From food and beverage and apparel to health and beauty and hardware to everything in between, ratings and reviews play a crucial role in the customer journey. 

But just how crucial, exactly? And how can businesses extract the most value from them? Let’s find out.

Chapters:

1. The business benefits of ratings and reviews
2. How to make customer ratings and reviews work harder for you
3. Don’t underestimate how important ratings and reviews are for your business

The business benefits of ratings and reviews

At Bazaarvoice, ratings and reviews are the center of our business. With a network of over 12,500 brand and retailer sites to support, we undertake a lot of research to understand the value of reviews for businesses and their customers. 

Here are some of our takeaways that prove the power of ratings and reviews, based on some of our latest research.

Ratings and reviews impact everything from sales to SEO

Shoppers are leaving more reviews now than ever. Across our network in 2021, the number of reviews submitted increased nearly 11% year-over-year. Our 2023 Shopper Experience Index found that when shoppers engaged with reviews, there was a 144% lift in conversion rate.

Not only are shoppers converting more readily on pages with reviews, but they’re also spending more money. The lift in revenue per visitor among shoppers engaging with reviews was 162% in 2023, and the average order value was 13% higher. 

Ratings and reviews creates a great avenue for us to get current content on our site and bring attention to our product. That helps us to rank higher in search results and get found better

UX analyst, CPG

Increasing your sales and profits isn’t the only thing that reviews can improve in your business. Brands and retailers we’ve talked to say that reviews have an impact far beyond the product page. According to those we surveyed for our Shopper Experience Index, over half (52%) said they help increase brand loyalty, 53% cited a positive impact on in-store sales, and 63% said that they improve search engine optimization (SEO).

Global brand Petco, for example, launched a sampling campaign to collect more reviews and improve SEO metrics. The campaign led to a 405% increase in review volume, which meant a:

• 67% increase in number of pages ranked organically
• 140% increase in impressions from organic search
• 80% increase in clicks from organic search
• 48% increase in revenue per visit for sampled products

Ratings and reviews help shoppers make confident purchases

According to our 2023 Shopper Experience Index, two-thirds of consumers (78%) claim that reviews impact their purchase decisions. Our 2022 report also revealed that ratings and reviews are the number one online feature shoppers rely on when making informed product decisions faster, more so than product page descriptions, chatbots, and the website’s search tool.

But consumers aren’t just using them online. According to research commissioned by Bazaarvoice from Deloitte and Touche LLP, a vast majority (82%) of shoppers research products online before going in-store, and over a third read a product’s reviews on their mobile phones while looking at the same product in-store.  

Our research found that shoppers often turn to ratings and reviews when they’re in the final stages of their decision making process to help them choose your product. 70% of shoppers often or always look at available reviews, and in the first 20 seconds of landing on a product page, high-quality reviews are the most likely type of user-generated content  to convince a consumer to buy a product (21%) — followed by average star ratings (19%) and the number of reviews a product has (13%).

We also found that half of shoppers have been influenced by reviews to buy a more expensive product than planned.

You may be surprised to learn that it isn’t just positive reviews that consumers find helpful. Over half (60%) say negative reviews are just as important in their decision to buy. The majority (62%) say it’s because they contain more pros and cons than positive reviews. Shoppers who usually don’t read reviews say they would like to see more reviews from people like them and more customer photos.

Having reviews displayed on your site is a great first step to winning over your customers, but don’t forget step two — responding to reviews. About a third of shoppers expect businesses to publicly respond to their reviews, regardless of whether their review is positive or negative. Almost half (48%) say brands responding to reviews improves their odds of buying the product. 

Reviews improve your brand’s authenticity

Brand trust is one of the most valuable assets a business can have in today’s retail landscape. According to our recent survey of 10,000 global shoppers, 97% of respondents say fake reviews make them lose trust in a brand. One way to build trust is by handing over the mic to their fellow peers to help advocate for your brand. Over three-quarters of shoppers trust reviews, even more than family and friend recommendations.

