Why Are Reviews Important?
Online Reviews Statistics to Know

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Table of Contents

Key Review Statistics

COVID-19 changed the way consumers shop and research online businesses forever. The research and reviews team at Sitejabber took a deep dive into everything businesses learned during a year full of uncertainty, as well as surveyed 5,000 online shoppers on the impact of online reviews. Businesses can use these consumer patterns found from the latest review statistics to help inform their online reviews strategy for years to come.

Relevancy of reviews

There’s no denying the importance of online reviews to all businesses. Consumer reliance on customer reviews to make purchasing decisions increases with each passing year. On top of that, the pandemic caused consumers to shop online more than ever, forcing all businesses to rethink their digital strategy. Now, almost all consumers read reviews when they shop, trusting shopper advice more than advertisements businesses pay to run.

For a clear answer to why are reviews important, check out these review statistics:

  • 93% of consumers say online reviews have an impact on their purchase decision. (Podium)
  • 94% say an online review has convinced them to avoid a business. (Review Trackers)
  • Today, more than 99.9% of consumers say they read reviews when shopping online at least sometimes. 60.9% say they always read reviews, 33% say they regularly read reviews, and 6% say they sometimes do, and only 0.1% say they never do. (Power Reviews)
  • Nearly all consumers (97%) now use online media when researching products or services in their local area. (BIA/Kelsey)
  • Customer reviews can increase conversions by 270%. (Spiegel)
  • 83% of customers don’t trust advertising. (Statuslabs)
  • 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. (Power Reviews)
  • The younger you are, the more influenced you are by reviews when making a purchase. (Sitejabber)
Generation graph Source: Sitejabber survey

We measured how big of an impact reviews have on different generations of shoppers. We found that the younger the generation, the more likely they are to be influenced by reviews. Moving forward, as generations are introduced to digital technology at young ages, reading reviews perhaps becomes second nature and a necessary benchmark when shopping.

Devices to read reviews

  • When it comes to which devices consumers use to read reviews, mobile overtakes computers – 58% use a mobile browser, 48% use a mobile app, 48% use a computer, 28% use a tablet. (Sitejabber)
user devices graph Source: Sitejabber survey

Mobile use continues to grow steadily, with more and more people comfortable using their phones for many important actions. However, another factor to consider is the many office-based employees who had to make the sudden move to working from home, which may have impacted the way they use their phones during non-work hours.

Consumers want to write reviews, especially positive ones

consumers willingness graph Source: Sitejabber survey
  • 87% of people have or are willing to write a review of a business. (Sitejabber)
  • More consumers have written a review for a positive experience than a negative one – 52% of consumers have written positive reviews and 38% have written negative reviews. (Sitejabber)

There’s a big opportunity for businesses to receive feedback – up to 87% of consumers are open to writing them a review! And with 14% more consumers writing reviews because of positive experiences as opposed to negative, shoppers want to commend businesses.

Why consumers write reviews graph Source: Sitejabber survey
  • 55% of consumers leave online reviews to help consumers, 34% to help businesses, and 42% to get a business’s attention. (Sitejabber)

Helping the community is a major motivation for those who write reviews. The number one reason consumers share their experiences is just to help fellow shoppers. With the second motivating factor to writing a review is to get a business’s attention, managing your reviews becomes vital. Make sure you have a system in place to address your negative reviews and thank customers for the positive feedback. 34% of people who write reviews want to help businesses – a good sign, as this means they are open to sharing positive insight too.

The Effects of COVID-19

With consumers affected by shut-downs, leaner budgets, and uncertainty, digital sales and online reviews became of alarming importance, expediting the need for businesses to ramp up their online strategies.

How COVID-19 impacted consumer shopping

  • 40% of people searched for businesses online during COVID-19 compared to a ‘normal’ year. 44% searched for just as many. Only 16% searched for fewer businesses. (Sitejabber)

84% of people maintained their online shopping habits during the pandemic. And with a whopping 40% of them shopping even more than before, businesses need to expand their online presence.

  • Millennials searched for businesses the most frequently during COVID-19, with 51% of millennial shoppers searching more than compared to a ‘normal’ year. (Sitejabber)

Millennials lead the pack when it comes to shopping during the pandemic. While an average of 35% of all other generations are shopping online more too, millennials top the list. More than half of millennial respondents shopped more during COVID-19.

