It is obvious to get wrapped up in negative reviews for online businesses. No one likes to have negative feedback on their site. However, it doesn’t mean that you are doing something wrong. eCommerce business owners need to understand that a bad review is not equal to a bad business or a bad product or service.
Negative feedback is often a result of mismatched expectations. Every eCommerce business owner has to deal with several bad reviews, even after providing the customer with the best. You cannot satisfy everyone. And if everyone starts to close up their businesses just because of a bad review, eCommerce may not exist by now.
What you need to do is to cater to those negative reviews, and that’s what a customer expects. 56 percent of customers expect a response upon their negative review.
Despite being negative, such reviews come along with a lot of benefits for a brand. I have discussed some of them below.
1. Negative Reviews Create Buzz
A buzz around your brand can help to increase your sales, even if it’s coming from a bad review. Josh Berger, Marketing Head at Crowd Writer UK, did some research. According to that, negative buzz can increase sales, while this type of publicity enhances brand awareness. He believes that “negative attention is better attention.”
Also, Botto Bistro, a California pizzeria, perfected the concept of using negative reviews for sales benefit. They offer discounts to customers for writing bad reviews on Yelp because they want to fight back against manipulative reports. The effects were as positive as expected. They were soon recognized as “Yelp’s worst-reviewed pizzeria” and got massive publicity with this strategy.
Another great example is the Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort in Utah. They received a one-star review complaining about their tough ski courses. They used it as an advertisement instead of panicking. They used humor to take advantage.
2. Negative Reviews Make Good Reviews Look Better
Negative reviews are actually good for your business because they make your review section look real and authentic. Most brands with perfectly crafted positive reviews look fake and inauthentic.
Hence, when a company showcases all reviews (both positive and negative), they can easily convince their customers that they are transparent and hiding nothing from their clients. It also demonstrates that some people were unhappy, but most of them were satisfied with the product and services.
3. Negative Reviews Analyze Quality
A study by Harvard Business School claims that the majority of prospects trust reviews more when they see a blend of good and bad feedback. Also, if the input is entirely positive, 95% of the customers believe the reviews are fake or company-screened. So, customers know that no company is perfect, which is why it’s all about seeing honest feedback, even if it’s not all positive.
Hence, having negative feedback on your site can help you analyze your quality of work. Also, it enhances the reliability of your company.
4. Negative Reviews Assist in Purchase Decisions
Negative reviews give your customer a transparent picture of what they should expect from your company. This can help you defeat the biggest challenge of eCommerce by providing clients with a realistic idea of brands.
The main reason why a customer writes a bad review is that the product or the service failed to meet their expectations. Hence, negative reviews can help you to describe your product well and aid customers by setting a realistic picture of your product in front of them.
Studies of 1.3 million reviews conclude that the most commonly used word in a bad review was “disappointed”. That was mentioned in 20,000 feedbacks, while the next most used word was “bad”, which was discussed around 7,500 times. Hence disappointment is the main factor that leads to a negative review.
eCommerce owners can use the information collected from that negative review to design a product description that can clearly convey the message to customers of what to expect.
For example, if a clothing store’s negative review says that the shirt was too small, the new customer will know that they have to order a large size, and the company will get to know that they have to include proper size requirements to be placed with an order. Hence, both can use the bad review to make a smarter purchase decision.
Shoppers don’t purchase blindly. They seek as much information as possible before buying an online product. Sometimes complaints have nothing to do with the product; they may be logistic issues as well. So, negative feedback gives insight that may not be available otherwise.
5. Negative Reviews Give You a Chance to Improve
Nothing is perfect in the world, and there is always room for improvement. Bad reviews can serve as an eye-opener for you and your company to help you with your SWOT analysis of your business. Hence, responding positively to negative feedback can actually change the sales game for your business. See how KFC responded to a review.
While Summing It Up
Without any doubt, a brand can leverage negative reviews in several ways to positively demonstrate their image. Benefit from it in order to improve themselves as a service or product provider.
Author Bio
Stella Lincoln is currently working as a Business Manager at Crowd Writer. She aims to share her knowledge with readers and often blogs at Educator House. Stella loves to travel and explore the world.
