https://learn.g2.

com/customer-reviews-statistics

In case you haven’t heard, reviews are all the rage.

Whether it’s finding a hotel, a place to eat dinner, choosing your next
television, or CRM software for your company, reviews hold power.

Personally, I don’t like buyer’s remorse. Reviews are how I avoid this. If I’m
shopping at Target considering a new printer or camera, I have no qualms
taking a few minutes to check out the reviews on Amazon before making my
final purchase decision.

Here you'll find customer review statistics that prove:

 Customers are reading reviews

 The impact online reviews have on increased sales
 Customers want to engage with reviews
 The importance of replying to customer reviews
 Negative reviews can be a good thing
 You can get reviews (that work in your favor!)
 Reviews are a powerful form of user generated content

If you are a marketer (or any business professional!) and you have doubts
about using reviews in your strategy, these stats will turn you into a believer.

After you’ve perused the statistical evidence, read our ultimate guide
to customer reviews and learn how to put a review strategy into practice!
Last updated: September 20, 2019

Customers are reading reviews

 Nearly 95% of shoppers read online reviews before making a purchase

(Spiegel Research Center, 2017)
 94% of customers read online reviews (Fan and Fuel, 2016)
 93% of local consumers use reviews to determine if a local business is
good or bad (BrightLocal, 2017)
 72% of customers don't take action until they have read reviews
(Testimonial Engine)

The impact of online reviews on sales

and revenue
 92% of B2B buyers are more likely to purchase after reading a trusted
review (G2 and Heinz Marketing, 2017)
 Displaying reviews can increase conversion rates by 270% (Spiegel
Research Center, 2017)
 Businesses that claim their free listings on at least four review sites earn
36% more revenue than average (Womply, 2019)
  Having five reviews results in purchase likelihood increasing by a factor
of almost four times (Spiegel Research Center, 2017)
 Displaying reviews for higher-priced products can increase conversion
rates by 380% (Spiegel Research Center, 2017)
 Purchase likelihood improves 15% when buyers read verified buyer
reviews over anonymous reviews (Spiegel Research Center, 2017)
 One-to-one peer recommendations, original research, and product
reviews are the most influential content in affecting purchase decisions
(Content Marketing Institute and SmartBrief, 2017)
 A one star increase on Yelp can lead to a 5-9% increase in business
revenue (Harvard Business School, Michael Luca, 2016)
 97% of shoppers say reviews influence buying decisions (Fan and Fuel,
2016)
 68% of Americans report positive reviews making them more likely to
use a business (BrightLocal, 2017)
 Given two products with similar ratings, consumers are more likely to
buy the product with more reviews (Psychological Science, 2017)
 Reviews produce an 18% uplift in sales (Revoo, as shared
by Econsultancy)
 Reviews make 71% of customers more comfortable purchasing a
product (3D Cart)
 88% of buyers are influenced in their buying decision by reviews
(Zendesk)
 Customers spend 31% more when a business has positive reviews
(Broadly)

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Consumer engagement with reviews

 92% of consumers trust peer recommendations. (Search Engine
Watch, 2017)
 73% of customers value the written review over the overall star rating
(Fan and Fuel, 2016)
 68% of consumers look for either information on the reviewer’s
experience, or problems the reviewer experienced when reading
reviews (Fan and Fuel, 2016)
 Only 3% of buyers say that reviews never factor into their buying
decisions (Fan and Fuel, 2016)
 Only 13% of shoppers find the seller’s website to be the most helpful
when buying consumer goods, and 17% when purchasing services (Fan
and Fuel, 2016)
 60% of people read online reviews for a local restaurant or cafe
(BrightLocal, 2017)
 73% of consumers trust a local business more after reading positive
reviews (BrightLocal, 2017)
  87% of American-based consumers need a business to have a
minimum star rating of three or higher (out of five) to use it (BrightLocal,
2017)
 54% of consumers visit a local business’s website after reading a
positive review (BrightLocal, 2017)
 71% of B2B buyers look at reviews during the consideration stage (G2
Crowd and Heinz Marketing, 2017)
 67% of B2B buyers rank peer reviews as very important when making a
purchase decision (Demand Gen Report, 2017)
 In 2018, 40% of consumers would only take into account local reviews
written within the past two weeks. (BrightLocal, 2018).
 82% of buyers consider user-generated reviews to be extremely
valuable (3D Cart)
 67% of B2B buyers want to see a mix of positive and negative reviews
(G2 Crowd and Heinz Marketing, 2017)
 85% of buyers trust reviews as much as personal recommendations
(BrightLocal, 2017)

Related: Discover the 5 customer service skills that inspire reviews.

