As a budget-savvy consumer, it has never been a better time to share your thoughts and opinions about a product you ordered online. Whether you realize it or not, the people that want to purchase the same item will often read reviews–negative and positive–before they decide whether the product is worth their time, effort, and money.
If you’re someone that wants to give clear and concise online reviews that will help other shoppers make their final decisions, here’s what you can do to improve your outreach.
Constructive Criticism Is a Fine Art
For many shoppers, the idea of giving constructive criticism is an excuse to scold and attack a vendor or product sold by a specific entity. Don’t be “that person” that goes online and argues with individuals. Instead, use these points as a way to finetune and craft your insights:
- Instead of critiquing a product in its entirety, be specific. What was the defining detail that made you dislike the product?
- Keep the critique personal, and don’t encourage other people to chime in on your review or add criticism unnecessarily.
- While your first inclination may be to focus purely on the negative aspects of a product, make sure to incorporate what you enjoyed about the item as well.
- Avoid overly-dramatic and negative tones when writing your review. By doing this, you help both the shopper and the vendor make better decisions in the future.
- Ask yourself this question before submitting a review: If someone were to speak to me this way, would I become upset or enraged?
- You must realize an Amazon seller might have the opportunity to delete your Amazon review if you violate the website’s terms of service or use abusive language. Knowing this, don’t turn a review into a platform to launch an all-out attack on someone.
These tactics, when taken into consideration, will help you not only express your dissatisfaction but help the vendor create high-quality products in the future.
Tell the Vendor How They Could Improve the Product
An often underutilized approach when leaving an online review is how the vendor could improve their product or service. Have you ordered a product from the internet, and while you had high hopes, you found yourself disappointed? If you take a closer look at that experience, you may have noticed how the vendor could have improved the product or service to meet your standards.
Although it may be challenging to do, put yourself inside the shoes of a person selling products online: If you sold items to a crowd of people that were unsatisfied with their experience, wouldn’t you want them to discuss how to improve your product?
Corporations, both medium and small, spend exorbitant amounts of money annually to make high-quality products and services. While a small business owner or online vendor may not have the budget to perform these tests, customer reviews give insight into how they can improve their outreach. Whether you’re aware of it or not, your words and criticisms help sellers grow and expand.
Don’t Forget the Human Element
When you have friendly and pleasant customer experiences, find a way to weave that interaction into your online review. With the growing presence of technology and automated software systems, dealing with another living, breathing human becomes rare. And when that human genuinely wants to help you with your shopping experience, it’s something to behold.
Don’t be afraid or shy away from telling people the type of interaction you had; good or bad. Many up-and-coming vendors and sellers maintain their status within the market purely on their pleasant customer service. While it’s OK to talk about these individuals, refrain from leaking personal information or details that could identify that person. In today’s online world, maintaining a sense of privacy and anonymity while writing a review is critical.
Let Your Voice Be Heard
As our society pivots toward online shopping platforms, make sure you share the moments that caught your attention. These small events, whether we realize it or not, make the marketplace better for both sellers and customers in the future. Who knows, your online review may be the defining moment that finalizes a customer’s purchasing decision!