Online shops have become an integral part of our everyday lives. Ordering is easy and works for many of us who simply don’t have the time to stroll through town and take the time to compare products on site. And it is above all the user reviews that many customers use to compare products and before making a purchase decision. However, a study by Capterra recently found that many companies are not exploiting their full potential here and are thus standing in their own way.
Capterra selected 500 participants for the study to find out the importance of reviews and to gain further insights into online advertising. The study found that users placed more value on online reviews than on comments from their own friends. 26% of customers leave online reviews before buying. 4% never did. 36% of the participants openly and honestly admitted to trusting online reviews more than expert opinions or recommendations from friends and acquaintances.
The study also showed that it is precisely very satisfied customers who leave reviews. Overall, it could be assumed that 77% of Germans have already written a review. Of these, 43% said they did so to help other users. The study also revealed that they almost exclusively reported very satisfied or very dissatisfied customers. The fact that more satisfied customers than dissatisfied customers reported their reviews was due to the fact that a bonus was often paid for writing the review.
However, only half of all users who had already left a review received feedback from the company. And this is the weak point, because good customer service includes a reaction to the customer’s review. 23% of the companies stated that they do not react to reviews. What is even more shocking is that a whopping 84% do not even evaluate the reviews using software. 9% delete negative reviews directly.
From the results of the study, cornerstones were set up outside of what seems to be most important to the customer in the review: 46% plead for comments in text form, 29% trust rating assessments e.g. via stars, 15% paid attention to the total number of reviews submitted, 8% to the current date and for 2% to the information about the reviewer.
The most important thing about user ratings is the fact that they affect visibility on Google. It is up to the companies to exploit more potential here and also use the reviews for themselves.
