Product reviews hold an enormous amount of sway over consumers’ purchase decisions in every stage of the buyer journey. However, to harness the greatest possible review impact on sales, it’s important to collect product reviews as quickly as possible. A study published by the International Conference on Information Systems explains that reviews don’t impact all products equally. The “age” of the product is directly related to how impactful reviews are, with customer feedback for new products commanding the most influence. Collecting early reviews should be your number one ecommerce goal. Early reviews act as compelling social proof that a product is worth buying. It removes the quality uncertainty that often holds buyers back from completing a purchase. The first five reviews a product receives have the potential to lift sales by an average of 9.5%. When compared to a modest 2.3% sales lift for 20-25 reviews, it’s easy to see how early reviews can dramatically affect a product’s initial sales trajectory. Ratings and reviews provide unparalleled social proof; a customer is much more likely to purchase a 4-star product with 300 reviews over a 5-star product with one review. Here’s how you can nudge your buyers to share their experiences with your products early on.

Increase Early Review Collection by Offering Incentives

Every customer who buys a product has some type of opinion about it, but few will take the time to share these opinions unless prompted. Diversifying your review formats, using channels in addition to post-purchase emails like social media to ask for reviews, and engaging regularly with customers who do respond are valuable ways to get more reviews. It’s essential to actively facilitate review collection as quickly as possible after a new product or campaign launch. Incentives are very effective at motivating customers to leave reviews. According to our proprietary data, even incentives as small as a 10% off discount code can increase review collection by 130% on average. Bump that discount up to 30%, and you’ll see an average increase of 290% in your collection efforts. These early reviews offer a sales lift that can quickly solidify a product as a bestseller. In addition to the significant sales lift, collecting reviews early on ensures that you reap the benefits of organic reviews, too. The number of reviews will naturally increase along with your sales, so offering incentives is a temporary strategy to get the ball rolling. Once your sales are soaring, a simple review request email is all you need to keep customer feedback coming.

Pixlee TurnTo’s Early Review Incentives Makes it Simple

Pixlee TurnTo’s Early Review Incentives (ERI) feature allows you to implement a dynamic early review collection process with ease. We created the ERI tool with usability and the consumer experience in mind, so it’s customizable and simple to use. It’s perfect for new product launches, increased product coverage, and community building or advocacy. The Early Review Incentives feature offers flexible messaging options so you can highlight your unique offering to your customers via email. You can customize the SKUs you want to include in the campaign to increase product coverage, and ERI automates the delivery of your promo codes to buyers in exchange for their product reviews. In addition to the seamless incentivized review collection, ERI allows you to add, monitor, and update campaigns to meet your business goals. Campaign statistics are displayed in one place, so you can track the statistics for multiple campaigns all in a single glance. Information about sent emails, reviews collected, and product coverage gives you all the insights you need to maintain a profitable early review collection campaign. To get started with Early Review Incentives today, reach out to your Pixlee TurnTo Customer Success Manager or request a demo.