In my previous blog post (Will allowing your customers to post reviews on your website make or break your reputation as a business?), I spoke about the advantages and disadvantages of using an online review system within your business and how you can effectively manage them. Having an online review system can boost your business’s reputation as customers can see that you are transparent and trustworthy. However, it is vital that you know how to successfully operate and manage your review system so that it works as it intends to. This blog post aims to guide you, as a business, on how to successfully run an online review system as well as provide examples of businesses who have the right idea when it comes to their review systems and outline any potential risks that may come along the way.

Research by Idig Marketing (2017) shows that online reviews are critical for a business, as consumers increasingly rely on them to guide their decision-making. Positive reviews can increase sales and build trust for your brand, while negative reviews can scare off potential customers and chip away at your brand’s reputation (Idig marketing, 2017).

Tips for a Successful Review System

As we have previously established, an online review system can boost your business’s reputation but only if it is managed in the right way and used for the right reasons.

Below are some useful tips that can be used when running your online review system successfully.

1. Respond to every review – Most business owners get scared of negative reviews, and avoid looking at them, but you should always respond to reviews, especially when they are negative (Rayome, 2017). When people see a company engaging with their reviews, it shows that they care and want to fix any issues that have come up.
2. Proactively request feedback – There are was to put leaving a review at the top of someone’s mind without being pushy (Davis, 2017). You can get customers to leave a review through the experience you have provided and let customers know how and where they can leave a review if they want to.
3. Be professional – Do not argue with someone because they have left a negative review. Wherever possible, figure out a solution to the problem and offer a remedy, not an explanation. Ensure your responses are varied and do not all say the same thing.
4. Maintain a high frequency of reviews – When customers see a lot of reviews, it gives them the idea that your business is popular and is trusted by customers.

The following video gives you information on how you can reply to both good and bad reviews:

Check out this article with 19 strategies to get more feedback: http://blog.clientheartbeat.com/customer-feedback/

Potential Risks

There are many risks that come with having an online review system and it is important to know how to handle these risks effectively and stop them from happening in the future. The following risks are the ones you should look out for the most and do everything to stop it from happening.

• Negative reviews can ruin your reputation, especially if they’re not handled well. Promoting the practice of leaving reviews is taking a big risk as you have no idea what may come your way and what people have to say. The best way to deal with a negative review is to respond professionally and aim to fix the problem.
• There is a chance you will get fake reviews being posted onto your website. These may be from competitors or just a person with too much time on their hands. This is why it is important to have someone monitor your reviews always so that potential fake reviews can be removed.
• You may want to post a fake positive review yourself, DO NOT DO THIS. This is also known as ‘astroturfing’ and could get you in serious trouble. You could be prosecuted and fined.
• Quite possibly the biggest risk is how much your potential customers rely on reviews when making a purchase decision. Chatterjee (2001) backs this up by saying ‘Consumers choosing an unfamiliar retailer because of a lower price seek more
  negative WOM information, and are more likely to believe that the problems may
  recur compared to consumers patronising a firm they are familiar with.’

Allowing customers to post reviews can be a scary prospect for your business, but can actually be a very strong marketing tool. Reviews can bring in more customers but you must remember to manage and monitor your online reviews frequently and aim to fix any issues that have been bought up in reviews. There is also always potential risks associated with online reviews that need to be looked out for always.

Check out this website that gives 8 examples of businesses responding to reviews: https://www.reviewtrackers.com/examples-responding-reviews/

References

Chatterjee, P. (2001) Online Reviews: Do Consumers Use Them? Association for Consumer Research, P129-134.

Davis, A. (2017) 10 Quick Tips for Managing Online Reviews. [Online] Available at: https://www.nationaljeweler.com/independents/ecommerce/5997-ten-quick-tips-for-managing-online-reviews [Accessed 5th April 2018].

Idigmarketing. (2017) Online Reviews Part 1: Importance and Overview of Review Sites. [Online] Available at: http://idigmarketing.com/blog/2017/03/23/importance-online-review/ [Accessed 5th April 2018].

Rayome, A. (2017) 7 Best Practices for Managing Online Reviews of your business. [Online] Available at: https://www.techrepublic.com/article/7-best-practices-for-managing-online-reviews-of-your-business/ [Accessed 5th April 2018].

The use of the internet has become a popular place for voicing opinions, complaints and recommendations on products, services and businesses. Research on word of mouth effects provides plenty of evidence that a satisfied customer may tell some people about his experience with a company, but a dissatisfied customer will tell everybody he meets (Chatterjee, 2001). Online customer reviews serve to highlight—positively or negatively—various aspects of your business, including products, services, purchase interactions or customer support engagements (McCormick, 2016). This blog post will explore some advantages and disadvantages of online reviews and also conclude on whether or not you as a business should allow customer reviews online.

