How important are reviews in e-commerce?

Customer reviews aren’t just helpful for shoppers. They’re a critical performance driver for online merchants. Whether you sell in a niche category or a broad consumer market, buyers rely heavily on real customer feedback before deciding what to purchase. And that means your store’s reviews directly influence visibility, conversion, return rates, and long-term customer loyalty.

In this article, we’ll explore why reviews matter so much, how public feedback shapes buying decisions, and what online merchants can do to actively encourage high-quality customer reviews.

Why customer reviews matter so much

Multiple studies over the past years show just how heavily shoppers rely on user reviews and public feedback. A BrightLocal survey found that:

93% of shoppers say reviews influence their decisions
91% of younger consumers (18 to 34 years) trust them as much as personal recommendations
And 89% pay attention to how businesses respond

A 2022 Capterra study for the German market showed a similar trend:
63% of Germans always (20%) or frequently (43%) read online reviews before buying a product or service. And not only did online shopping increase during the pandemic – so did review reading. 24% of respondents now read more reviews than before the pandemic.

The study also ranked review sources by importance:

Online reviews: 35%
Recommendations from friends and family: 29%
Expert tests in blogs, articles, and videos: 21%

Capterra ran similar studies in 2019 and 2020 with the same hierarchy – reinforcing the point that reviews consistently play a critical role in e-commerce.

Bottom line: Across studies and markets, the verdict is clear: customer reviews have long been an essential factor in online purchase decisions.

The impacts of customer reviews in e-commerce

1. Reviews drive revenue

It’s no surprise that strong customer reviews can increase revenue: they build trust in your store, your products, and your service. On top of that, they help shoppers identify the right product without relying solely on marketing claims.

Positive reviews can, hence, boost conversions, reduce the likelihood of returns, and increase customer satisfaction. In turn, this strengthens loyalty and encourages repeat purchases. We’ll return to some of these effects later in this article.

2. Better search visibility

Customer reviews also improve your visibility in search engines. Google, for example, offers its own review system. Merchants with strong ratings often appear more prominently in their search results.

Quality-seal providers offer another path. Services such as Trusted Shops or EHI Geprüfter Online Shop provide valuable Google integrations that display ratings or certifications directly within Google Ads.

Beyond that, open-source CMS platforms provide numerous ways to integrate review data directly into your shop. In WordPress, for instance, plugins like Plugin for Google Reviews import Google ratings and display them directly on the store page. This ensures shoppers see your reviews even if they don’t arrive via a Google search.

In a nutshell: there are many ways to display reviews to shoppers and positively influence their research behavior.

3. Fewer returns

Returns can be costly, time-consuming, and often environmentally damaging. While “try before you buy” behavior is common in categories like fashion, reviews can significantly reduce return rates across many product types.

Authentic product reviews provide detailed, user-generated insights far beyond polished product images or marketing copy. They help shoppers understand what they’re truly getting, reducing misaligned expectations and mistaken purchases.

Merchant experience reflects this: products with reviews consistently show lower return rates than those without. One case study from a US pet-supply retailer found that products without reviews had a 20.4% higher return rate, and items with more than 50 reviews had half the returns of products with fewer than five.

While the study isn’t new, the underlying truth still holds today: well-informed customers are less likely to return items.

What makes a good customer review?

Over the past few years, several studies have identified the factors that make customer reviews truly influential. While numbers vary slightly across sources, the overall trends are clear:

1. Reviews shouldn’t be too old

“Twenty-four percent of Germans place high value on reviews that are no more than six months old. Another 28% only trust reviews written within the last three months.” Where the exact cutoff lies isn’t crucial. What matters is this: the more recent the review, the more relevant it is for buyers.

2. The amount of reviews matters

“A product should have around 20–50 reviews for German shoppers to trust it. After that, the more reviews, the better.”

Trusted Shops confirms this trend: “Sixty-three percent of respondents expect a minimum number of reviews. Twenty-two percent read 10–50 reviews before deciding, and 19% check 51–100.”

In other words, once a product reaches a certain threshold, the credibility barrier is broken and additional reviews only strengthen trust.