Annual household income covid 19 graph Source: Sitejabber survey
  • The higher the income group, the more businesses they searched for during the pandemic. (Sitejabber)

The majority of all income groups shopped just as much during the pandemic. However, higher-income groups were more able to maintain shopping habits if not spend more during COVID-19 times.

Impact of reviews during COVID-19

reading reviews during covid 19 graph Source: Sitejabber survey
  • 37% of people read more reviews during COVID-19 compared to a ‘normal’ year. 51% read just as many reviews. Only 12% read fewer reviews. (Sitejabber)

With the high amount of consumers searching for businesses online during the pandemic, shoppers also made it a priority to research companies by reading reviews. Only 12% read fewer reviews, which may reflect those who also shopped less during the pandemic.

  • Millennials read the most reviews during COVID-19, with 50% of them reading more reviews than compared to a ‘normal’ year. (Sitejabber)

As the highest pandemic shopping group, millennials also read the most reviews during this time. 50% of millennials read more reviews during the pandemic compared with the average of 32% of other generations who also read more.

  • Review interaction (like searching, filtering, and clicking to expand and read an entire review) is up 50% from pre-pandemic levels. (Power Reviews)

How Reviews Impact Shopping Decisions

people percent review impact graph Source: Sitejabber survey
  • When considering a new business, 91% of people think reviews are important enough to sway their purchasing decision. (Sitejabber)

Whether shopping for a new need or looking to switch from an old vendor, when consumers are researching new businesses, reviews play a major role in their decision-making. Reviews alone are powerful enough to make a shopper decide on your store.

Showcasing positive reviews

income levels influenced positive reviews graph Source: Sitejabber survey
  • Positive reviews make 94% of people more likely to use a business. (Power Reviews)
  • Higher-income groups are even more likely to use a business because of positive reviews. (Sitejabber)

While positive reviews impact all consumers across various household incomes, we see a general pattern of positive reviews influencing the purchasing decisions of higher-income groups the most.

Showcasing negative reviews

  • Negative reviews make 92% of people less likely to use a business. (BrightLocal)
  • 96% of consumers specifically look for negative reviews at least sometimes. In 2018, that number was 85%. (Power Reviews)
  • 95% of consumers suspect censorship or faked reviews when they don’t see bad scores. (Invespcro)

Receiving negative reviews may be at times, inevitable. While reasons to garner positive reviews may be obvious, businesses don’t need to shy from constructive criticism. According to Power Reviews, most consumers actively look for negative reviews and Invespcro shares that the lack of them actually hurts your credibility. Responding to negative reviews may be the key to addressing the criticism, which we’ll cover later.

How consumers interact with reviews in different industries

interaction with reviews different industries graph Source: Sitejabber survey

Reviews are essential to winning customers over in every industry, but may vary in the use case and how frequently consumers look for them. Reviews in the electronics and technology industry are both the most read and considered the most important by consumers. Purchasing electronics may occur pretty regularly (such as phones, computers, house appliances, etc.) and is not always a cheap transaction, making reviews all the more vital in the consumer decision making process.

Generation search category chart graph Source: Sitejabber survey
  • Gen Z most frequently searches for beauty and skincare reviews, while millennials, Gen X and boomers search most for electronics and technology reviews. (Sitejabber)
  • Gen Z and millennials are more interested in beauty and skincare and fashion reviews, while Gen X and boomers more frequently search for food and travel reviews. (Sitejabber)

The younger Gen Z takes the most time to read beauty and skincare reviews, while older generations, millennials, Gen X, and boomers, read electronics and tech reviews the most. Perhaps with the prominence of social media and influencer marketing, beauty and skincare brands are building a strong online presence, which as shown here, leaves more of an impact on the younger generations. It’s also interesting to note the difference between the younger and older generations – fashion and beauty reviews top the list for Gen Z and millennials, while Gen X and Boomers care more about travel, food, or health.

And when it comes to how each generation thinks about reviews in different industries, Gen Z again singles themselves out, considering beauty and skincare reviews among the most important, while all other groups rank electronics and technology reviews as most important.

The types of local businesses consumers most often search reviews for and consider most important are pretty consistent. But while consumers may look up clothing store reviews more often, reviews in industries like dental care or insurance are considered more important.

