Ecommerce
How to Add Reviews on Shopify
- Written by Tamsin Mackay
Customer reviews are an amazing way for you to build customer loyalty and trust.
Think about it for a second…when you buy a product from a store for the first time, you’re nervous. Will they deliver? Will the product look like it does on the website? Is it a scam?
These are all valid questions. You want to know you can trust a retailer to deliver on their promise.
This makes trust one of the most important investments you can make into your ecommerce business. Trust sits at the center of all relationships, including ones with your customers, and one of the best ways to build this trust is through authentic online reviews.
If you own a Shopify or Shopify Plus store and want your customers to choose you, it’s time to add reviews from, well, customers.
These glimpses into customer experiences in your store are invaluable for building trust but are also a great way for you to see where you can improve your business and your services.
Here we look at the benefits of adding reviews on Shopify and how to make it as easy as possible for your customers to tell you (and other customers) how they feel about your store.
Table of Contents
Why adding reviews on Shopify adds value
Finding the perfect Shopify review app
How to install a reviews app onto your Shopify store
How to customize your chosen app
Creating a rich customer ecosystem
Why adding reviews on Shopify adds value
So, trust is obviously one of the biggest benefits of adding reviews on Shopify, but it’s not the only value-add.
1. Building the plane in the air
This is a very common business term – building the plane while it’s in the air basically means that you’re changing the shape of your business based on real-time insights and, in this case, customer reviews.
You can use the feedback to make incremental improvements to your ecommerce business so it is constantly meeting customer demands and expectations.
When customers can see you constantly improving and engaging with their feedback, they are more inclined to reward you with increased loyalty and engagement.
2. Increase sales
You’re going to get good reviews, great reviews and…bad reviews.
The latter is disheartening but it is also invaluable. You can use negative reviews to change very real problems on your site or with your product or service.
Just remember that negative reviews aren’t always accurate, so rather than redesign your entire site every time someone leaves a bad comment, use your negative reviews to pick up trends and patterns and then make changes.
Good reviews are, of course, great to get. They build trust (as do negative reviews, by the way, because customers appreciate honesty) and they shine a beautiful, bright light on your products or services in an authentic way.
If you want to get the most benefit from your reviews, take the time to respond to all of them.
When you are responsive, connect with your customers and encourage reviews, people are more likely to spend money with you because you come across as interested in their views and, importantly, as a legitimate business.
It’s always refreshing to see companies reply to customers and most people will respond to that with increased spend.
3. Improving visibility through SEO
Customer reviews are essentially a form of content, and when customers leave reviews, they’re adding to your SEO and making you easier to find.
Search engines like original content so if your customers are encouraged to leave long reviews, the search engine spiders will find you and this will drive visibility of your store.
The added benefit is that customers will inevitably use keywords to describe your products which adds even more weight to your SEO rankings.
Further reading: The Ultimate Guide to Migrating from Magneto to Shopify Plus
Finding the perfect Shopify review app
Did you know that there are over 2,000 apps on the Shopify App Store for ‘customer reviews’? That’s a lot.
How are you supposed to know which one is going to deliver what you need?
First, it’s important to note that the original Shopify Product Reviews app was discontinued on 06 May, 2024.
There isn’t much detail as to why it was removed, but the likely answer is the fact that there are more than two thousand alternatives available. Or, Shopify is working on a new version that will add even more bells and whistles – stay tuned to find out!
Further reading: The 9 Biggest Brands Using Shopify (and Shopify Plus)
Second, you need to look at your budget.
Do you want to spend money on an app that will give you a ton of extra features like email, analytics, templates and more? Or are you more interested in a solution that’s going to give your customers easy access to a review functionality for free?
The four apps below all offer different levels of functionality, some are free, some offer you a trial period, and others are going to cost you monthly. These have all come with excellent customer reviews (see what we did there?) and offer you a variety of tools you can use to enhance your customer reviews.
1. Judge.me
Cost: $15 per month* for the Awesome package. Free on the Forever Free package.
