Ratings and reviews are a core part of the online shopping experience. In fact, 86% of consumers indicate that they’re “essential” to their browsing and buying journeys.
Amazon is one retailer that has made ratings and reviews integral to its business model, and in turn, has helped made the shopping experience more collaborative and social. Now, Amazon is improving its system to ensure the most helpful reviews are front and center. The eTailer has implemented a new machine-learning platform to surface newer and more helpful reviews.
How will this impact the experience and customers’ overall engagement and purchases? The RTP editorial team shares their thoughts:
Debbie Hauss, Editor-in-Chief: I’m curious to see the results of this in action. On a technical level, it makes perfect sense to embed science into the ratings and review process. I’m still skeptical of customer reviews, though, and I wonder if brands will pay/reward shoppers for creating reviews that help the brand – especially once they learn more specifically about what it takes to create an effective review.
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Alicia Fiorletta, Senior Editor: I think as long as the new machine-learning technology makes customers’ lives easier, it will be beneficial in the long run. However, it is important that Amazon – and all retailers – remember that consumers enjoy the ratings/reviews experience because they can easily see the positive and negative attributes. Both sides help them make an educated decision. So it’s important in the end that Amazon doesn’t hide or bury these negative reviews and keeps the customer’s wants and needs in mind.
Rob Fee, Managing Editor: Seems like a good move, but I could see some issues arising. First and foremost, what are the qualities of a helpful review? Is it one that leads to increased sales for positive reviews? Is it still helpful if a negative review steers shoppers clear of an abysmal product? I’d say yes. None of this is clearly defined though. Product reviews will always play a role in my purchasing journey for some products – typically big ticket items, such as appliances. However, I tend to place much more weight in independent, expert reviews than I do in customer reviews.
Kim Zimmermann, Senior Managing Editor: I don’t normally consult reviews, but I recently needed to make a decision very quickly and no one on my go-to list was answering. The site allowed you to filter reviews based on the ratings, but it would have been quicker and more relevant to have the reviews at the top be the ones that others has rated as useful.
Glenn Taylor, Associate Editor: In my experience, reviews are always a factor in the purchase that a consumer must be leery of, even if they have given great advice in the past. The improvements can’t hurt though, especially if they can snuff out even a small percentage of phonies and blatant paid reviews. Word of mouth and social media hearsay will still play a heavy part in the reviews process, no matter how well Amazon improves its system. You never know a true opinion until hear from someone you trust, and even the most secure online review doesn’t provide that.
Brian Anderson, Associate Editor: Ultimately, a customer is more likely to weigh another customer’s thoughts and input more than a salesperson’s opinion. Revamping the technology behind Amazon’s customer review system intends to make the review section more credible than it currently is; so only time will tell how beneficial it will be to the customer and the brand. As for other retailers, I believe this type of move will cause retailers to begin focusing more and more on customer experience to initiate a positive review.
