Why Reviews are the Unsung Hero of Consumer Durable Sales
Customer reviews and ratings play a pivotal role in the success of any product or service, but are especially important within the realm of consumer durable goods. Reviews and ratings have become imperative differentiators for these brands due to several factors.
As many as 98% of shoppers say reviews are an essential resource when making purchase decisions.1 Consequently, brands boasting abundant positive reviews tend to garner heightened credibility among shoppers—provided these reviews are perceived as authentic and trustworthy.
A 2022 survey from BazaarVoice found that ratings and reviews were the number one online feature shoppers relied on when making informed product decisions, ranking higher than product page descriptions, chatbots, and website search.2
More than three-quarters (78%) of consumers say the more expensive the product, the more they read reviews, and nearly all (98%) are more likely to read reviews for a product they’ve never purchased before.3
These driving factors underscore the imperative for consumer durable brands to elicit as many authentic, high-quality customer reviews as possible. How to achieve this in a scalable and timely manner is what we’ll discuss below, along with how the Concierge Ratings and Reviews Journey helps brands solicit and manage reviews throughout the ownership journey.
More than 85% of consumers prefer between 50 and 500
reviews for a specific product; more than 30% of consumers say
they would be deterred from buying a product that has no reviews.4
Why Reviews Matter for Consumer Durable Brands
When it comes to shopping for products online, ratings and reviews are essential to increasing consumer trust in the product or brand they are considering, as well as gaining a better understanding of the product experience from other consumers who have purchased it. Today’s consumers rely on unbiased product ratings and reviews to help validate their purchase intentions and reduce the risk of making a poor purchase. A growing number of consumers are also looking to vet the brand they are considering purchasing from and they find reassurance in brands that respond to reviews with understanding, empathy, and commendable customer support.
93% of shoppers say ratings and reviews impact whether or not they purchase a specific product.5
When shopping for large ticket items such as a home appliance or luxury watch that may be purchased in a store, consumers rely on ratings and reviews to help guide their decision. Research commissioned by Bazaarvoice from Deloitte and Touche LLP found that 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.
Studies show that even as few as a handful of reviews can have a positive effect on conversion. One study identified a 144% lift in conversion rate amongst shoppers who had engaged in reviews, and also found that these customers spent more than those who didn’t engage with reviews.6
While negative reviews can sway a shopper in a different direction (which is one reason that brands need as many positive reviews as possible), they also lend an air of authenticity for discerning consumers who are keen at spotting fake reviews. Negative reviews may also contain more information about the product, which can help consumers decide if the product is what they are looking for. Of course, all reviews, even less than stellar ones, can offer valuable feedback that brands can use to improve their offerings or customer experience.
In addition to helping increase online conversions and in-store purchases, ratings and reviews have other benefits for consumer durable brands. These include increased brand recognition, higher brand loyalty, and enhanced Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Reviews are also a great source of consumer feedback relative to product development and innovation, as well as an opportunity to monitor customer sentiment and engage directly with product owners.
The Challenge of Generating Reviews for Durables
Considering the importance of customer ratings and reviews for durable goods, brands need a strategy for encouraging such user generated content in a consistent and timely manner, and for directly responding to and gaining insights from this customer feedback. This can be challenging when the customer purchases the product from a retail store or third-party outlet. Without being able to identify or engage with specific product owners, the brand also has no insight into specific product reviews and no way to respond to them directly.
Even when there is a system in place to solicit reviews at the brand level, consumers who read reviews typically turn to the brand’s own website less often than other sites such as Amazon.com, the retailer’s site, or search engines.
The most popular places for consumers to read reviews are Amazon (94%),
retail websites (91%), search engines (70%), and brand websites (68%).8
An additional difficulty is that many product owners don’t leave a review or rating without being asked, and in some cases, without an incentive. When they are prompted, however, the majority of owners will leave a review after one or two requests.9 It’s important that review requests are made directly after purchase and are specific to the product owned; a general call to action packaged with a variety of offerings may not be enough to entice most customers to take action.
It's also important to note that shoppers who are looking at specific product reviews lend more credibility to reviews that are recent. One study found that more than half of consumers surveyed expect reviews to be less than a week old, and approximately 40% look for reviews that are less than a month old.10 In this regard, review recency becomes a critical factor for brands to consider, along with the total number of reviews and the overall sentiment.
The Concierge Ratings and Reviews Solution
Most consumer durable brands understand the many benefits of high ratings and positive reviews, but may not be sure how to address the challenge of requesting reviews and engaging with reviewers directly in a consistent, scalable and timely fashion.
One solution that can assist with this challenge is Concierge, a smart digital guide that helps brands bridge the ratings and reviews gap with their product owners.
Concierge enables brands to target review requests for each product owner and the specific product they purchased. Review solicitations can be timed throughout the many stages of the post-purchase ownership experience, and the brand will know when a review is submitted so the customer doesn’t continue to receive unnecessary requests.
Concierge works in tandem with Registria’s onboarding experience for new product owners. By allowing brands to capture specific owner and product information during onboarding, brands can further engage with customers directly through a myriad of journeys, including a Ratings and Reviews journey.
Registria’s onboarding experience is part of the larger ownership experience that we work with our brand partners to optimize for their customers. A positive and engaging ownership experience contributes to a customer’s positive impression of the brand. Thus, as a result of identifying more owners and providing them with a great ownership experience, brands improve their ability to solicit verified ratings and reviews that increase their average product rating.
When a global appliance manufacturer enhanced their owner onboarding
experience using Registria’s Photoregister, they doubled the
quantity of verified product reviews and increased the
average product rating from 2 to 4.5 stars.
Compared to traditional review systems, the Concierge Ratings and Reviews Journey is a cost-effective and efficient way to increase both the quality and quantity of product ratings and reviews. Concierge also integrates seamlessly with omni-channel Marketing/Ratings & Reviews engines such as PowerReviews and BazaarVoice.
Take a tour of Concierge here or get in touch to schedule a personalized demo.
References:- PowerReviews The Ever-Growing Power of Reviews (2023)
- BazaarVoice Shopper Experience Index (2022)
- PowerReviews The Ever-Growing Power of Reviews (2023)
- Yotpo Reviews Consumer Survey (2022)
- PowerReviews The Ever-Growing Power of Reviews (2023)
- BazaarVoice Shopper Experience Index (2023)
- Yotpo Reviews Consumer Survey (2022)
- PowerReviews The Ever-Growing Power of Reviews (2023)
- PowerReviews User Generated Content Survey (2020)
- Yotpo Reviews Consumer Survey (2022)
- PowerReviews The Ever-Growing Power of Reviews (2023)
- BazaarVoice Shopper Experience Index (2022)
- Yotpo Reviews Consumer Survey (2022)
- PowerReviews User Generated Content Survey (2020)