Survey: The Ever-Growing Power Of Reviews

• Today, more than 99.9% of consumers say they read reviews when shopping online at least sometimes. In 2018, this number was 97%. 
• Over half (57%) of shoppers read reviews while shopping in brick-and-mortar stores to assess potential purchases.
• 98% of consumers feel that reviews are an essential resource when making purchase decisions, up from 89% in 2018.
• Ratings and reviews have become the most important factor impacting purchase decisions, ranking above price, free shipping, brand and recommendations from family and friends. In similar surveys we fielded in 2014 and 2018, price was the most important factor. 

• 79% of consumers specifically seek out websites with product reviews, up from 63% in 2018. Millennials are the generation most likely to seek out websites with product reviews — 85% do so.
• The most popular places for shoppers to read reviews include Amazon (95%) retailer websites (93%), brand websites (68%) and search engines (65%).  

• 77% of consumers say the average star rating is an element they consider when reading reviews. But 52% don’t trust star ratings without accompanying review content.
• The greatest portion of consumers (53%) read between one and 10 reviews. Yet 68% say that in an ideal world, a product would have 26 or more reviews. 
• 71% consider recency when reading reviews. The biggest portion of shoppers (34%) look for reviews for a product that are between a week and a month old. A quarter look for reviews that are between one to three months old.

• 96% of consumers specifically look for negative reviews at least sometimes. In 2018, that number was 85%. 
• Over half (52%) of shoppers specifically seek out one-star reviews. This number is even higher — 60% — among Millennial shoppers.
• 46% of shoppers are suspicious of products with an average star rating of five out of five. This number is even higher — 53% — among Gen Z shoppers. 

In the long history of commerce, reviews are a fairly new concept. But it’s one that’s certainly caught on quickly.

Today, it’s common for consumers to consult reviews when they’re shopping for products, looking for restaurants, weighing their options for their next vacation, or even selecting a care provider for their child. And that’s just a few of the many scenarios in which people seek out reviews to guide decisions.

Consumer dependence on reviews continues to grow. When we surveyed consumers in 2018, we found that 97% consulted reviews — and 89% considered this content to be an essential component of the purchase journey.

Today, nearly all consumers — 99.9% — read reviews, and 98% consider them to be essential. That’s because reviews are an authentic, unbiased source of information that empowers shoppers to make informed purchase decisions.

Brands and retailers must effectively leverage reviews in order to attract and convert shoppers. But first, it’s important to take a step back and understand the role of reviews in the path to purchase — and how that role has evolved over time. 

PowerReviews surveyed more than 6,500 U.S. consumers with the goal of understanding the value they place on reviews — and how the presence (or lack of) this content impacts shopping behavior online and in-store. We also wanted to understand how the role of ratings and reviews has evolved in the three years since we fielded a similar survey, and you’ll find comparisons noted throughout this report. 

This report shares the findings from this survey and offers data-based recommendations for brands and retailers looking to more effectively leverage reviews to meet customer expectations and – in doing so – boost their bottom lines.

Over the last decade, ecommerce has experienced significant growth in line with the increasing  influence of technology and the internet on everyday lives.

At the same time, shopper dependence on reviews has also grown. And this is no coincidence. When consumers are shopping online, they don’t have the opportunity to see and touch a product in person before making a purchase. So reading about the experiences of others like them becomes more important.

In 2018, 97% of consumers consulted product reviews when making purchase decisions, up two percentage points from 2014. Today, 99.9% of consumers say they read reviews when shopping online at least sometimes. Of those shoppers, 61% say they always read reviews and a third indicate they do so regularly.

Clearly, reviews are important for online shoppers. But consumers also turn to reviews when they’re shopping in physical store locations. In fact, over half (57%) of shoppers indicate they read reviews while shopping in brick-and-mortar stores to assess potential purchases. 

Of note, Millennials are the generation most likely to check reviews while shopping in-store. 63% do so. In comparison, just over a third of Boomers read reviews in-store.

There was a time when reviews were considered a “nice to have.” But they’ve quickly become a key component of the shopping journey.

Today, nearly all (98%) of consumers indicate that reviews are an essential resource when making purchase decisions. In comparison, 89% of consumers felt this way in 2018.

There are myriad factors shoppers must weigh when making purchase decisions, including price, brand and return policy — just to name a few. But which factors carry the most weight when it comes time to make a purchase decision? 

In year’s past, consumers indicated that reviews were the second most important factor — with price being the top consideration. But this year, we found that ratings and reviews have actually surpassed price as a top purchase consideration! 

The presence of reviews also has a bigger impact on purchase behavior than other important factors including free shipping, brand and even recommendations from family and friends.

Reviews are so influential that many shoppers simply won’t make purchases without reading this content first. In fact, 86% of consumers don’t purchase products online without reading reviews, up from 70% in 2018. 

And today, 51% don’t buy products in brick-and-mortar stores without first reading reviews. In comparison, just over a third (39%) of shoppers indicated this was the case in 2018.

There’s a certain amount of risk involved with buying a new product. No matter how much research a shopper has done, there’s no sure way of knowing that a product will fit their needs. The risk is even higher if the product is expensive. 

So it’s probably not surprising that 80% of consumers indicate that the more expensive a product is, the more they read reviews. This aligns with research we did with Northwestern University, which found that reviews are especially impactful for high consideration items, which are defined as those that pose a risk due to a number of factors, including expense.