  • Reviews play a role at all price points, in fact. Over one-third of customers are reading online reviews for everything, even items valued at under $5. (Synup)

What factors into the impact of reviews

Consumer trust in reviews

So what makes reviews so important? When consumers are searching for businesses to shop from, the majority of shoppers will trust reviews from a complete stranger just as much as a personal recommendation. Online reviews have become the new word of mouth, now accessible at a click of a button. Here are some important stats on how much consumers trust reviews.

  • 79% of people trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations from friends or family. (BrightLocal)
  • 19% of consumers trust online reviews more, and 13% trust online reviews much more than personal recommendations. (Sitejabber)
  • 83% of Gen Z and millennials trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. (Sitejabber)

As seen in previous stats, the generations exposed to digital technology at younger ages are especially influenced by online reviews and advice.

Annual household income levels trust online graph Source: Sitejabber survey
  • The higher the income group, the more likely they are to trust online reviews more than personal recommendations from friends or family. (Sitejabber)

This was an interesting finding – not only are higher-income groups more influenced by positive reviews as we’ve previously noted, they are also more likely to trust reviews more than direct recommendations from people in their circle.

What shoppers care about when reading reviews of a business

factors consumers rank most graph Source: Sitejabber survey

What aspects of a review does a customer care about when researching a business? Our findings suggest the quality of the content matters. The top review factors consumers notice are whether the review seems real, how recent the review was created and if the business responded to the review. Making sure that reviews from real customers are consistently flowing in and showcasing your care for your customers are important elements to implement in your strategy.

Interestingly, while the positive or negative sentiment of a single review is less important of a review factor, a business’s overall rating is of utmost importance when a consumer is deciding whether to purchase from them. We will get more into this in the next section.

  • 43% of Gen Z care most about whether a review includes photos, which is the most out of all age groups. Gen Z also rated reviews with videos as more important than any other generation. (Sitejabber)

While the average consumer cares most about the legitimacy of a review, the number one review factor Gen Z shoppers look for are photos. Compared to other age groups, the younger Gen Z shopper is more drawn to visual reviews, which perhaps serves a dual purpose of verifying review authenticity and providing review content.

What shoppers care about when viewing a business’s review profile

Reviews and your overall reputation go hand in hand when a customer is researching your business. To put your best foot forward, you will want to make sure your review profiles across the web are managed well, optimized for conversions and are a good reflection of who you are as a business. These are the top elements consumers consider most important on a business’s review profile.

The top three factors of a business’ review profile that would influence a consumer’s decision are:

  • The overall average star rating of the business (85% said this was ‘important’ or ‘very important’)
  • The business having a higher average star rating than other businesses they’re considering (76%)
  • How recent the latest reviews are (73%) (BrightLocal)

To make a buying decision, customers not only want to see a business have a positive star rating, but also a rating higher than its competitors, supported by recent reviews. Let’s get into the specifics of each element in the following sections.

What star ratings businesses need

We’ve established that star ratings are an important factor of reviews. So what star ratings do businesses need for consumers to consider them?

  • 93% of shoppers won’t choose a business with fewer than 3 stars. 54% of shoppers won’t choose a business with fewer than 4 stars. (BrightLocal)
  • In 2021, just 3% of consumers said they would consider using a business with an average star rating of two or fewer stars. That’s down from 14% in 2020. (BrightLocal)
  • A study done by the Spiegel Research Center showed that purchase likelihood peaks when a product has an average star rating between 4.0 and 4.7. (Spiegel)
  • But, keep in mind 52% of consumers don’t trust star ratings without accompanying review content. (PowerReviews)

How recent a review needs to be

  • 86% of consumers only look at reviews from the past three months, 73% say customer reviews must be from the last month, and a huge 50% only take into account reviews from the past two weeks. (BrightLocal)

Getting reviews is not a one-and-done campaign. While a company’s previous reviews are helpful for ratings and showing off a track record, businesses should have a consistent flow of new, relevant reviews. Collecting and displaying updated reviews year-round will help consumers continue to trust the reviews – especially when half of your customers only want to read experiences from the past two weeks!

