Today . . . I am reading the industry statistics on customer reviews/ratings.
Recent studies show that most online buyers read customer reviews before making a purchase.
- A Forrester Research study found that 64% of Internet users want user rating and reviews.
- A PowerReviews study as reported by emarkter found that 89% of all respondents read customer reviews at least some of the time. The same study also reported that 68% of those surveyed said the read at least four reviews before making a decision.
What does that mean for the entrepreneurial businesswoman with an Internet business? It means you'd better have some way of collecting testimonials, reviews and/or ratings about your products and services if you want to increase sales.
Holly Buchanan of FutureNow blogged about Why Testimonials Do (and Don't) Work. Her list of traits that make a testimonial strong is worth reading.
Chris Garrett over at CopyBlogger has 5 Tips for Knockout Testimonials that is also compelling.
So how about you? What has been your experience with testimonials, ratings, and customer reviews. Do customer reviews influence your buying decisions? They do mine.
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