For every product purchased, and every service offered, companies can obtain customer ratings online. The customer uses stars and / or comments to rate how satisfied they are with their purchase. They also use reviews on websites like (hjemmeside) Velgenklere. These customer ratings then become the potential basis for the purchase decision of other possible customers, and are therefore an important part of the marketing concept and customer acquisition in e-commerce.

We show how you can use customer ratings profitably for your company, and how you can deal with any negative customer ratings in the best possible way.

Why are customer ratings an important success factor?

Customer ratings directly influence the attractiveness – and thus the sales potential – of a product. As a survey shows, the likelihood that a product will be bought increases by 270% if it has received five reviews (compared to a product without customer reviews). 91% of respondents in another survey said customer reviews would make them more likely to buy a product or use a service. On average, a potential customer looks at around 10 reviews before gaining enough confidence in an offer.

No wonder, given the fact that customers do not have the opportunity to personally inspect the product when buying online. Positive reviews therefore help customers feel more confident with their purchase decision by being able to better assess the product and perceiving the company as trustworthy. In addition, customer ratings and the questions answered contain partly bundled, partly very comprehensive information about the product or service – often significantly more information than the company itself can provide.

Customer ratings in the form of general shop ratings also contribute to the visibility of the company: Google evaluates customer ratings as user-generated content, which contributes to the search engine optimization of the online shop or website. At the same time, local companies with customer ratings are also better found.

Get more customer ratings: strategies

Right from the start, you should always actively obtain customer ratings, i.e. after completing purchases, encourage customers – for example by e-mail – to submit their rating. Many providers allow this process to be automated. If you neglect to actively ask for customer reviews, you are endangering your average rating: customers tend to only give their opinion unsolicited if they are not satisfied with the product or service.

It is particularly important that the review process is quick and easy. Customers must be able to submit their reviews without having to register or leave their personal data again. Such hurdles lead to high bounce rates.

You should also examine and exploit other options offered by your provider. For example, there is the option of only having “verified” customers rated – that is, those customers who actually bought from you. This gives you a significantly greater influence on the quality of the reviews. In this way, you can increase the quality of customer reviews.

Many providers allow you to decide when you want to get the customer or shop reviews. For example, you have the option of responding to the customer’s complaints in the form of direct feedback and finding a solution before the customer is invited to submit their review.

Another strategy is to have other customers assess the reviews on your part. You are probably familiar with the process from reviews on Amazon: Here, customer reviews can be classified as “helpful” or “not helpful”. This has the advantage that reviews from customers who only vent their anger in a nonobjective manner do not acquire great relevance, while extensive and differentiated customer reviews are given more weight.

Finally, you also have the option to comment on reviews. This is time-consuming, but can be very useful. In this way, you give other potential customers who are still looking for information the impression that you are taking good care of your customers and that you can be contacted at any time in the event of complaints or requests for changes.