How many reviews shoppers read before trusting a business

consumers read reviews to trust business graph Source: Sitejabber survey

The average consumer reads 10 reviews before feeling able to trust a business. 22% of consumers need to read more than 10 reviews. Make sure you have enough reviews optimized not only on the first pages of your website but also on Google and any relevant reviews platforms in your industry.

How many reviews make a business trustworthy

How many reviews make a business trustworthy graph Source: Sitejabber survey
  • 78% of people need to see that a business has at least 100 reviews to trust the brand. (Sitejabber)
  • When a product gets five reviews, the likelihood of it being purchased increases by 270%. (Spiegel)

While the average shopper reads 10 reviews, keep in mind that the volume of reviews matters too. A whopping 78% of people need to see that a business has accumulated at least 100 reviews to perceive a business as trustworthy. And although 31% just need to see that a business has at least 10, 50% will only trust a business displaying at least 500 real reviews. Consumers may also expect a similar volume of reviews across any reviews platform they research on. If this seems daunting, remember that there are tools to get reviews at scale across all platforms.

Which review sites businesses should be on

most used platforms to read online business reviews graph Source: Sitejabber survey
consumers most trusted platforms for online business reviews graph Source: Sitejabber survey

Google leads as the number one reviews site used by consumers to search for online businesses. Just a quick company search in Google’s search engine will immediately display a business’ Google My Business listing and ratings, aggregated from its partners like Sitejabber. Trailing behind are Facebook and The Better Business Bureau (BBB) as the second and third most used reviews platforms, respectively.

Respondents also report Google as the reviews site they trust the most. And interestingly, despite recent media buzz around fake reviews on Amazon, many reviewers still trust the platform, even more than the BBB.

These results emphasize the importance of getting reviews on a variety of platforms to target where your consumers are. Hosting reviews only on your website will hurt your sales potential.

While the BBB is among the least used reviews sites when it comes to local businesses, it lands at the top of the list of consumer trust. And although the consumers most frequently use Google, Facebook, and Yelp to check local business reviews, they still trust the BBB and Tripadvisor more.

Review authenticity

Fake reviews

Review authenticity fake reviews graph Source: Sitejabber survey
  • 80% of people believe they read a fake review in the last year, with 45% saying they’d spotted multiple. (Sitejabber)
  • The top three sources of online reviews that consumers are confident that they’ve seen a fake review on in the past year are Amazon (52%), Google (50%) and Facebook (37%). (BrightLocal)

Many businesses resort to purchasing or creating fake reviews, thinking it can be a quick fix. However, fake reviews lead to strong consumer distrust, not to mention reviews platforms potentially flagging your business, which will hurt your reputation and profitability. If you’re buying fake reviews to counteract negative reviews, remember that critical reviews also play a role in a reviewer’s research process. Take care to respond and fix the negative feedback you get – it’ll be much more effective than using fake reviews.

Consumers are questioning the authenticity of reviews

  • 75% of consumers question the authenticity of reviews. (Sitejabber)

While online reviews are increasingly important, consumers are also more skeptical than ever. Fake reviews will only hurt your reputation and turn potential shoppers away.

income levels consumers question authenticity of reviews graph Source: Sitejabber survey
  • The higher a shopper’s income, the more likely they question the authenticity of reviews. (Sitejabber)
  • The top three sources of online reviews that consumers are confident that they’ve seen a fake review on in the past year are Amazon (52%), Google (50%) and Facebook (37%). (BrightLocal)

When analyzing whether consumers question the authenticity of reviews with annual household income groups, an interesting pattern arises – the higher the income, the more skeptical the consumer is likely to be.

How consumers determine the legitimacy of online reviews

review factors determine legitimacy of review graph Source: Sitejabber survey

Previously, we discussed how “real” a review seems is among the top review factors consumers care about. The number one way consumers determine the legitimacy of a review is the way it is written. Consumers say they can tell the difference between a review written by a bot or if it came from a real shopper experience.

Respondents also say photo reviews and review verification indicators are other top important cues that make a review seem real. Use review platforms that can help you with all these factors to ensure that consumers are trusting all your reviews.

Additionally, BrightLocal reports that the top three reasons consumers might think a review is fake are: the review is over-the-top in its praise (45% chose this), the review is one of lots of reviews with similar content (40% chose this) and the reviewer is anonymous or uses an obvious pseudonym (38% chose this).