The app has a proven track record providing ecommerce stores with superb customer review features.
The free version includes unlimited review requests, photos and videos, in-email reviews and SEO snippets, plus more.
The paid-for version comes with site reviews, cross-shop syndication, coupons and more.
*Pricing last accessed May 2024
2. Ali Reviews
Cost: There are four packages available*: Free, $9.90 a month, $19.90 a month, and $49.90 a month.
With so many different pricing packages to choose from, you can try out customer reviews on your site and then slowly expand the services you use based on your budget and customer needs.
While the free package is very limited – only five reviews per product – you still get to build a solid customer foundation without expense.
*Pricing last accessed May 2024
3. Loox
Cost: There are three packages available*: $9.99 a month, $34.99 a month, and $299.99 a month.
Loox has great reviews with a superb overall rating from merchants thanks to its amazing array of features.
It works beautifully for retailers of all sizes and allows you to play around with different features that enhance customer engagement.
You won’t find a free version of this app, however, but you will get a free trial with each version. The cheaper version offers a 7-day trial while the other two versions offer a 14-day trial.
*Pricing last accessed May 2024
4. Yotpo
Cost: There are three packages available*: Free, $15 a month, $119 a month
Yotpo has had very positive reviews across most sites. Customers say it is easy to use and it comes with a lot of features, even in the free version.
You can slowly upgrade your use of the app as you get more reviews and grow your business, but you can equally enjoy the free benefits without having to compromise too much on functionality.
*Pricing last accessed May 2024
Further reading: Ecommerce Retailers Guide to Private Label Products
How do you install a reviews app into your Shopify store?
Once you’ve chosen the app you’d like to try out on your site, you can choose to install it in two ways – through the Shopify App Store, or using the link provided by the company that has developed the app.
Installing an app through the Shopify App store is very easy:
Make sure you’re logged into the Shopify App Store before you select the app you would like to install.
Select the app you’d like to use and then click on ‘Add app’. If you’re not logged in, you’ll see a big black button saying ‘Log in to install’ on the top right of the page.
You will now need to authorize the app in your Shopify admin page. Navigate there and select Install app.
If you are using a custom app or you’re given a link to install the app, you will need to click on the link, download the app and then authorize it from your admin page.
How do I customize the app?
Once you’ve added your application to your site, you will need to set it up, customizing it to suit your needs.
The links below will take you to the dedicated instruction page for each of the recommended apps above. You can then follow the detailed instructions to ensure you install, customize and set-up your product review app correctly:
Judge.me – use this installation guide from the Judge.me Help Center.
Yotpo – follow these instructions on the Yotpo website.
Loox – you can find a comprehensive set-up process in the Loox Help Center.
Ali Reviews – follow these clear instructions on their site.
Further reading: Ultimate 2024 Ecommerce Retail Calendar Dates to Boost Sales
Creating a rich customer ecosystem
Now, you should have the perfect customer service app settled into your retail store, giving you the chance to really build trust with your customers and create engagement.
The next step is to enhance your customer experiences with a free tool that’s also available on the Shopify App Store – Veeqo.
Using Veeqo, you can create a layered ecosystem of powerful tools that are designed to streamline shipping, inventory management and so much more.
Using Veeqo, you get to access the lowest commercially available rates, based on our pre-negotiated pricing from UPS, USPS, FedEx, and DHL and up to 5% back with Veeqo Credits.
Veeqo can also cut the cost of shipping your Shopify orders and they're Shopify Plus certified, providing you with the support you need to really build and scale your business.
Further reading: Best Reasons to Use Shopify Plus
Thanks to its deep immersion in the Shopify ecosystem, Veeqo can help you with every part of your business growth, and with tons of features and automation capabilities, Veeqo will provide you with a stable foundation from which to transform your customer experiences.
Sign-up to Veeqo in just 30-seconds, and start taking advantage of Veeqo's powerful suite of shipping and inventory management tools.
