How to Deal with Negative Product Reviews for E-Commerce Stores
Customers are easy on the trigger when they feel like they haven’t received the proper service or their expectations weren’t met. When a customer receives a product they bought online and they’re not happy with it, the place they can vent out their frustration is in the reviews on your product page.
Getting a bad review doesn’t mean you are a bad seller, but there are ways to handle issues like this and potentially alleviate the frustration of the customer.
Reviews Build Consumer Trust
Encouraging customers to leave a review post-purchase will lead to more product sales in the long run. Not everyone with a positive impression will leave feedback, but if you ask them they might. This is important because reviews impact the reputation of your business.
Nine out of ten of consumers now read online reviews and they trust online reviews from strangers as much as personal recommendations.
As an online merchant, you should place a special emphasis on your product and shop reviews. Even a single 1-star review on your product page can negatively affect your sales. This is why it’s essential to address negative customer reviews as quickly as possible.
Addressing Negative Reviews
In an ideal situation your customer complains in a direct conversation over email or phone. However more often angry customers go to the product reviews section and leave a damaging comment.
While a review like this will hurt your reputation, there are steps you can take to mitigate the damage:
1. Have open communication channels
Customers have very high demands from businesses nowadays and especially E-Commerce stores. They expect customer support around the hour and multiple channels for contact. In some case, a frustrated customer will only leave a review to get you to contact them.
2. Understand the root of the problem
Understanding the source of the customer’s frustration is probably the most critical aspect for turning around a negative review. It’s easy to be emotionally affected by a negative review, and it may lead to an inappropriate response to the review. Resist this temptation, and work it out why the issue appeared and how you can solve it.
3. Respond to the negative review
You really can’t afford to ignore bad reviews, not if you want to continue selling online. You need to address the damage to your online reputation, and as soon as possible.
These are the main points that you need to address when responding to a negative review:
- Acknowledge the issue the customer is bringing up.
- Assure them that you heard their complaint and understand the issue.
- Share with them that you are addressing the issue, with a timeline for a possible solution.
Improve and Move On
Getting negative reviews is part of the activity as an E-Commerce store. It may hurt when you receive negative feedback, but never react emotionally. Although you cannot ask customers to remove their negative review, you may sway their impression with your response. If they’re not open to changing or removing their negative review, just focus on getting more positive reviews for your product to balance out the bad ones.