It’s not as simple as just displaying reviews, you have to ensure that they’re authentic. If shoppers suspect a product to have fake reviews:

• 56% wouldn’t buy the product 
• 25% wouldn’t buy from the website 
• 81% avoid using the brand again 
• 48% leave a negative review 
• 16% post [negatively] about the brand on social media

The number one factor that makes consumers suspicious that a product has fake reviews is seeing multiple reviews with similar wording (56%). That is followed by review content not matching the product (53%), bad grammar/misspellings (36%), and an overwhelming amount of positive/five-star reviews (36%).

As consumers have become more skeptical of marketing and advertising practices as a whole, they’re constantly evaluating product reviews to look for red flags.

Reviews contain insights about products, processes, and purchasers

Ratings and reviews are an invaluable source of customer feedback. Consumer reviews can help surface issues with products, shed light on new use cases, and inform product innovations. Shoppers want to see businesses use their reviews, both positive (25%) and negative (38%), to make product improvements.

We have countless stories from our clients about ways they have improved their products and processes based on the feedback they’ve received from customer reviews. In fact, 72% of our clients use UGC to improve customer service, 66% use UGC to improve products, and 50% use UGC to improve marketing tactics and messaging.

How to make customer ratings and reviews work harder for you 

While impressive, these results won’t manifest out of thin air. The real magic happens when you set in motion a process to collect, distribute, and manage reviews, designed to squeeze the most value out of these pieces of UGC.

Set up a review collection strategy

In order to reap the benefits, you need to plant the seeds — in other words, you need an ongoing strategy that makes it easy for and encourages customers to share feedback about your products. 

You can request ratings and reviews from your customers through a myriad of channels. If you have a physical store, you can go the face-to-face route and have attendants ask shoppers for feedback after they complete a purchase. The attendant can jot down the answers or direct the customer toward a QR code for an even smoother experience. 

Online options are also aplenty. Review request emails are a common practice (Jeanswest saw a 186% lift in review volume using this strategy, for example), but social media channels, push notifications, and SMS texts are also viable approaches.

When requesting reviews through any of these channels, timing is key. Reach out soon after customers interact with your products, when the experience is fresh on their minds, and they can provide more detailed and genuine feedback. And how you ask is just as important as when you ask — use clear and concise messaging, and avoid overwhelming customers with too many requests or specific instructions. 

Provide incentives in exchange for ratings and reviews

Customers might need a little extra push to share their feedback about your products. This is where incentivized reviews come in: you give customers a reward, like a coupon or entry into a giveaway, and in exchange, they write an honest review about a product they bought from your company. 

Incentives can be small, like discount codes, or slightly more elaborate, like product sampling campaigns (offering samples of your product in exchange for reviews.) McPherson’s Consumer Products, for example, found that 20% of new reviews on its brands’ products come from sampling efforts. According to Sharon Bottaro, the company’s Head of Digital, these reviews, “are providing confidence for people to complete their path to purchase.”

To uphold your integrity and safeguard consumer trust, be transparent about your incentive program. Clearly state that the incentive is for leaving a review, regardless of whether it’s positive or negative, and never pay customers to leave reviews.

Encourage customers to add visual UGC 

It’s a visual-driven world out there, especially in the e-commerce industry. Images and videos from customers give shoppers a better sense of what the products look like in action, and, most importantly, in the real world, without the influence of heavy editing. It adds another layer of confidence to purchasing decisions, which explains why 29% of shoppers look for customer reviews with photos or videos.

Fresh, a cosmetics company known for its natural ingredients-based products, tapped into the power of visual UGC in customer reviews. The brand implemented Bazaarvoice’s Photo-First Reviews Display to put customer images and videos front and center of product pages. Overall, Fresh saw a $1.48 million impact from user-generated content.

When requesting reviews from customers, whether through an email or a sampling campaign, make sure you ask for visuals — people might even prefer filming a short video over writing a lengthy review! Don’t make it a non-negotiable (a written review with no visuals is better than no review), but let customers know images and videos are appreciated options.

