Ways To Make Use of Customer Feedback

As eCommerce is not slowing down and competition is getting wilder by the day, you always need new ways of staying ahead. You should use any data and insights that you have to reinvent, optimize and improve your business. That is why we wanted to pay more attention to what customer feedback has to offer in that area. It is not just reviews and complaints, feedback is a free way of gathering ideas and growing your brand. Let’s see all the various ways you can use feedback for growth.

Use Customer Feedback To Generate More Ideas

In reviews, people often say what they wished you offered - it’s literally free market research on what’s trending, where consumers are going and what you can do to compete.

• Ideas for new variants, colors, features to add, accessories to offer
• You might discover alternative uses to promote and reach new audiences - like how people use your fast-drying towels for their pets, for instance
• Use their words - in reviews, you’ll see what words people use for describing your products so you can use them for SEO
• When you ask customers of their opinion, they feel important - their ideas matter and they want to see how you implement them. So they stay more involved with the brand, driving higher customer retention. It’s unlikely they’d go to the competition if you make the scent they suggested, right?

Take this review on the Boden UK site, for example. The customer points out a huge inconvenience that spoiled her enjoyment of the product. It’s something that can be fixed - change the material to a machine washable one. This means easier and cheaper care and potentially many more buyers who didn’t buy the product because of this detail before.

Source: Boden

 

Use Positive Reviews on Website and Social Media

Of course, raving reviews are great as social proof. They add the authentic voices of customers to your marketing copywriting for a deeper impact on the newcomer. You might have never thought of some of the things people love about your products so the fresh perspective amplifies yours. User pics using the product add extra credibility and reassurance for hesitant buyers.

A customer review on the Modcloth product page, complete with photo, source

 

Note: It’s very important that you always ask for permission before using customer feedback for marketing because some people might want it to remain secret that they’re using your products. You don’t want a good customer to feel exposed when you reveal to the world they’ve been taking vitamins to get pregnant or using vitiligo cosmetics, for example.

Improve Your Products and Services

Because people are 21% more likely to leave a review after a bad experience with the brand so feedback is your direct scoop of what can be improved.

A customer feedback tied to the products bought, Source: Metrilo

 

Fix Problems

If it is possible, resolve issues both short-term and long-term. Exchange and refund but also try to make your products better so you don’t have the same problems in the future.

Native, a DTC deodorant brand, reworked its formula 24 times before customers said it was perfect. From then on, repeat orders were 50% of all and the company went into stardom, getting acquired by P&G, expanding into more products and getting on the shelves of Target.

 

Get Rid of The Rotten Apples 

Some  products probably will turn up in negative reviews again and again. There is something seriously wrong with them and it’s maybe for the best if you drop them from your store. They are spoiling the shopping experience of more than one customer and that costs you money and clients. 

 

Double Down on The Products That Get Great Reviews

Give them more visibility on site and in campaigns. They obviously make people happy and drive sales. The more people choose them, the more satisfied they will be. 

Plus, over time you’ll know not only your best sellers but also the products that make people loyal to your brand. They are your true hero products to put in front of as many eyes as possible.

 

Identify Topics To Include in Your FAQ

Maybe feedback shows that people often do not understand some of the product’s functions or capabilities. You can create more content about it and educate them more to avoid disappointments. 

Reward Feedback No Matter Good or Bad

This shows appreciation of the time customers put in getting back to you. Either way your brand benefits, so it’s smart to thank them with a coupon for a next order or a small freebie. The positive reviewers will love you even more and your brand will imprint on their hearts. 

As for the negative ones, update them on your actions you are taking. Even if you couldn’t fix it entirely, it will show care and a will to improve, and make a good impression. Chances are they will shop from you again after that because you made an effort.

Also, if you get public reviews on Facebook, for example, make sure you or your team handle the bad ones with care and professionalism. No deleting, no quarrels. This will only hurt your brand image. Be polite, try to resolve the issue and try not to alienate any customers. 

 

Create an Army of Micro-Influencers

The people who gave you the highest scores and the most raving feedback can be great brand advocates. And because they’re just normal people, their referrals will be very effective. They will bring you more customers within your target group because friends naturally share interests and tastes.

In your feedback gathering tool, identify those people, and reach out to them personally to join a referral program of sorts.

Filtering by feedback in Metrilo 

 

Ask them if, since they like your brand so much, they’d want to spread the word about it to friends. Provide them each with a personal referral link through which people will shop and you will track sales. 

In return, offer them a permanent discount or a free product with every order earning a store bonus to spend - or whatever else makes sense for your category. 

Source: King & Rook (original image)

 

How To Gather Feedback?

You can always turn on Facebook’s review tab or get a plugin that lets people post reviews on your site. Google reviews will always be there, too, although it is hard to extract data to use out of them. To make the most use of it, we recommend using an eCommerce CRM with an in-built feedback function where you’ll gather the feedback in one place, filter it easily by sentiment, see what products are tried to this opinion, etc. Then, engaging customers and acting on feedback is a child’s play.

In short

Customer feedback opens the door to so many improvements for your ecommerce business. It supplies ideas when you are stuck and offers a glimpse into the customer mind. Good or bad, you can use it to make your brand and products better, and win more loyal customers.

Bio

Murry Ivanoff is the co-founder and CEO of Metrilo, an ecommerce analytics, CRM and email platform that lets you gather and use customer feedback among many other things.