6 reasons why negative product reviews is a good thing

Getting negative product reviews is never fun, but it can actually be a good thing that your customers give brutal feedback.

Many online stores let their customers rate purchased products with points or stars, text reviews or both. This is what we call product reviews.

Based on experience, the majority of product reviews are positive. But sometimes, negative feedback might occur.

Based on Lipscore figures, we can see that only 7.9% of customers are disappointed with the purchase and leave a negative feedback.

1. Important information about bad products

Negative product reviews are helpful for other customers and your employees. Together with the return rate, product reviews are an important source of information for product buyers and developers.

2. Opportunity to correct misleading product information

A lot of negative reviews are a result of customers having wrong expectations. Maybe there’s nothing wrong with the product. Perhaps you just need to update the text, image or information to better describe it.

3. More balanced product information

There’s not one type of product information that will fit all needs. Customers may have slightly different needs and different willingness to pay. Displaying negative product reviews can give a more balanced impression of your products and make it easier for customers to see it’s right for them.

4. Fewer returns

Returns are expensive, time-consuming for online stores, and annoying for customers. Giving your customers a more accurate impression about the product before they buy it can positively affect the return rate. For example, some online fashion store encourages their customers to report back if their clothes were big or small for their size.

Learn more: 6 reasons why negative product reviews is a good thing

5. Building brand and increased trust

Research show that 96 percent of online customers actively look for negative product reviews before making a purchase. No one is perfect and by allowing negative reviews in your online store shows that you are open, honest and transparent.

6. Higher conversion rate and increased sales

In a report, the Spiegel Research Center concludes that purchase likelihood typically peaks at ratings in the 4.0 – 4.7 range, and then begins to decrease as ratings approach 5.0.

Customers may have slightly different needs and willingness to pay

It’s not bad to have negative customer experiences, as long as you manage them right and quick. Responding to their negative review with information, for example, with information about how to return the product, shows other potential customers that you take them seriously. This can strengthen your customer relations, both between you and the unhappy customer, and potential customers reading the review and response.

A negative product review can be a good way to get an overview of your most dissatisfied customers and the products your customers don’t like. Sometimes it’s enough to respond to them quickly, and other times you might have to exchange the products, send a gift card as a consolation or refund them.

Finally, we would like to point out that not all negative product reviews should be allowed. It’s important to distinguish between constructive criticism and trolling. Racism, rude language and pointless argumentation are the types of product reviews that should be removed.