3. Text, photos, and videos outperform star ratings

Text-based reviews provide far more value than star ratings alone. According to Trusted Shops, 56% of consumers consider detailed written feedback the most important decision factor. The more comprehensive the review, the more useful insights it offers.

And when reviewers add real-life photos or videos, the impact increases dramatically: “Sixty-two percent of consumers are more likely to buy a product when they see customer photos or videos. Two out of three say they’re more likely to purchase after watching a testimonial video.”

4. The reviewer’s profile matters

Highly active reviewers or those known for reliable, independent feedback carry more weight in the system. Their contributions signal credibility and can significantly strengthen trust in the product being reviewed.

How to encourage customers to leave reviews

As we’ve seen, online shops benefit enormously from customer reviews. Whether on major review platforms, in search engines, or on their own website.

So how do you encourage customers to leave positive reviews for you shop or products?

Before we start, one important legal point first: as soon as reviews are displayed on your own website or social media profiles, they are considered advertising. This means you must be able to prove their authenticity and, if necessary, remove any review that cannot be verified. External platforms, on the other hand, are not subject to this requirement, since merchants have no direct influence on the content posted there.

With that in mind: How can online retailers motivate customers to leave high-quality reviews?

1. Ask for reviews

It’s common practice to ask for a review at the right moment in the customer journey. For example, via an post-sales email sent about two weeks after delivery.

Important: such emails count as advertising in both B2C and B2B contexts, meaning customers must have explicitly consented to receiving them.

Another important rule is the “no-tying” principle: Consent to receiving a review request must be voluntary. It cannot be required to complete a purchase. Making consent a condition for placing an order (e.g., unlocking the checkout button only after agreeing) is illegal.

In short: a successful checkout process must not depend on agreeing to a survey or review request.

2. Reward reviews

Some businesses offer incentives such as giveaways, discounts, or coupon codes in return for reviews. The CE merchant MediaMarkt, for example, combines reviews with a sweepstakes called “Deine Meinung zahlt,” where customers can leave a review for a chance to win a €300 voucher.

These methods work. But the quality of the reviews may vary. If the main goal is simply to qualify for the prize, reviewers may provide only minimal or shallow feedback.

Important: Customers must give voluntary consent before receiving such invitations. Incentivized reviews must comply with marketing and consumer-protection laws, which come with their own set of requirements.

3. Use credible review platforms

To be useful, reviews must appear trustworthy. That’s why well-known, independent platforms like Google Reviews, Trustpilot, Trusted Shops, and EHI Geprüfter Online Shop tend to carry more weight.

Consumers are already familiar with these platforms and often use them actively. And while external platforms are not immune to criticism, they generally offer more credibility than in-house review tools that are fully controlled by the merchant.

4. Choose the right timing

Customers need enough time to properly evaluate the product before leaving a review. Depending on the product category, it may make sense to send the request after two weeks or even later.

For orders paid by invoice, the ideal time may be shortly after the invoice has been settled. By then, the customer has retained the product and is likely satisfied.

Delaying the review request also helps reduce email fatigue. A new customer often receives a variety of emails, such as:

A welcome email
An order confirmation
A separate email with the invoice
A shipping confirmation
Tracking emails from the carrier

Adding a review request immediately afterward risks overwhelming the customer – or having the email simply get lost.

5. Use the right communication channel

Review requests should be sent through the channel where customers are most receptive. Examples:

Businesses active on platforms like Golocal, Google Hotpot, Yelp, or Qype can include the review link in their email signature.
If the focus is on Facebook reviews, the request can be sent via Facebook Messenger.
For email requests, links should lead directly to the review submission page to minimize friction.

In short: the path to leaving a review should be quick, simple, and matched to the right channel.

Conclusion

Customer reviews have become an essential part of modern e-commerce and play a decisive role in shaping purchasing behavior. However, effective review management can be demanding – requiring personnel, processes, technology, and legal awareness. It therefore should be treated as a strategic component of a retailer’s overall marketing approach.

Review management can build on existing marketing channels or, where necessary, rely on additional communication touchpoints to handle customer feedback and product reviews professionally.

Yes, this requires additional time and budget. But the investment almost always pays off. And in today’s market, merchants simply don’t have the option to ignore it.