The Importance of Responding to Reviews

Consumers read businesses’ responses to reviews

  • A whopping 96% of consumers read businesses’ responses to their reviews. (Power Reviews)

Almost all consumers are now reading businesses’ responses to their customers. And if a business isn’t responding, that’s also sending a message of indifference or lack of customer support. Responding to reviews should now be a priority in businesses’ reviews strategies.

Consumers are more likely to use a business if they respond to reviews

types of review consumers expect businesses to respond graph Source: Sitejabber survey
  • 84% of consumers are more likely to use a business if they respond to reviews. (Sitejabber)
  • 57% say they would be 'not very' or 'not at all' likely to use a business that doesn't respond to reviews at all. (BrightLocal)

We found that there isn’t a strong distinction between consumers looking for responses to either positive or negative reviews. Consumers want to see that a business cares to respond to their customers. And with 84% of consumers more keen on shopping at businesses who respond to reviews, doing so will increase your chance of converting new customers.

BrightLocal also found that businesses that do not respond to reviews could be missing out on as much as 57% of customers.

Many consumers are still not receiving responses to reviews

E-commerce stores or online services

consumers received responses to reviews graph Source: Sitejabber survey

Local businesses

When it comes to engaging with and responding to customers, local businesses are a few steps ahead of e-commerce businesses. 44% of e-commerce shoppers have not been notified of any responses to their reviews. While e-commerce businesses are improving over time, businesses can accelerate their reviews strategies now by actively responding and connecting with customers through reviews.

Consumers expect a quick review response turnaround

consumers expectation for reviews response graph Source: Sitejabber survey
  • 80% of people expect reviews to be responded to within 2 weeks. (Sitejabber)

We’ve established that responding to reviews is essential to businesses’ online reputations. Now, 80% of consumers say they expect review responses within 2 weeks – and 72% of them expect it within days, at most a week. Businesses need to have a system in place to respond to reviews at scale and efficiently.

How to get customers to give your business a second chance

What persuade consumers give second chance after writing  negative review graph Source: Sitejabber survey

A personalized response can bring back 51% of your customers with negative experiences, so take care to give real, authentic responses as opposed to obviously cold, automated replies. But 19% of consumers are also open to receiving any response!

  • To give a business a second chance, Gen Z are most willing to accept a discount code (37% of respondents), while the majority of all other older age groups will accept a personalized response. (Sitejabber)

The number one motivator for a Gen Z shopper to give a business a second chance is a discount code, followed closely by a personalized response. The majority of millennials, Gen X, and boomers say that a personalized response is sufficient.

How to Get Reviews

Asking for reviews

  • While 87% of people would be willing to write a review of a business, only 52% of e-commerce and online service consumers have reported receiving requests to write a review. (Sitejabber)
  • 73% of consumers have been asked to write a review for a local business. 72% of those who were asked to write a review went on to do so. (BrightLocal)

Local businesses are more proactive in asking customers for reviews. E-commerce stores and services have not jumped on the opportunity as much yet, even though most people would be willing to write a review.

How businesses are asking for reviews

How consumers asked for review for business graph Source: Sitejabber survey

Email continues to be the standout channel businesses use to request reviews. However, there’s a new contender – social media, with consumers reporting being asked to write reviews on social media more than other traditional channels.

A note on incentives

offered incentives to consumers for writing reviews graph Source: Sitejabber survey

83% of people were offered an incentive in exchange for writing reviews. Businesses should avoid providing bribes in exchange for positive reviews. Potential customers may see right through this tactic, and write your business off as untrustworthy. Different reviews platforms each have their own guidelines around offering incentives for reviews.

The State of Online Reviews

The pandemic sped up the move to all things digital, forcing consumers to shop at home and challenging businesses to adapt. The way brands need to think of their online presence has changed for the long run – your consumers are looking for you online, and you have a chance to control your online reputation and grow your business exponentially.

And as more businesses go digital, consumers are handed thousands of new options every day to choose from. Online reviews play a huge role in their final purchasing decisions, so use the consumer data in this study and necessary tools to help grow your reviews strategy.

Methodology

These statistics are compiled from various reviews sources, including Sitejabber survey data, to present the most complete study of the current state of online reviews. The Sitejabber consumer data is based on e-commerce and online services reports. Sitejabber surveyed a representative sample of 5,000 consumers in the United States.