Reply to both positive and negative reviews

Customers expect brands to engage with them when they take the time to leave a review, especially if it’s negative. As Anna Kim, Senior Advocate Programs Manager at Webroot, explains, “It’s our responsibility (…) to be responsive to shoppers’ questions and reviews. Someone who is vetting us against another brand sees that we interact with our customers, and that’s a big competitive advantage.”

Webroot practices what it preaches — the cybersecurity software company replied to 70% of its 38,000 customer reviews on retail sites.

When responding to positive reviews, gratitude is the name of the game. Thank the customer for sharing their opinion, and express happiness that they enjoyed the product. Reference specific points mentioned in the review to make your response more personal and show that you value their input.

Negative reviews are a different beast, but they don’t have to be a scary one. As we explained before, having some negative reviews contributes to authenticity, and they can be a good way to unveil problems you weren’t aware of. What you shouldn’t do is ignore them; instead, act quickly, acknowledge the customer’s experience, and offer a solution to the issue raised in the review. If the problem is too complex, invite them to continue the conversation through a private channel like email or phone.  

Amplify ratings and reviews with syndication

If your brand works with retail partners to sell its products, syndicating reviews to their websites is a must. There’s no guarantee consumers will find and buy your products on your own website — syndication gets consumer eyes on your product reviews whether they’re browsing Walmart or Target.

This strategy also benefits your retail partners since they get quality, conversion-optimized content on their product pages without having to invest in technology to do so.

Bazaarvoice has a network of 1,750 global retailers, and regularly helps brands syndicate their hard-won customer reviews to as many partners as possible. For Andi-Co, 100% of reviews on retailers’ sites come from Bazaarvoice syndication efforts, leading to 690x more UGC on retailer sites.   

Make ratings and reviews a part of your marketing strategy

Displaying reviews on your website is a no-brainer, but why stop there? Incorporating reviews into your offline and digital marketing can significantly enhance its effectiveness — according to our 2022 Shopper Index, almost half (40%) of consumers say UGC makes them more likely to buy a product from an ad. Beyond product pages, here’s where you might consider displaying this rich UGC:

• Social media channels like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. Social commerce continues to grow as social becomes the new search — over half (58%) of shoppers say they often discover a product or service through social media, and 42% say social media impacts their purchasing decisions. Adding reviews to your posts both amplifies positive content and gets the conversion machine that is user-generated content in front of an audience that’s primed to discover and buy new products

• In-store displays. If you have a brick-and-mortar presence, display reviews and ratings near relevant products to bridge the gap between online and offline experiences and nudge shoppers toward making a purchase
• Emails. Use positive reviews in your email marketing campaigns. For example, when promoting a product, include a customer testimonial that speaks to its benefits. Tailor your emails based on the products customers have purchased and include reviews from similar products to encourage repeat purchases, cross-sells, and up-sells

Don’t underestimate how important ratings and reviews are for your business

While some might think it’s difficult to quantify the importance of ratings and reviews, the above statistics prove their power.

There’s a variety of ways that they are useful, both for businesses and their customers. And not only are ratings and reviews absolutely necessary to today’s consumers during the purchasing process, companies are missing out on sales, profits, and priceless information without them, as our own research below shows.

Learn more about how important ratings and reviews are here. Or get in touch directly below to see how you can get started with Bazaarvoice Ratings & Reviews.

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Getting customers to write those reviews, however, can be tricky. 

This is where incentivized reviews come in — done correctly, these reviews help build trust between existing customers, potential customers, and your brand. We’ll cover the best practices of incentivized reviews, including how to source them, disclose them, and more. 

Let’s get into it. 

Chapters:

1. What is an incentivized review? 
2. How to get authentic incentivized reviews
3. Can you incentivize Google reviews?
4. Why you should use incentivized reviews
5. Get help from the UGC experts 

What is an incentivized review? 

Incentivized reviews are collaborations between a brand and its customers. The customer leaves reviews about their experience with the brand’s product or products, and in exchange, the brand gives them a small reward. It’s a symbiotic relationship: the brand gets social proof of the quality of its product or service, and the customer gets a discount code, loyalty reward points, or some other thank-you gift.

Essentially, you’re acknowledging the time and effort it takes for customers to write a review and expressing your thanks. 