Advantages

• Improved customer trust and confidence

By allowing customers to submit reviews of recently purchased products, businesses can increase the number of reviews on their sites which will lead to a more reliable portrayal of product quality and usefulness (Rains, 2010). In allowing reviews, you as a business are showing you are open to the truth whether it be good or bad and embracing the thoughts of your customers. This improves your reputation as a business as you are showing transparency.

• Potential increase in conversion rate

One way this happens is online reviews are accessible from anywhere around the country or world. For a business that has a physical location in one town, positive online reviews can bring them out-of-town clients (McCallion, 2015). Positive reviews can also turn people visiting your website into buying customers which is known as conversion. A positive review can make all the difference than if there was no review for a potential customer to read.

• Highlights areas for improvement

Online reviews can help raise awareness of any improvements that can be made related to your business. Reviews which highlight these areas are a good opportunity for a business to resolve a customers problem as well as improving business practises and preventing a problem from happening again. Many customers will have good suggestions about how things can be improved which can be a free source of great business ideas (Business Queensland, 2016).

Disadvantages

• One negative review can skew a potential customers view of them

Customers who have had a very bad experience are much more likely to leave a review than someone who has had a good experience with a product. This means that negative reviews are a lot more visible for a potential customer to see which may skew their view. A potential customers view can also be changed after reading a bad review as people will seek a response to this, if there isn’t one then they assume it’s all true and their purchase could be swayed by what was said (McCallion, 2015). Negative online reviews are less than ideal, but they are not the end of the world. If you know how to respond to negative reviews, you can mitigate the damage they incur and in some cases, benefit from them (McCormick, 2016).

• It is easy for competitors to post false reviews

Sadly, we are in a day and age where competitors take it upon themselves to falsify reviews on your page by creating a number of different accounts and posting negative reviews. This is a form of corporate sabotage for the digital age, and there is little a business can do about it unless they can 100% prove the negative reviews were from a competitor (McCallion, 2015).

Tips

Business Queensland (2016) offer some great tips for successfully managing online reviews:

• Decide who will monitor and respond to customer reviews and ensure they are someone who will provide good quality responses
• Respond to both positive AND negative reviews so that customers can see you are acknowledging them and taking on board the critisicm
• Manage negative reviews by ensuring that customers can only see the negative reviews that are constructive
• Do not post fake reviews
• Encourage positive reviews by asking happy customers to post a review

See the full report here: https://www.business.qld.gov.au/running-business/consumer-laws/customer-service/managing-customer-reviews/tips

Should you allow your customers to leave reviews online?

There is no doubt that online reviews for products and services have revolutionised shopping behaviour. Online reviews are generally a really good way to gain new customers and increase sales and while there are drawbacks to online reviews, these are only small and more importantly manageable. According to recent statistics, 90% of consumers read online reviews, and 88% of them trust online reviews when considering a business. This means that by not having online reviews, you are denying 88% of your potential customers the information they consider important for making a purchase (McCormick, 2016). The most important thing to understand before you set up a review system on your website is the impact that online reviews can have on your business and to ensure you are able to use the reviews to build your online reputation rather than let them ruin it.

References

Business Queensland (2016) Benefits of online customer reviews for business. [Online] Available at: https://www.business.qld.gov.au/running-business/consumer-laws/customer-service/managing-customer-reviews/benefits. [Accessed 23rd Feb 2018].

Business Queensland (2016) Tips for successfully managing online customer reviews. [Online] Available at: https://www.business.qld.gov.au/running-business/consumer-laws/customer-service/managing-customer-reviews/tips. [Accessed 23rd Feb 2018].

Chatterjee, P. (2001) Online Reviews: Do Consumers Use Them? Association for
Consumer Research, p129-134.

McCallion, M. (2015) Pros and Cons of Online Review Sites. [Online] Available at: https://estateapps.co.uk/blog/pros-and-cons-of-online-review-sites. [Accessed 24th Feb 2018].

McCormick, K. (2016) The Power of Online Customer Reviews. [Online] Available at: https://thrivehive.com/power-online-customer-reviews/. [Accessed 24th Feb 2018].

Rains, J. (2010) Pros and Cons of Online Customer Product Reviews. [Online] Available at: https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/articles/pros-and-cons-of-online-customer-product-reviews-1/. [Accessed 23rd Feb 2018].

With the rapid growth of smartphone and smartphone application users, mobile apps have attracted an increasing amount of attention as an engaging platform for marketing communication (Kim, Lin & Sung, 2013). UK consumers turn to their mobile devices more often than desktops to do their shopping, as research by Google confirms that mobile browsing finally overtook desktop browsing (Taylor, 2016). Mobile apps are becoming more and more popular with consumers when shopping online. 

