In the age of digital transformation, online jewelry sellers have found various ways to address the customers’ need for tactile information. The provision of product descriptions and high-quality jewelry photos and videos have both proven to be extremely useful in meeting customers’ needs for vicarious touch. However, there is one more way to improve customers’ understanding of the product in the absence of touch—customer reviews.

Customer reviews can overcome some of the limitations of online shopping. Insights showed that 97% of customers research the product they intend to purchase online while 93% of customers read reviews before making a purchase decision. But that’s not all. Most customers are willing to pay 31% more for the same products if they are convinced about the positive reviews. This figure demonstrates that not only do customer reviews overcome key online shopping deterrents, but they can also help increase your sales. So, how does this work? Let’s explore!

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

For Google, there’s nothing more trustworthy than electronic word-of-mouth marketing. The more noticeable you are to the search engine, the higher your chances of getting into Google listings.

To be noticeable to the search engines, you must be noticeable first to your customers. Customer reviews help target more keywords, especially long-tail ones; therefore, making them a good source of organic traffic. They also help increase your keyword relevance leading to increased perfect matches. If a potential customer, for example, is searching for a “solitaire yellow diamond engagement ring” and some of your reviews contain this keyword, you’re highly likely to appear in their search results. This brings them to your page; thereby, increasing your web traffic.

Further, consistent reviews contribute to content freshness which improves your SEO efforts, leading to overall favorable search results.

2. Customer engagement and content diversity

Engaging with your customers through customer reviews is an undervalued approach. Responding to customers’ feedback timely and consistently in a personalized manner can elevate your brand’s reputation, enhance customer satisfaction, and foster loyalty.

Customer reviews are also a goldmine of insights that any jewelry brand can use to identify areas for improvement and opportunities—a data-driven source that would help you innovate new features, update the user interface to make it user-friendly, and/or refine your designs. This feedback loop does not only provide you with opportunities to present solutions to customers’ concerns but also puts you ahead of the competition.

Are you running out of content ideas?

This customer feedback is an excellent way of diversifying your content as it gives you access to user-generated content. Testimonial text photos and videos are compelling social media marketing materials that mirror real-life customer experiences.

3. Facilitate purchase decision

As we’ve mentioned earlier, customers read reviews and are willing to spend more on products with convincing positive aspects. The persuasiveness of the reviews, as they commonly detail customer experience more than product features, can sway potential customers toward a specific product or brand; thereby, facilitating a favorable purchase decision.

Not all reviews performed equally though. When it comes to influencing purchases, it is critical to identify helpful/useful reviews by introducing a social voting system, for example, that allows users to vote for whichever review they find to be the most helpful to them. Potential customers often experience information overload. Brands must reduce this by having a system in place to ensure that potential customers will arrive at making informed purchase decisions.

4. Strengthen brand reputation

If you think that 100% five-star reviews are appetizing, think again.

Customer reviews affect your brand reputation, product perception, and customer service. While having 100% positive reviews is every jeweler’s dream, sometimes a mixture of both five stars and four could be better as it looks more genuine to the readers. If potential buyers only see five-star reviews on your page, they might think that those reviews are fabricated, especially in this age where reviews can already be bought.

Putting your credibility at risk is not worth it. Aim for transparency all the time by collecting honest reviews (with photos, if possible) to foster trust and good relationships. This will make them feel comfortable and confident in their purchase decisions.

Conclusion

In summary, customer reviews are worth their weight in gold. They improve your SEO efforts, facilitate purchase decisions, bridge your gap with the customer, and strengthen your brand reputation. All of these, when combined, can boost sales. Sure, your brand is amazing but it holds more weight when you have customers talking like brand ambassadors online. Remember, reviews don’t need to be forced. Keep it real.