145180_fc7c12f861_o.jpg"> </Image> </Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>Provide tools to filter reviews</Emphasis> </Paragraph> <Paragraph>On some sites, Amazon especially, there are a lot of product reviews to look through. When this happens, users need some help making sense of them all. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>One way to do this is by providing an average rating, but this doesn't give any detail. Amazon has also added a chart showing the distribution of the reviews of the products. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>In addition, the site uses people's rating of reviews to display the most helpful reviews:</Paragraph> <Paragraph Align="Center"> <Image Source="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3151/2595152914_6a25ba25ac_o.jpg"> </Image> </Paragraph> <Paragraph>A search box has also been provided to help users look through the reviews:</Paragraph> <Paragraph Align="Center"> <Emphasis> <Image Source="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3050/2595154366_7b581b172d_m.jpg"> </Image> </Emphasis> </Paragraph> <Paragraph>Amazon.com does this better by displaying the most helpful positive and negative reviews, something which would be useful on the UK version of the site:</Paragraph> <Paragraph Align="Center"> <Image AlternateText="Amazon postive and negative user reviews" Source="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3250/2595161536_f199aaab63_o.jpg"> </Image> </Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>Related stories:</Emphasis> <LineBreak /> <Link URL="/blog/1986-online-review-authenticity-do-we-really-have-a-problem" Window="Self">Online review authenticity - do we really have a problem?</Link> <LineBreak /> <Link URL="/blog/610-interview-with-reevoo-ceo-richard-anson" Window="Self">Interview with Reevoo CEO Richard Anson</Link> </Paragraph> </FormattedContent> 2008-06-19T17:24:00+01:00 0 1 econsultancy_xml <p> <strong>User product reviews are a must for retailers and when used well can enhance the credibility of a site and nudge customers towards buying a product.</strong> </p> <p>Reviews can have the benefit of bumping up conversion rates and average order values, as well as providing some unique content for the search engines. </p> <p> <em>Here are some tips for retailers on providing user product reviews...</em>  </p> <FormattedContent xmlns="http://www.e-consultancy.com/schema/formattedContent/"> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>User product reviews are a must for retailers and when used well can enhance the credibility of a site and nudge customers towards buying a product.</Emphasis> </Paragraph> <Paragraph>Reviews can have the benefit of bumping up conversion rates and average order values, as well as providing some unique content for the search engines. </Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Quote>Here are some tips for retailers on providing user product reviews...</Quote>  </Paragraph> </FormattedContent> false 2535 <p>Refer also to Econsultancy's <strong><a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/user-experience-buyers-guide">User Experience Buyer's Guide</a></strong> and <strong><a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/effective-web-design-best-practice-guide">Effective Web Design Guide</a></strong> for more information about best practice in these areas.</p> <p>Refer also to Econsultancy's <strong><a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/user-experience-buyers-guide">User Experience Buyer's Guide</a></strong> and <strong><a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/effective-web-design-best-practice-guide">Effective Web Design Guide</a></strong> for more information about best practice in these areas.</p> 365829 Tips on providing user reviews false 2008-06-30T12:40:00+01:00 tips-on-providing-user-reviews 2009-04-29T20:51:22+01:00 2009-10-13T09:41:46+01:00 1046