We have analyzed more than 26 million brand and product reviews published between October 2021 and November 2023 to identify the main trends. The results speak for themselves. Customer reviews are more important than ever, and there is no doubt that they influence purchasing decisions. This applies to all the sectors covered in our study: Fashion & Apparel,...
We have analyzed more than 26 million brand and product reviews published between October 2021 and November 2023 to identify the main trends.
The results speak for themselves. Customer reviews are more important than ever, and there is no doubt that they influence purchasing decisions. This applies to all the sectors covered in our study: Fashion & Apparel, Cosmetics & Beauty, Travel, Home & Garden, Food & Beverage, Sports, and Consumer Electronics.
This article takes a look at some of our key findings. Download our report, “From stars to sales: ratings & reviews matter”, to read our complete study and discover the figures for each sector.
The number of customer reviews is rising
The first thing to note is that the number of customer reviews published online is constantly growing.
Here are the number of reviews published between October 2022 and November 2023:
This graph shows significant seasonal fluctuations, coinciding with key sales periods. For example, consumers publish the most brand and product reviews around Fall, reflecting major sales events such as Black Friday, Christmas, New Year, etc.
There is, therefore, a correlation between sales and review volumes. The more reviews are published, the more purchases are made.
This applies to both brand and product reviews which, as you can see, are more or less equal in volume.
These variations highlight the impact reviews have on consumer decisions. After all, who buys products online nowadays without reading the consumer reviews first? Checking reviews before making a purchase has become a common practice.
Customer reviews make brands more credible and reassure customers about the quality of the products and services on offer. They remove any barriers to purchase that some consumers may encounter during the purchasing process.
Consumers Mainly Share Positive Reviews
Lots of brands worry about negative reviews. Our study should put their minds at ease—reviews are almost always positive.
Our measurement is based on star ratings since they are the easiest to categorize as positive or negative.
Don’t forget that star ratings have a particularly strong impact on purchasing decisions. The average star rating gives consumers an accurate and objective idea of their peers’ overall perception of a particular product or brand.
Among the star ratings, we analyzed on our platform:
- 76% of brand reviews display 5 stars
- 73% of product reviews display 5 stars
The following graph shows the distribution of reviews according to the number of stars given:
Reviews with 4 or 5 stars make up 90% of all the customer reviews.
Positive reviews have a bigger impact on buying decisions than negative ones. However, negative reviews play an important role, too. They give consumers a more accurate idea of the product. And, above all, they show that the brand is transparent and genuine, which builds trust.
Variations From One Sector to Another
We wanted to refine our analysis by zooming in on specific sectors. The differences provide some interesting insights.
Let’s take two examples:
- In the Fashion & Apparel sector, there was a significant peak in December 2022 (+40% compared to the average annual volume), which coincides with the holiday season. This is further proof of the correlation between review volumes and sales volumes. . .
- In the Travel sector, there are significant seasonal peaks, with a lot more reviews published in summer, which makes sense.
Feel free to download our study to access more detailed figures for the following sectors:
- Fashion & Apparel
- Cosmetics & Beauty
- Travel
- Home & Garden
- Food & Beverages
- Sports
- Consumer Electronics
A cross-sector comparison of review volumes also reveals some interesting insights. The Travel and Electronics sectors have the fewest reviews since there are fewer transactions. People buy holidays less often than clothes. . .
There is also a stark difference between the number of product and brand reviews in the Fashion & Apparel, Home Sports, and, to a lesser extent, Food sectors.
In other words, consumer behavior varies with the seasons, which impacts the volume and nature of reviews. This is the main insight we can draw from our sector analysis. All sectors show significant variations from month to month, often linked to clearly identified seasonal periods.
This sector-specific information is particularly useful for optimizing the timing of your review management campaigns.
Brand reviews vs. product reviews
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again—both types of reviews count. But they don’t impact different aspects of the buying process, which is why it’s important to set them apart.
Brand reviews give consumers a general idea of a brand’s reliability, trustworthiness, and reputation. Consumers usually read them at the beginning of their purchasing journey.
Consumers read product reviews during the buying process to find out more about a particular product.
Brand and product reviews share one thing in common—there are more and more of them. The number of reviews published online is growing each year in most sectors, whatever the type of review. With one exception—product reviews in the Travel sector.
Our study includes graphs that present a detailed overview of the evolution of review volumes between 2021, 2022, and 2023 according to sector and review type.
Conclusion
This study highlights the ever-growing importance of customer reviews. Consumers are all influencers and influenced:
- They publish lots of reviews to share their experience and exercise their power of recommendation.
- They also consume reviews to make informed purchasing decisions. According to a Partoo study, 76% of Internet users believe that customer reviews impact their decisions.
Brands can therefore no longer ignore customer reviews and must make them an integral part of their marketing strategy!