But incentivized reviews can be a double-edged sword for companies. Used well, they boost your connection to potential customers. They’ll see fellow shoppers giving their honest assessment of your product or service, which will (hopefully) drive them to purchase it. 

Used poorly, they can be dangerous to your brand. You need to be transparent about which reviews are incentivized by clearly labeling them. Potential customers could end up feeling like they’ve been tricked if they later learn that a review was written in exchange for a discount vs. seeing that disclosed upfront. 

Authenticity is vital in today’s market, and it’s important to have that come across in reviews. 78% of shoppers surveyed in our recent research said that product reviews were the most influential factor when they were making purchasing decisions. 

How to get authentic incentivized reviews

We’ve already touched on one of the best practices of incentivized reviews: clearly labeling them with something like an incentivized review badge. But in order to label them, you first have to get them. 

Getting authentic, valuable, incentivized reviews is important, and it can definitely be a challenge — customers are busy with so much competition for their limited time and attention. You have to balance offering a significant enough reward to customers that they feel appreciated for their time and effort without attracting those who would write a fake review just for the reward.

But don’t despair. It’s far easier than it seems! These best practices will ensure you’re getting genuine reviews that will help your brand grow organically.

Source them from your customers 

The easiest way to get a review is simply by asking for one. Reach out to your customer mailing list directly or tap into your customer community. Find your customers where they’re already browsing, such as in a branded community space, on social media, or at in-person events. 

These methods take more time and effort for your team if you don’t already have an existing outreach strategy in place. You’ll need to consider available resources before you decide to build your own brand community from scratch or dedicate your design team to creating in-store collateral asking for reviews. 

No matter how you start your customer review outreach, a targeted sampling strategy will help you engage with your customers right away. That means reaching out to consumers and offering a product sample in exchange for an honest review. (Be sure to emphasize that last part!) These samples can be trial sizes, virtual samples, full products — whatever makes the most sense for your brand. 

What does that look like in terms of driving conversions? Petco’s sampling program saw a 48% revenue increase on sampled products!

If a sampling program isn’t something your brand can handle logistically on your own, and you don’t have the resources to outsource it, you can start simpler with your incentivized review strategy. Offer discounts or a promo code in exchange for reviews, emailing customers soon after they’ve made a purchase when the product is still top-of-mind. You can also run a sweepstakes contest with extra entries earned by providing reviews. 

Avoid common pitfalls with incentivized reviews

Sending a discount or coupon code is one thing, but you never want to pay shoppers outright for reviews. Paying for reviews directly discourages honest feedback, as reviewers might feel obligated to say nice things about the brand since they’ve been paid for their time. They’re less likely to admit what could be improved about a product, which is also valuable feedback for your team.

Paid reviews also make anyone reading the reviews feel like they couldn’t possibly be getting unbiased information about the product — avoid it at all costs.

And while incentivized reviews are great, they’re just one tool in your UGC toolbox. You shouldn’t rely on them exclusively in order to build trust in your brand. Be sure to put them in the mix with organic reviews and user-generated content from social media and any other digital platforms where your customers are active. 

Can you incentivize Google reviews?

No, essentially. Technically you could, but you shouldn’t incentivize Google reviews. Google has their own reviews policy but you should never offer incentives in exchange for positive reviews or incentivize customers to remove negative reviews. If you’re caught doing it, your business can face serious consequences:

1. Possible fines from the FTC — up to $50,000 per review
2. Google’s algorithm will punish you and push you way down in search results
3. Your review(s) will be taken down by Google
4. Your brand reputation will take a huge negative hit

Why you should use incentivized reviews 

It all comes back to building trust with your customers — the more they trust you, the more likely they are to recommend you to their friends, family, and online networks. Gotta love that good old word-of-mouth marketing! It builds brand loyalty and maybe even a little buzz. At the very least, the more your brand gets talked about, the more your brand awareness increases. 

All of this also applies when it comes to reviews. They’re opinions coming straight from other shoppers, after all. According to our last Shopper Experience Index, 22% of global shoppers agree that UGC content — including reviews — makes them more likely to buy a product from an ad. 

