Online reviews can be delightful or detrimental to an e-commerce business, according to a new study.
Research from social media and digital campaign company Influence Central shows that 85% of female consumers consider e-commerce reviews extremely or very important when making a purchase. Furthermore, 90% of respondents say that online reviews are more important than input from a salesperson; and 87% say they peruse reviews for online and brick-and-mortar purchases. Only 1% of consumers consider online reviews not important at all.
Reviews are imperative, and not only for attracting new customers. Eighty-eight percent of consumers polled consider online reviews very influential when purchasing from a brand they’re not familiar with. However, 67% consider reviews very influential when purchasing from a brand they’re already familiar with.
Women know how to detect a lie
While fake or exaggerated reviews can be a concern to some, 97% of consumers say they can tell almost all of the time if a review is credible; 90% say they can always or most of the time tell if a reviewer is exaggerating; and 86% report confidence in detecting bias.
Moreover, 89% of consumers distrust online reviews from anonymous posters; this number drops to 23% when posters use their real name and a photo.
Amazon doesn‘t lose when it comes to reviews
The top site respondents use for checking for checking reviews is Amazon—90% of consumers say its reviews are determinative. In fact, 68% of consumers report they go to Amazon instead of a specific retail store site, and four fifths of consumers consider Amazon’s reviews to be extremely or very credible.
After Amazon, the top sites consumers list as extremely or very important for reviews are:
- Target (67%)
- Best Buy (64%)
- Walmart (62%)
- eBay (59%)
- Trip Advisor (55%)
- Toys R Us/Babies R Us (53%)
- Kohl’s (50%)
