Product Reviews: Three Ways to Increase Profits By Reading Customer Reviews
HGTV revolutionized the behind the scenes of home renovation. Shows like Property Brothers and Fixer Upper transfixed us. Joanna Gaines single-handedly made shiplap a household word!
These shows gave us an inside look to the ins and the outs of home renovations and decor. I don’t know about you but, I love a good sneak peek or behind the scenes.
With that in mind customer reviews are a sneak peek into the mind of your customers and potential customers. Reviews are a regular treasure trove of information.
Each Internet Retailer has created its own formula to calculate the importance of Customer Reviews in their algorithm. The more reviews a product has the more it moves up in the search pages. So, of course, manufacturers want their products to have plenty of reviews. But, a savvy manufacturer knows there is more to customer reviews than product rank.
There are 3 ways manufacturers can increase their sales by reading customer reviews.
Enrich Your Product Listing Content: Unknowingly customers often use key search terms in their reviews. When reading your product reviews, pick out the adjectives and verbs that are used to describe the product. You should also look to see if the reviewers are asking questions about the product. If they are it is a key sign that your listing isn’t as thorough as it can be. Here’s an example.
Company A manufactures outdoor throw pillows. The customer leaves a review describing the vibrant colors in the pillow and that it doesn’t fade in the sunlight. Company A would need to put “vibrant” and “fade-resistant” in the product description or bullet points.
Decrease Returns: This is where you can turn a negative review into a positive. Are they common complaints about the product? Let me give an example to illustrate my point. Company B manufactures glass top end tables.
Company B regularly audits customer reviews and begins to notice a negative trend on this particular product. The glass top is arriving to the customer with a crack right down the middle. Right away Company B knows they need to improve the packaging of the product which will decrease returns and increase profitability.
Product Development: Customers often use reviews as a place to make product recommendations. If the product they purchased is only available in one size or style it is common for a customer to “wish” it was available in another color or size. Let me give you a real-life example of this.
Company C is a lifestyle brand. They manufacture furniture, decorative accessories, and table lamps. Over the last 12 months Company C’s customers were leaving reviews asking for smaller versions of the most popular selling lamps. The current lamp was oversized and didn’t look right in a lot of settings. Company C took the feedback to heart and created 8 new lamps that we scaled-down versions of the top sellers. This led to a 50% increase in lamp sales.
Customer Product Reviews are low hanging fruit. When looking to increase your Brand's sales and profitability listening to your customers is one of the simplest ways to increase revenue and profits. If you have more questions about how you can profit from customer reviews CLICK HERE to schedule a strategy session.