Incentivized reviews illustrate authenticity in your brand reviews and in your brand as a whole. You’re willing to put your products out there in the hands of consumers so that they will honestly tell you what they think of them. 

But the best reason to use incentivized reviews? They work. Incentivized reviews have been shown to generate huge impacts on brands’ marketing efforts. Kraft Heinz earned 39 million impressions from incentivized reviews in just three sampling campaigns.

They’ve been able to boost their product launch success by getting new products out to hyper-targeted consumers and asking them for their honest feedback. 

And instead of partnering with macro influencers, Rimmel London decided to implement a targeted sampling program. This resulted in a 44% sales lift. That’s huge given they were faced with the dual challenge of raising awareness for a beauty product and reigniting interest in one of their core products. 

Get help from the UGC experts 

Get incentivized reviews right — using an authentic exchange with your customers — and you’ll ultimately get more business. 

One option is tapping into our 7.5-million-strong Influenster consumer community for an existing pool of shoppers who are already excited about the brands they love and eager to discover more — 98% of their review content is added organically and is non-incentivized.

Capturing UGC organically can be a challenge, but the Influenster community is highly engaged, and we saw this as a good way to drive purchase intent.

Michael Kremer, CMO, Pacifica Beauty

The large proportion of organic reviews gives incentivized reviews more authority — these reviewers are seasoned and aren’t just in it to get free stuff! They’re sharing their feedback because it’s something they’re genuinely interested in doing. 

Bazaarvoice will help you with an incentivized review program as part of your strategy to generate authentic UGC, increase brand awareness, and cultivate lasting brand loyalty. Get in touch below to get started. 

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And while almost all shoppers use ratings and reviews (88%) to evaluate or learn more about products, fake reviews are affecting their ability to confidently turn to reviews as a trusted source when making product purchasing decisions.

And preserving that trust isn’t just about maintaining your customer base and increasing sales. It’s also about maintaining regulatory compliance. Government agencies all over the world enforce consumer protection laws that prohibit unscrupulous marketing practices — including fake, deceptive or misleading reviews.

In the US, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced two important regulations they’re taking to battle fake reviews:

1. They published the final Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. This is the first refresh of the Guides since 2009 and it provides new and updated guidance around endorsements by social media influencers as well as ratings and reviews 
2. The proposed Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials which clarifies what constitutes a “fake” review

What does the proposed FTC regulation say?

The new regulation proposed by the FTC will strengthen the agency’s ability to impose significant monetary penalties in cases involving fake and deceptive consumer reviews — up to $50,120 for each offending review to be imposed each time the review is viewed by a consumer. The aim is to ensure that consumers are provided with a more authentic, honest shopping experience and businesses are able to better protect their brand.

In its notice of proposed regulation, the FTC explained the need for the new rule by citing examples of clearly deceptive practices from its recent cases. They specifically called out the widespread emergence of generative AI, which will make it easier for bad actors to create fake reviews.

According to the FTC’s Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, “Our proposed rule on fake reviews shows that we’re using all available means to attack deceptive advertising in the digital age” and “should help level the playing field for honest companies.”

The proposed new rule clarifies that businesses are prohibited from:

• Selling or obtaining fake consumer reviews and testimonials. Writing or selling reviews by someone who doesn’t exist or has never bought the product
• Review hijacking. Using or repurposing a consumer review written for one product so that it appears to have been written for a substantially different product
• Buying positive or negative reviews. Providing compensation conditioned on the writing of consumer reviews expressing a particular sentiment, either positive or negative
• Illegally suppressing negative reviews. Using unjustified legal threats, other intimidation, or false accusations to prevent or remove a negative consumer review or hiding a negative review from the website
• Using “insider” reviews. Having employees or other insiders write reviews or testimonials of its products or services, without clearly disclosing their relationships
• Selling or buying fake social media indicators. Selling false indicators of social media influence, like fake followers or views
• Fake websites. Creating or controlling a website that claims to provide independent opinions about a category of products or services that includes its own products or services

As the champions of authentic shopping experiences, we at Bazaarvoice fully agree with the premise of this proposed rule and already provide our customers with powerful tools and processes to help them comply. This is simply another strong and welcomed step to help protect brands and the sanctity of consumer reviews and the role they play in commerce.