‘Brick and mortar stores are fun, but at the end of the day, the ability to pick up your mobile device and search for stuff online is just infinitely more convenient’ – Hindy, 2017

Mobile shopping apps mean consumers can skip the long ques and cut down the time it takes them to search for what they want. But for what other reasons are consumers finding mobile shopping apps more useful? And why should you as a business launch a mobile shopping app to improve customer engagement?

An infographic illistrating the significant growth in the mobile apps industry:  https://www.retailtouchpoints.com/resources/type/infographics/rise-of-the-apps-the-mobile-revolution-in-retail-commerce-infographic 

Why are consumers finding mobile shopping apps more useful?

If you’ve ever heard the phrase ‘there’s an app for that’, it is true… there’s an app for just about anything consumers could ever want to do on their mobile devices (Getmobileexposure.com, 2012).

There are many reasons why mobile apps are so popular amongst consumers when shopping but getmobileexposure.com (2012) have narrowed it down to four:

1. Easy to use and convenient – (obvious reason, yet underrated) mobile apps are very simple and easy to use and users don’t have to learn about a difficult, long, drawn-out software before they put an app to user
2. Easy one-touch access – mobile apps function as a virtual location of a business and consumers can become familiar with an app very quickly
3. Receive instant notifications – consumers are able to receive notifications about special offers and promotions related to a business instantly, which is great in their eyes (this also adds a ‘direct personal connection’)
4. Have pertinent scheduling information at their fingertips – consumers have quick access to important features that can help them make a transaction more seamlessly

Consumers prefer apps to mobile web experiences because apps are created for dynamic and interactive experiences. They are specifically made to be personalised and tailored to the user and enable a smooth user experience that mobile web simply cannot (Poqcommerce.com, 2018).

The pros and cons of launching a mobile shopping app

A mobile shopping app will provide a direct marketing channel because of all of the information you can provide to you customers – including special sales and promotions (Haselmayr, 2014). This is right at their fingertips and through notifications this gets you even closer to a direct interaction and can easily remind consumers about your products and services (Haselmayr, 2014). With this, consumers can also collect their rewards via your mobile app which provides value to them. Collecting rewards can be done through a digitalised loyalty program which will cultivate customer loyalty.

A mobile shopping app can also contribute to your brand awareness. You are able to create an app that has features specific to what your consumers will love and will recognise. The more suitable you make your app for your consumers, the more they will visit and (hopefully) buy your products/services. You can also use your app to set yourself apart from the competition by doing what they are yet to do.

There is one important setback (as there is with everything) of launching a mobile shopping app and this is the costs you could incur. The cost of developing, maintaining and marketing your apps can sometimes be extremely high which could set your business back by a lot of money. However, some say that although the costs will be high, in the long run it will profit your business a lot more as it is a new channel for consumers to use and for revenue to be made through.

Should you launch a mobile shopping app?

Retailers all over the world can see the impact that mobile shopping is having on the industry and they should know it’s something they cannot afford to ignore. Offering a mobile app is a great way to meet the needs of consumers who prefer to browse and shop using their mobile. If retailers weren’t to offer an app, it is likely that consumers will go elsewhere for more convenience to a retailer that does offer an app.

‘Either way you go, a mobile app is going to be a standard component of any business in the future. The choice you make today is going set the foundation for the future of your business’ – Haselmayr, 2014

A useful guide on how to develop and build your first mobile app if you’re thinking about it: https://www.allbusiness.com/12-step-guide-to-building-your-first-mobile-app-11193-1.html

References

Kim, E., Lin, J. & Sung, Y. (2013) To App or Not to App: Engaging Consumers via Branded Mobile Apps. Journal of Interactive Advertising [Online]. Available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15252019.2013.782780?scroll=top&needAccess=true&instName=University+of+Brighton. Vol.13.

Taylor (2016) Mobile Shopping DOMINATES Online Sales in the UK [Online]. Available at: https://appinstitute.com/mcommerce-uk/. [Accessed 3rd January 2018].

Hindy, J. (2017) 15 best shopping apps for Android [Online]. Available at: https://www.androidauthority.com/best-android-shopping-apps-544784/. [Accessed 3rd January 2018].

Getmobileexposure.com (2012) 4 Benefits of Mobile Apps for Consumers [Online]. Available at: http://www.getmobileexposure.com/4-benefits-of-mobile-apps-for-consumers/. [Accessed 3rd January 2012].

Poqcommerce.com (2018) Welcome to the age of app commerce [Online]. Available at: https://poqcommerce.com/app-commerce/. [Accessed 3rd January 2018].

Haselmayr, M. (2014) Here’s Why Your Business Needs Its Own Mobile App [Online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/allbusiness/2014/11/17/heres-why-your-business-needs-its-own-mobile-app/2/#22ee532f53a7. [Accessed 3rd January 2018].