Interestingly, the higher a consumer’s income, the more likely they are to agree that the more expensive the product, the more they read reviews.

Consumers turn to reviews when shopping for a variety of different types of products. But do reviews matter more for specific product categories?

The top product category for review consumption is electronics; 95% of consumers indicate that reviews are helpful when shopping for these products. Electronics are typically high priced products, so this aligns with our previous finding about reviews being more important for expensive items.

Consumers also value reviews for categories including appliances (87%), health and beauty (83%), computers (81%), clothing (75%), shoes (68%), home and garden (67%), toys (54%), groceries (42%) and baby (40%).

Shoppers seek out websites with reviews. But what are the most popular sites for consuming reviews? 

It’s probably not surprising that Amazon tops the list, with 95% of consumers indicating they read product reviews there. However, retail websites (for example, Target.com and Walmart.com) are a close second; 93% of respondents say they read reviews on these sites. And brand websites — such as Gap.com and Nike.com — aren’t far behind.

The majority of online shoppers (and half of in-store shoppers) read reviews. But how many reviews do they typically read before making a purchase?

The greatest portion of consumers (53%) read between one and 10 reviews, and an additional 29% read between 11 and 25 reviews. The remaining 18% of consumers read 26 or more reviews.

Of course, the quantity of reviews a shopper reads varies depending on the product they’re purchasing. For example, a shopper probably reads more reviews when purchasing a computer than they do when purchasing a new toothbrush. So it’s important for brands to focus both on review coverage (the number of products that have reviews) and review quantity.

Some review displays offer a search feature that allows shoppers to find existing content that’s relevant to them. For example, let’s say a consumer is shopping for a pair of athletic pants. 

She’s tall, and she wants to know how a particular pair of pants have worked for others of similar height. So she types “tall” into the search box and finds reviews that specifically address this.

It’s great news that so many shoppers use and value review search. After all, our previous analysis of 1.5MM online product pages from more than 1,200 brand and retailer sites found that shoppers who use the search feature on a product page convert at a rate that’s 202.9% higher than average. 

If you don’t already have search functionality on your review display, consider adding it. Doing so can have a significant impact on sales!

Not all reviews are created equal. For example, a recent, detailed review is typically more valuable to a shopper than an old, vague review that’s only a few words long.

Let’s explore the different elements of reviews that matter to shoppers — and how these elements impact shopping behavior.

As it turns out, consumers consider many elements when reading reviews. The top choice is the average star rating; 77% of shoppers say this is a factor they consider when reading reviews. 

Three quarters (75%) consider the quantity of reviews and 71% factor in the recency of reviews. Other top factors include the length, depth and detail of the review content (56%) and the grammar and spelling within the review content (32%).

As you might predict, shoppers value a high volume of great reviews that yield a high average star rating.

Over three-quarters (77%) of consumers indicate that the average star rating is an element they consider when reading reviews.

But star ratings alone often aren’t enough to earn the trust of shoppers. Some ecommerce sites — including Amazon — offer shoppers the option to leave a star rating, without an accompanying review.

Three-quarters of consumers say that quantity is something they consider when reading reviews. And as mentioned earlier in this report, the largest portion of consumers (53%) typically read between one and 10 reviews before making a purchase.

So it’s interesting that in an ideal world, 68% of consumers believe a given review should have 26 or more reviews. 18% feel a product should ideally have between one and 10 reviews, and the remaining 14% think between 11-25 reviews is ideal. 

Though most consumers read between one and 10 reviews, they want plenty more content to be available. This is likely because they want to be able to seek out (and find) reviews that are most relevant to them.

Consumers expect to find plenty of reviews about products they’re considering. But what’s the minimum number of reviews a product needs to have for them to feel confident making a purchase?

The largest portion of consumers — 41% — indicate that 1-10 reviews is the minimum needed for them to feel comfortable purchasing a product. 40% say a product must have at least 26, while 17% indicate 11-25 is the minimum. The remaining 2% say that 0 is the minimum.

For many consumers, older reviews carry less weight. But how recent must reviews be in order for shoppers to consider them relevant?

The biggest portion of shoppers (34%) ideally want to be able to read review content for a product that is between a week and a month old. And a quarter (25%) want to find reviews that are one to three months old. A good number of shoppers have extremely high expectations for fresh review content; 21% ideally want to find reviews posted within the most recent seven days!

Remember: reading one-star reviews for a product won’t necessarily deter a shopper from making a purchase. In fact, if a customer determines the worst case scenario isn’t a concern, they may purchase the product anyway.

Case in point? Our recent analysis of the impact of various UGC features found that 62.4% of shoppers that interact with the star filter feature on a review display specifically filter to read only one-star content. And shoppers who do so still convert at a rate that’s 108.8% higher than the average page visitor!

Our research with Northwestern University found that shoppers are most likely to purchase products with an average star rating between 4.2 and 4.5. That’s because a perfect star rating is perceived as too good to be true. 

In line with this research, our most recent survey found that nearly half (46%) of consumers are suspicious of products with a perfect average star rating (five out of five). This number is even higher — 53% — among Gen Z shoppers.

Reviews were once a novel concept. But today, they’re an expected part of the purchase journey, whether a consumer is shopping online or within the four walls of a brick-and-mortar store. Brands and retailers must make it a priority to collect and display reviews. If they don’t, they’ll lose customers to businesses that do.

Here are our top six recommendations based on the key findings of this report.