3 ways to protect your brand

Whether you’re in the US or another country, here’s the three golden rules we instruct our clients and partners to follow, to ensure they protect their brand, and their bottom line, from fake reviews.

1. Be transparent about who you collect reviews from, and how you do it

While consumers continue to trust reviews, they’re increasingly on the lookout for any signs of untrustworthy content. Typically, the behaviors that causes the most suspicion among consumers are:

• Multiple reviews with similar wording on the same product (55%)
• Review content not matching the product (49%) 
• Bad grammar/spelling mistakes (36%) 
• An overwhelming amount of five star/positive reviews (35%) 

Consumers have a right to trust the reviews they encounter and businesses have a responsibility to ensure this content is legitimate. The importance of this trust is further echoed in the guidance being put out by governments and consumer agencies around the world, echoed by the proposed FTC regulation. 

There’s a variety of ways businesses can ask customers to provide a review — review request emails, directly from e-commerce sites, sampling campaigns, or in a social media campaign. Additionally, brands may choose to share the reviews they collect with their retail partners so that consumers can find them anywhere they’re looking to make a purchasing decision. 

Regardless of how a review is collected, brands should never ask for or incentivize positive reviews. If consumers are offered a free product, promotional material (such as discounts or coupons), or a chance to win something of value in exchange for providing an unbiased review, then we recommend adding descriptors such as “this reviewer received a free product in exchange for their honest feedback” to any reviews collected using a promotion. 

2. Don’t screen out negative reviews — find value in them 

While some might think that negative reviews are an absolute disaster for their brand to have, they’re actually a necessity for your ratings and reviews program to thrive. In a survey we ran, over half (60%) of respondents said that negative reviews are as important as positive reviews in their decision to buy a product. The majority claimed that negative reviews contain more detailed info on product pros and cons, while 32% think that they are less likely to be fake reviews.

In addition to giving consumers a true feel for a product or service, negative reviews are an opportunity for engaging with consumers and identifying potential product improvements. 

Responding to, and taking action on, negative feedback will protect your brand by fostering trust and loyalty with customers.

3. Have a zero tolerance policy for fake reviews

Not protecting yourself against fake reviews undoubtedly puts your brand at risk. In the same research as above, respondents said that fraudulent reviews from a brand’s employees (42%) and from other customers (34%) would cause them to lose trust in a brand.

We also found that after losing trust in a brand, a vast majority (82%) of consumers would avoid using the brand ever again. If shoppers suspect a product to have fake reviews:

• 36% wouldn’t buy the product
• 28% wouldn’t trust the brand,
• 27% wouldn’t trust the site’s other reviews
• 25% wouldn’t purchase from the website
• 18% said ‘all of the above’

Companies should be aware of the possibility of fraudulent content through a variety of means, including disruptive or trolling activity, commercial messages, generative AI submissions, illegitimate or degrading content by a competitor, and self-promotion by employees.

We help protect our clients from a variety of different types of fraud. Using textual moderation and data driven, anti-fraud processes to evaluate reviews in the Bazaarvoice Network helps us to protect our clients and their shoppers. 

Our biggest and best piece of advice to protect your brand is to ensure you have a process in place to detect fake reviews, and to not allow them to be posted on your site. Hiring a third-party ratings and reviews provider and moderator is a huge help for this task. 

Protect your brand now

User-generated content is necessary in commerce today. But a reputation for fake reviews will damage your brand reputation as well as your bottom line. Brands and retailers need to continuously and proactively work to combat fake reviews by ensuring they have the right processes in place to protect themselves and their shoppers.

The steps we’ve outlined above, as well as the new guidance and proposed regulation from the FTC, will help you achieve this.

When shoppers can turn to ratings and reviews as sources of truth, it helps them to feel confident in purchasing from your company. Which boosts your bottom line and who doesn’t want that?

Learn more at Bazaarvoice.com/fakereviews.

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