Imagine that you’ve recently seen an ad online about a product that you’ve been wanting to try but still haven’t decided to buy. It’s a challenge to make up your mind and purchase something that you’ve never tried before. What’s the first thing you’ll do? Well, if you have a similar buyer behavior to that of the majority of the world, chances are that you’ll search for a product review. What do we mean by majority? Nearly 95% of consumers read reviews before making a purchase decision. That’s almost every consumer out there. The situation on Etsy is no different from other online shopping platforms or stores. If anything, buyers are even more interested to read what others have to say about a product. Why? Because most products are handmade and authentic. Quality truly matters, but measuring it after a purchase could be a bit too late and a whole lot more disappointing. Reviews can convince a buyer to purchase your products or they can close their door to your store for good. So, let’s see how you can get more reviews and how you can get good reviews.

How To Get Excellent Reviews On Etsy

If you’ve ever purchased or sold anything on Etsy, you’ll know that Etsy explores every avenue to motivate buyers to leave reviews. They do so by following up with every customer, encouraging them to leave their feedback on their experience, product quality, and more. However, only 25% of buyers end up leaving reviews after a gentle push from Etsy. This means that if you want to enjoy high ratings and more reviews, you must take things into your own hands. Here are a few examples of how you can do that.

Use Etsy’s Message To Buyer Feature

Etsy is a platform that connects Buyers and Sellers. Naturally, you won’t be handling the full communication with your customers. The good news is that there are a few points from the customer journey that you can take advantage of to ask for feedback. The “Message to Buyer” feature is a perfect opportunity. Once a purchase has been made, the Seller can send an order confirmation message to the buyer. The message is usually used to inform on delivery practices and other useful information. As a Seller, you can use the moment to ask the buyer to leave their comments on the experience they had with you and your products once they receive them. Considering that you’ve done your part to guarantee a positive journey, you can expect nothing less than an outstanding review.

Follow Up After A Purchase

Another great time to ask for a review is when the buyer has already completed the whole journey, delivery included. In short, after delivery, you now have a customer who is fully aware of your full store journey and can share their thoughts with others. Follow up with them and ask for a review. However, avoid being pushy. More buyers will be inspired to leave a review if they see that you are genuinely interested to hear their feedback. Show that you are honest and want to improve your store products or validate your quality. Also, don’t underestimate the time of day that you choose to send your follow-up email. Research suggests that the best times to ask for a review are between 2-3 pm (the typical lunch break) and 6-7 pm (after work hours).

Send A Thank You Card

Thank you cards work miracles for getting reviews. This may seem like a trivial thing to do, but it personalizes the experience and shows your buyers that you truly care about their satisfaction with your store. Personalize the card by including the buyer’s name and a tailored message, encouraging them to share their thoughts about your store and your products with other buyers by leaving a review on Etsy. Avoid trying to manipulate them into leaving a good review. Why? Because it’s not only frowned upon but can get you into trouble with Etsy.

Show Buyers What A Review Looks Like

Believe it or not, some buyers don’t feel comfortable leaving a review. Perhaps they’ve never done it or they might not even know what a review consists of. To help them gain confidence, you could give an example of what a review looks like. For instance, if you’ve chosen to ask for a review in a follow-up email, include a few bullet points of things that they can share their thoughts on. This section could look something like this: “Your opinion matters and it helps us improve and grow. We invite you to share your feedback on your experience with [store name] by leaving us a review. Some of the things you could mention include:

• Product quality
• Customer experience
• Delivery times
• Expectations vs reality”

What You Can Do To Receive A 5-Star Rating

Apart from the reviews that customers leave for your products based on their experience, there’s the 5-star rating system on Etsy. Every buyer can rate your products from one to five stars, five representing the highest level of satisfaction. Why does this matter? Because when buyers search for a product on the platform, one of the first things they’ll see is how many stars each product has. The more the stars, the more reliable and trustworthy you will appear as a Seller. And that’s not all. Sellers whose reviews are 95% or more with a 5-star rating become Star Sellers. Becoming a Star Seller can be compared to climbing to the peak of a mountain, with all of your competition left somewhere at the foothills. It’s a sure sign of excellence. Let’s see what steps you can take to enjoy higher ratings on Etsy.

