Presentation is everything and more and more, online consumers are looking for particular things when they search for products and services online. If they don’t see what they are looking for, then they are moving on to another business and product. For businesses owners, it’s vital to know what consumers are actively seeking when they are online.
A new report from Salsify in the US – the “2019 Consumer Research Report” points out exactly how important getting the desired information is when consumers go to a retailer’s site.
“Today’s shopper can get all the information they need about a product online if they seek it out, but individual retailers often drop the ball when it comes to aggregating sufficient product content, information and reviews all in one place.” (Source: retailtouchpoints.com).
“In the age of Amazon, product reviews are vital to getting a shopper to strongly consider buying a product.”
I have encountered this lack of information, time and time again when going to a site that sells a large number of products. If I can’t see everything I’m looking for on the product page – then I will go elsewhere and in reality, it’s not overly difficult to make sure that reviews, product specifications, and general information are all there on the same page.
It’s no surprise at all that online review play such a critical role in consumer expectations before considering purchasing. “In the age of Amazon, product reviews are vital to getting a shopper to strongly consider buying a product — and the younger the shopper, the more product reviews they demand. Shoppers in the 18- to 24-year-old range expect an average of 203 reviews per product when they search online.” (Source: retailtouchpoints.com).
“Consumers certainly do not want to be exposed to products or services without having all of the information they want, and reviews are a massive part of that equation.”
“Consistently, the top 10% performing products on Amazon, regardless of price point have substantially more reviews than its poor-performing products, and it’s not even particularly close,” said Andrew Waber, data insights manager at Salsify in an interview with Retail TouchPoints. “We’re talking in the hundreds versus the single digits. Consumers are really looking for that extra degree of validation and it’s not even necessarily the star rating. Those ratings are pretty similar between the top performers and poor performers. The difference is the average review count. Consumers don’t want to be guinea pigs.” (Source: retailtouchpoints.com).
Consumers certainly do not want to be exposed to products or services without having all of the information they want, and reviews are a massive part of that equation. The 2019 Consumer Research Report says that “as many as 69% of consumers said not having enough information or details about the product was their first or second reason for abandoning a product page.”
Sites that present pages with product or service details with the particulars of the products – such as all of the specifications and usages – and in the case of services – the types of work that they do – in conjunction with up-to-date consumer reviews, put themselves in the best place overall.
