This past year it’s pretty safe to say that a lot of people increased their online shopping frequency for obvious reasons. Folks are purchasing clothing, hair care products, and shoes on the web – but also everyday items like groceries, baby products, and vitamins. With this increase in website visits and virtual shopping trips – what kind of influence do product reviews have on your purchases?

According to a recent survey by Podium, it is suggested that “93% of consumers say online reviews have an influence on their purchase decision.”

Personally, online reviews have helped firm our decision to buy only in the past few years. We found out the hard way if a product was crap! But reviewing other’s opinions of an appliance or athletic shoe is often taken into consideration for not only our online purchases, but our in store transactions as well.

So what do we all look for when browsing product reviews? How do we know to believe the opinions of strangers? What kind of difference is a little review really going to make in whether or not I make a purchase? Here are a few points on the who-what-why-how or product reviews.

What do we want? Authenticity. We want brutal honesty!

Seeing a five star rating for a refrigerator or coffee maker is not necessarily a good thing. This kind of sets off red flags that the reviewer is being paid to give this kind of dishonest rating or it’s a fake review that the manufacturer posted. Less than perfect ratings are the type that we, as consumers, want to read!

We want to hear the bad as well as the good!

An imperfect review is often more trust worthy and reflects what the reviewer felt was lacking or what someone may have found disappointing with a certain product. These type of reviews, quite often, will go into great detail about even the most minute aspect of an item.

Last fall we were in the market for a new fridge and had a specific measurement we had to stay within. Before even visiting a retailer site, we checked out all the manufacturer’s site for the size of fridge we knew would actually fit in our kitchen. These are the sites that provided the best consumer reviews!

Most of the reviews pertained to the value of the appliance, the finish, and the features. Some went on the complain about the noise of the fridge when it was running and how well (or not) the shelves and drawers operated. Our main concern was the former, though all the information shared was valuable! In the end we made our in store purchase, but these thoughts from actual customers were very influential!

How do we trust?

“…84% trust them [reviews] as much as they would a personal recommendation.” Source. The term ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ has brought on a whole new meaning when we follow the recommendations of “Joneses” we don’t even know!! A close friend may bring your attention to a cool new beauty product or the next best running shoe! But a complete stranger’s thoughts and opinions of said foundation or Nikes may influence the fact of whether to hit “add to cart”!

As consumers, we have an obligation (mostly) to share the good, the bad, and the ugly! I don’t know about you, but I spend a good deal of money shopping – both online and in store – and I want to know if a product is under-performing or is a total rip off!

Especially since becoming a parent, publicly participating in reviews of products and items for young ones, has become a helpful resource. Parenting is hard enough in itself! Taking into account the thousands of dollars spent on our children on an annual basis – reviews are “gospel” and so very appreciative!

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Does a review really make that much of a difference?

The short answer? Yes! There is sincere credibility in the review of a product or service in that consumers want to share their side of the story. Whether or not the experience is positive, folks want to divulge the details of everything from product packaging to how something is constructed; the table cloth in a restaurant they recently dined in to the smell of a repair person’s clothes!

A review – good or bad – goes down deep in reference to everything from their buying experience to their overall trust in a specific manufacturer and commitment to their product line or service expertise.

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How do I get involved? Share the love!

Whenever you get prompted to share a review, be sure do your part and share the love! After most purchases, especially online, you will receive an email asking you to post a review sharing your personal experience and thoughts with the item you recently bought.

Doing this small task, not only helps the consumer, but also helps the business. Word of mouth advertising can be a proprietor’s best friend – even if the review is less than perfect! A negative rating can help a company improve upon a product or service in order to make it better for the next customer. A positive experience can assist in making a businesses sales sky rocket! All because you took a few minutes to write and post a product or service review!

What kind of influence do product reviews have on your purchase? None if you don’t want them to!

The influence of others on what we all spend our hard earned money on is becoming more and more prevalent. Social media, especially, has such an effect (good and bad) on what the next best everything is on the world wide marketplace. There’s nothing wrong with a gentle suggestion – but follow your own path and spend within your means!