The importance of replying to customer

reviews
 Businesses who reply to reviews at least 25% of the time have an
average of 35% more revenue (Womply, 2019)
 53% of customers expect businesses to reply to their online reviews
within seven days (Review Trackers, 2018)
  41% of consumers say that brands replying to reviews makes them
believe the company really cares about their customers (Bazaarvoice)
 Consumers spend up to 49% at companies that reply to reviews
(Womply, 2019)
 Not replying to reviews risks increasing customer churn by up to 15%
(Chatmeter, 2017)
 89% of consumers read the replies to reviews (BrightLocal, 2018)
 7 out of 10 consumers changed their opinion about a brand after the
company replied to a review (Bazaarvoice via Marketing Charts, 2013)
 16% of participants in a 2016 study expect businesses to reply to
negative reviews in 1-3 hours (Get Five Stars, 2016)

Negative reviews can work in your favor

 72% of B2B buyers say negative reviews give depth and insight into a
product (G2 Crowd and Heinz Marketing, 2017)
 40% of B2B buyers say negative reviews help build credibility for a
product (G2 Crowd and Heinz Marketing, 2017)
 82% of shoppers specifically seek out negative reviews (Power
Reviews, 2017)
 Consumers spend four times as long interacting with negative reviews,
with a 67% increase in conversion rate (Spiegel Research Center,
2017)
 92% of consumers have difficulties or hesitations purchasing an item
with no reviews (Fan and Fuel, 2016)
 5 star businesses earn less in revenue than businesses with a 1 - 1.5
star rating (Womply, 2019)
  95% of consumers get suspicious of fake reviews if there are no bad
scores (Revoo, 2013)
 The likelihood of purchase peaks at a star rating of 4.0 – 4.7, then
decreases as the rating gets closer to 5.0. (Spiegel Research Center,
2017)
 68% of customers trust reviews more when they see a mix of good and
bad reviews (Broadly)

The process of getting customer reviews

 68% of consumers have left a review for a local business after being
asked to do so (BrightLocal, 2017)
 Up to 80% of reviews originate from follow-up emails urging shoppers to
review their purchases (Power Reviews, 2017)
 Consumers with negative experiences are more likely to write a review
than those who had a positive experience (Street Fight and Toluma,
2012)
 Brands can expect their average star rating to increase after emailing
buyers a direct link to submit reviews (Spiegel Research Center, 2017)
 80% of consumers aged 18-34 have written online reviews.
Alternatively, 41% of consumers over 55 have written a review.
(BrightLocal, 2018)
 7 out of 10 customers will leave a review when asked to do so
(Broadly)

The need for reviews and user-

generated content
  84% of people trust reviews they read online as much as personal
recommendations (Bright Local, 2017)
 Only 34% of B2B Buyers are willing to consider vendor-related content
as trustworthy (Demand Gen Report, 2017)
 83% of people think a business with a user-generated review on their
landing page is trustworthy (BrightLocal, 2017)
 76% of consumers are more likely to trust content shared by their peers
rather than content shared by brands (AdWeek, 2017)

 81% of buyers generally conduct research before bringing in a vendor

(Content Marketing Institute and SmartBrief, 2017)
 66% of buyers use sources outside of vendor materials during the
research phase (Content Marketing Institute and SmartBrief, 2017)
 Irrelevant content is the number one reason buyers don’t engage with
vendors more frequently (Marketo, 2017)
 Reputation makes up over 25% of a brand’s market value (Deloitte,
2012)
 User-generated content is trusted by millennials 50% more than
traditional media (Crowdtap via VPDM, 2014)
 Experts believe that online reviews make up over 13% of how Google
and other search engines rank local search results (Chatmeter, 2017)
 78% of customers who read reviews were satisfied with their purchase
(Broadly)

Throughout all of the statistics, one fact remains clear: customer reviews
matter.

We are living in a new world when it comes to purchase decisions; the buying
process has changed, for both B2B and B2C buyers.
Regardless of if you already utilize reviews, or you're just getting started with a
review strategy, you want recent reviews. (And as many of them as possible!)