Just how important are reviews to your Etsy store? Find out the hidden influences reviews are having on your store, and how you can take advantage of them.
How important are reviews on Etsy? Reviews on your Etsy listings are very important. Reviews are a major ranking factor in the Etsy search algorithm. Reviews will also act as the main source of “Social Proof” for prospective buyers. Multiple 5-star reviews will boost your ranks in Etsy search and will also improve your sale conversion rate.
Why reviews are important
Product reviews help with so many aspects of your store. From listing discovery, informing the customer, converting the sale, through to future product creation! It touches all points of the product life cycle.
Here are just a few reasons why you should foster excellent customer reviews in your store.
Building trust
Building trust is the biggest benefit of great product reviews. They make a store look legitimate and professional. There is a reason why new stores struggle to make sales. A store with plenty of good reviews have a proven track record. Customers will almost always go with the more established shop.
Honest reviews from real customers can help shoppers feel more secure they are making the right choice, as they can read the good and bad points of each product.
In marketing terms, reviews provide what is known as “social proof”. Customers can see others have enjoyed the product, and therefore they might like it too.
Social proof is important on Etsy as products are usually a bit on the pricey side. As a seller, you must “sell high, then justify”. Reviews are a huge part of this.
Providing more information
Reviews can help fill in the gaps for customers. As sellers, we can’t always include all the detail possible in our images, and descriptions. Nor can we preempt all of the questions and queries our customers will have before they are willing to commit to buying.
Great reviews will provide vital information that shoppers want to know. How does the product feel? How does it look in other people’s homes? All of these things will influence a customer’s ability to imagine them having, and enjoying your product. SEO – Search ranking Etsy search is often a major driver of traffic to your store and is also the most reliable and consistent traffic to get. Improving your listing position should always be a major goal.
Etsy looks for “signals” to decide which listing goes in which spot. Etsy uses historic reviews as a ranking factor.
It’s not known how strong a signal this is, but it is mentioned in their documentation, so it must play an important role.
Great reviews, completed About section, and completed shop policies can all help your placement in search.
Having great reviews can only help your ranking. Etsy sees it as a signal of not only how good the product is, but also the service you provide.
Helping you create better, more valuable products Etsy reviews are often the only way most stores interact with their customers to get feedback on their products.
Customer feedback is incredibly important in not only improving products – either by fixing defects or by adding requested features – but also creating new ones.
Surely if 10 customers felt compelled to mention they like a certain style, then it must mean there are others out there looking for it. Listen to your customers, and always use data and information when creating new products.
How to get more reviews
So, now we know why reviews are important, how do we get more?
This is especially true for new stores – you can’t get reviews without sales, but you need the reviews to make sales! Here are a few ideas to help you get more reviews today.
Going above and beyond
Whilst most reviews are focused on the product, most reviewers write them because of great service.
Simple things like replying to conversations, posting quickly and with tracking, and fixing issues quickly and with understanding.
Etsy doesn’t have a separate review system for customer service, which is to our benefit, especially as a new store. Great service will lead to great reviews.
Sales and promotions
You can expect around a 7-10% conversion from sales to reviews so on average, you’ll need to make 10 sales for 1 review. That’s going to take some significant time to build up a decent amount.
Often, getting reviews is about sale volume. To get that volume sales and promotions are great.
Get involved in Etsy’s sale campaigns, Black Friday and Christmas are great examples. Listings that are included at these times get included on special listing pages and also have a shot at being included in Etsy’s marketing material, such as emails and website banners.
Create a “Friends and Family” discount. Let your friends and family have a big discount to encourage them to buy and review your products. It’s great for them to save some money, but be clear with them that the review they write MUST BE HONEST.
Asking them to include a photo is a great way to validate the authenticity of the review, but also adds extra weight to the review (more on that later).
Ask
It’s amazing what you can get simply by asking. Include a message at the bottom of your “thank you” note, and your follow up message.
A clear Call To Action is vital to guide your customer to the actions that improve your store. How to get better reviews
Scheduling review reminder emails is hard. It takes plenty of organisation and time to do.
The impact on your store if you don’t follow up for reviews gets worse over time, so you don’t want to forget!
If you want to hand over this organisational nightmare, then try EtsyHunt’s “Follow-Up Reminder” service.
It will tell you exactly what to send and when – it even provides templates so you don’t have to worry!
Be honest
Set realistic expectations. You would rather a customer be pleasantly surprised by a product than underwhelmed! Set realistic shipping expectations.
There is nothing worse than a store promising a delivery timescale they cannot keep. This leads to missed birthdays and some rather angry customers.
Have great products
This is the foundation of any successful Etsy store! Having products that you believe are better than anything else in the Marketplace is key.
Great products will generate great reviews naturally. If you have bad products, then all the work in growing reviews will just result in lots of bad reviews! What is the best kind of review? Not all reviews are equal.
There are 3 inputs available: Star rating. The only required field. A score out of 5 with no half stars. Comment. This is required in some instances – such as through the desktop website. Must be at least 3 words. Photo. Completely optional. A photo can be uploaded by the customer showing your product in use
The best reviews are photo reviews, with the customer showing your product in their home. Be sure to include a request for photos when you ask for a review. Customers are more likely to do it if you make a specific request for it.
Who can leave a review on your listings?
One of the major concerns with many online marketplaces is the number of fake reviews on products. This is especially true for cheaper marketplaces such as eBay and Amazon where some sellers are willing to buy 5-star reviews. Etsy is not like that.
Only customers who have purchased your products can leave a review. Also, Etsy has a review team that checks for fraudulent purchases that are made with the intention of adding a fake review.
This is great for sellers as it improves customer trust in the marketplace, and it makes it a level playing field for us all.