Offer A Match Between Expectations And Reality

Creating unrealistic expectations almost certainly leads to dissatisfaction. If you want to enjoy high ratings, represent your products accurately. Be as detailed as possible and even if there are some flaws that you are aware of, inform your potential buyers and let them make their own choice. Show realistic images of your products, describe the creation process, and the materials used. By receiving what they expected, the buyer will be happy with the result, increasing your chances of a positive review.

Use Your Product Listings To Answer Common Questions

The more information a Seller has on a product, the more confidence they gain in the store. Why? Because detailed product descriptions are a sign that the Seller knows what they’re doing and they’re perfectly comfortable with the product. It also allows the buyer to get to know the product in more detail before even making a purchase. But let’s tie it in with our first suggestion for high ratings – it also creates a realistic presentation of your handmade or artistic products on Etsy. Answer as many questions buyers could have in your listings to create a positive experience with your store. Some of the areas you could cover include the materials used for the creation process, delivery times and packaging.

Be Prompt In Responses And Error Fixing

Lastly, make sure that you deal with problems and customer queries immediately. There’s nothing worse in a customer journey than waiting for ages to receive an answer to a question. It’s just as bad to know that there’s a problem with a delivery, for example, and wait for days to find a solution. Remember, unhappy buyers are more likely to leave a review than happy buyers. So in this case, you’re likely to end up having your rating drown rather than receive a positive review. What to do to avoid this? Simply be prompt. Show your customers you care by helping them solve their problems or receive information as soon as possible.

High Ratings & Multiple Reviews: How Will They Impact Your Sales?

Let’s say you do everything right and you receive a ton of high ratings and nearly all of your customers leave a review for your store. What does this mean for you as a Seller from a financial perspective? In short, it means a multitude of new buyers and more sales. Why? Because of the following three factors that high ratings and reviews influence:

Rankings

Have you noticed that if you search for a cat mug on Etsy, the first pages of results are all products with a 5-star rating? This is no coincidence. Etsy uses certain algorithms that ensure that buyers are shown high-quality products first. And how can the platform separate the good quality from the bad quality products? By relying on customer reviews and ratings.

Quick Purchase-Making Decisions

A high rating and a lot of reviews indicate that your store is legitimate and offers products that customers love. This can encourage potential buyers to make a quicker decision to buy a product that you offer. As a result, you can enjoy more sales and more new buyers.

Loyal Customers

Finally, having a high rating on Etsy opens the door to opportunities like establishing more long-term relationships with buyers. Why? Because they’ll instantly be confident in you as a Seller. If you satisfy their expectations, they will return to try other products on offer, or perhaps recommend your items to their peers. What you can expect as a result is a golden opportunity to generate more sales and make more money as a result.

A Real-Life Example

Let’s go back to our cat mug example and look at a real-world case. The first product that comes up in search results is a gorgeous cat mug priced at $43. The product is an absolute Seller and has more than 500 reviews. The shop is also very popular and has more than 6,000 reviews. They’ve made more than 45,000 sales on different products. So, what makes buyers leave reviews? Apart from the outstanding product quality, the shop is genuine and honest. They provide full details on what customers can expect. For example, rather than guaranteeing instant delivery, they explain to buyers that there could sometimes be delays in delivery times. As a result, buyers receive realistic expectations and display an appreciation for honesty.

In A Nutshell

Reviews are a gem on Etsy and can literally make or break your success as a Seller. Don’t forget to encourage every buyer to share their experience with your store and let others know what to expect. Be honest, genuine, and interested in what customers have to say. Most importantly, ensure that you have a bullet-proof strategy behind your Etsy business. This will guarantee that every buyer will be truly astonished by the quality of your work and will be happy to share their joy with others. The result? More sales and more money-making potential.