It may seem counter intuitive, but letting customers openly rate and review products without censuring has worked extremely well for Amazon. I cannot remember the last time I bought something online without having consulted the star-rating or the impassioned open reviews/debates.
A study by eMarketer on the effect of customer reviews showed that 56% of e-tailers surveyed report an increase in conversion rate, while 42% report an increase in order amount and 77% report in overall site traffic.
But why do people trust the opinions of strangers? The point is that as a group, customer reviewers are not strangers. They are your peers who are more likely to have similar needs, questions, and concerns than editorial reviewers do. Customer reviews have a natural voice of authenticity that is enhanced by all the disagreements, debates, and differing opinions.
I have seen a proliferation of "rating mechanisms" on online "big box" stores. Both GolfSmith and GolfGalaxy have implemented it, and the volume of reviews have been impressive. Apparently, brands have also begun to implement customer rating systems directly on their own e-commerce sites, and are seeing similar positive results. A recent case study on Kensington, the memory stick and RAM maker, shows a 92% dump in conversion for products with reviews, and 35% dump for products without reviews after a rating system was launhed.
Is this the right move for your web-store? We are more than happy to engage in further discussions with you, and to introduce and evaluate the many rating systems that are available out there. Just leave a comment, or shoot us an email!
