How to use negative reviews to drive positive revenues

While product reviews are now commonplace on eCommerce Web sites, many merchants are still queasy about negative reviews. After all, the prospect of a product’s flaws being angrily enumerated for potential customers to see is hardly the kind of word of mouth most merchants hope to generate.

But it turns out that negative reviews are unlikely to scupper sales; in fact, they can double purchase intent, according to recent research from review provider Bazaarvoice. Yes, you read that right: double purchase intent.

As you might guess, there’s a catch. The positive reaction isn’t a direct result of the negative review itself, but depends on the brand offering a swift and effective response. In Bazaarvoice’s study, half the participants were shown negative reviews that went unaddressed, while the other half saw negative reviews to which merchants responded. The purchase intent of the second group was 116% higher than that of the first group. Informative responses to negative reviews based on “user error” were especially effective: participants who saw merchant clarification on how to use products were 186% more likely to continue with a purchase than those who saw no brand response.

In addition, responses to negative reviews can boost the merchant’s overall reputation, with 41% of participants saying that brand responses prove “they really care about consumers,” and more than a third reporting that such contributions demonstrate superior customer service.

To capitalize on the potential positive in negative reviews, merchants should devise systems to enable swift, accurate and definitive responses to negative reviews and social media commentary. Among the tactics to consider:

Track review activity — positive and negative — from registered, loyal customers. Merchants who’ve identified their most valuable customers should ensure their comments, positive and negative, are acknowledged and taken into consideration. With a proven track record of purchases, these customers have high potential to become brand advocates, and swift response to any concerns they raise or enquiries they make will increase the chances of their spreading positive word-of-mouth.

Respond consistently to one-star reviews. While some one-star reviewers simply can’t be appeased, merchants should be on the lookout for these negative comments and be prepared to counter with situation-specific content.  Responses shouldn’t be canned, but they should be consistent with each other and with the brand’s policies on returns, upgrades and exchanges. On the National Geographic Store eCommerce site, a one-star review that specifically complains about packaging and damage during shipment received a response from customer care, letting others on the site know that the individual’s problem was being remedied offline. By contrast, another one-star review for the same product which critiqued the color scheme of the product itself was left to stand on its own. The message: while not everyone will like the product, it should always arrive in perfect condition.

Address social media complaints definitively. Most merchants with social media outposts know they need to staff accordingly to ensure that the brand is responsive to posts from followers. Too often, though, responses to social media complaints merely recommend contacting the main customer service number or email address, rather than solving the problem in a single interaction. Bazaarvoice’s study found that responses recommending further actions on the part of the consumer to resolve problems resulted in a 30% lower purchase intent than definitive answers.

Of course, in order to provide such effective responses, brands must empower social media staff with access to the same tools as customer service reps — a challenge that requires merchants to deconstruct internal “silos” that might limit social media workers to posting marketing messages. MarketLive merchant Perricone MD responds authoritatively to messages posted to its Facebook page with specific suggestions for product usage and links to additional or alternative products as appropriate.

Promote how feedback shapes brand offerings. Merchants should not only respond to questions and negative reviews on the spot, but should incorporate feedback into product and service offerings. Responses to common questions should be added to the customer service knowledge base and eCommerce site FAQs; feedback about specific products should influence future iterations or offerings; and requests for service improvements should be enacted whenever possible.

Merchants who demonstrably respond to consumer input should promote such changes in marketing campaigns, as Neiman-Marcus did with its recent announcement of free unrestricted shipping, which included the tagline “You Asked For It, You Got It.”

How do you turn negative reviews into positives?