subject: Consumer Reports - Positive Or Negative Sales? [print this page] It is a common and popular belief among ordinary buyers that consumer reports can decrease product sales. While this can be true to some extent, it has been observed that making consumer reviews with the intention of telling the public more about a product (either good things or bad) can drive significant sales upwards. Surprised? Don't be!
Product Reviews Help Drive Positive Sales In General
One of the reasons for sales improvement is the diversity and saturation of the general market. Because there are a lot of competing brands for each product line, consumers are forced to know more about the item they wish to buy. As a result, they want to read product features and important feedbacks about them by reading reviews.
For example, online shoppers browse through many websites with the sole purpose of knowing more about a product they're interested in and then later on buying that same product. However, shoppers tend to leave the site if they notice that there are only a few line descriptions about the item. Because they like to know more, they go for sites that showcase extensive reports and detailed product information.
Customers usually feel more at ease in buying products that they know. Clearly, product reports have been noted to improve as much as 30% more sales even exceeding the initial projections of many product manufacturers.
Do Product Reviews, Especially Negative Ones, Drive Sales Down?
Perhaps the notion of consumer reports driving sales down is related to the fear of bad reviews. Well, bad press is not entirely bad. It just shows the public about the imperfection of the product.
If you are the manufacturer, your main responsibility is to show potential buyers that you have a workaround for that imperfection. If not, you can tell them that you and your company are trying your best to develop future technologies that can help improve your existing product. This way, you can use bad press for the better. Moreover, companies who don't want to receive bad consumer reports just need to exert more effort so they won't get them.
Because some shoppers become skeptical with products that have purely good reviews, a bright solution is to set-up an efficient customer support line. Those who managed to sell millions of units have made sure that they have dedicated hotlines, email addresses, contact information for mailing and even established several nearby facilities where their customers can visit to air their complaints.
Another way to improve your company and product image is to avoid the use of highfalutin descriptions. Offer competitive pricing and do not tell your customers what your product doesn't have. Furthermore, make sure that you ship your products on time and they must be of the same good quality as described in your official page or other advertisements. Do not offer false promises of fast delivery dates, most especially if your courier has encountered many delays. This is to avoid receiving bad feedback. By doing these, you will surely see a few or no negative consumer reports at all.
