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Our new report Brand integrity: the new frontier for marketing explores consumer expectations surrounding purpose-driven brands, including which social, political and environmental stances make them more or less likely to buy from or recommend a brand.

The consumer research uncovers: 

- How much a brand’s purpose matters to consumers today
- The top social, political and environmental stances consumers consider when making a purchase 
- Which factors make consumers less likely to buy from a brand
- Which information sources consumers check to find out if brands live up to their claims 


Brand integrity: the new frontier for marketing

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### Brand integrity: the new frontier for marketing

[Get the report here](/guides-reports/build-trusted-brand/brand-integrity-the-new-frontier-for-marketing?cta=banner)

View Trustpilot's latest reports as we share industry data, whitepapers and research papers from verticals including automotive, finance, ecommerce and more.

Guides and reports | Trustpilot Business Blog

Guides and Reports

The complete guide to marketing with customer reviews: 2021 update

Trustpilot's complete guide to reviews

Marketing with customer reviews is a surefire way to build trust in your brand, and turn that into measurable ROI through increased web traffic and sales. In this practical guide, we'll show you 15 ways you can improve your marketing strategy with reviews.

I rely on reviews. You rely on reviews. 

We all rely on reviews. 

In fact, [consumer behavior](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/learn-from-customers/consumer-behavior-in-the-age-of-coronavirus-global-review-trends-by-industry) has evolved such that shoppers the world over are relying on reviews from their fellow customers to find the most up-to-date and accurate information about businesses in their local communities and beyond. 

So, if you’re wondering whether you could be doing more with customer reviews, know this: reviews can provide your business with so much more than feedback on your products and services. 

They're also a powerful marketing engine in their own right. Customer reviews are a way to build trust in your brand, and turn that brand trust into measurable ROI through increased web traffic, sales, and revenue. 

In this practical guide, we’ll show you exactly how to turn your customer reviews into better business results by putting them to work throughout your entire marketing strategy. 

And on the off chance you’re totally new to the world of reviews, we’ll start with a quick overview of their many benefits, and how they work together to propel business growth. 

## Why every business needs customer reviews and testimonials

We’ll keep this brief — the virtuous cycle of collecting reviews goes something like this: 

### 1. Build trust in your brand by collecting and responding to reviews.

Reviews are an opportunity for anyone familiar with your brand to publicly share what they love about your products, services, and [customer experience](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/learn-from-customers/5-reasons-why-customer-experience-is-the-pulse-of-every-business). So, having reviews publicly available conveys to potential customers that you’re safe to do business with.

Once you have some reviews about your business, you can:

### 2. Attract new customers by using reviews, ratings, and testimonials throughout your marketing strategy. 

Showing off your customer reviews is how you turn your hard-earned brand trust into measurable ROI. 

Whether you dream of becoming the search result they actually click, driving more traffic with your emails and ad creative, or converting more browsers into buyers on your site — [social proof](https://business.trustpilot.com/guides-reports/build-trusted-brand/why-and-how-social-proof-influences-consumers) like reviews, star ratings, and testimonials can help with that. 

To meet the expectations of all the new customers you’ll attract from showing off your reviews, you’ll need to: 

### 3. Tap into the goldmine of fresh consumer insights within your reviews.    

You’ve built a trusted brand. You’ve attracted more customers than ever before by exuding trustworthiness in all of your marketing. Now you need to understand what all of your new customers thought about their experience with your brand. 

Reviews act like a window into the minds of your customers, allowing you to discover exactly what they want — and deliver it — so you can build customer loyalty, get even more customer feedback, and continue using that feedback to attract new customers.

Sounds good, right? It all begins with [getting reviews](https://business.trustpilot.com/features/get-reviews) for your business so you can start showing off the trust in your brand. 

This is especially easy for businesses built on major eCommerce platforms to get up and running thanks to Trustpilot’s native integrations for [Shopify](https://business.trustpilot.com/partners/shopify-plus), [BigCommerce](https://business.trustpilot.com/partners/bigcommerce), [WooCommerce](https://business.trustpilot.com/partners/woocommerce), [Magento](https://business.trustpilot.com/partners/magento-commerce), [PrestaShop](https://business.trustpilot.com/partners/prestashop), [Shopware](https://business.trustpilot.com/partners/shopware), and [OpenCart](https://business.trustpilot.com/partners/opencart). 


complete-guide-to-reviews-img1

Trustpilot reviews displayed on a phone

## 15 Ways to use customer reviews in your marketing strategy

Once you’ve collected some reviews about your business, you can start showcasing the voice of the customer throughout your marketing strategy to increase organic traffic, dial up your paid digital campaign performance, and ultimately win more customers. 

## Improving organic SEO with customer reviews

With [91.5% of organic traffic](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/seo-101/seo-statistics/) going to sites listed on the first page of search engine results, we can’t overstate how important your organic search ranking is when it comes to attracting new customers. 

__With that in mind, here are five ways you can use customer reviews to improve your organic search rankings.__

### 1. Build strong off-page SEO by collecting reviews on a third-party platform. 

Off-page SEO describes any actions you take to build up a digital footprint outside of your actual website — whether it’s building credible backlinks to your pages, staying active on social media platforms, or even creating a profile on a [third-party review platform](https://thenextweb.com/contributors/2018/02/26/can-independent-review-platforms-make-google-love-site/) like Trustpilot. 


Off page SEO

off-page SEO diagram

Even though search engine algorithms are always evolving, the experts at [Moz](https://moz.com/learn/seo/off-site-seo) suspect that off-page SEO considerations like relevance, trustworthiness, and authority carry more than 50% of the ranking factor weight. 

Fortunately, building up your online presence with third-party reviews can help your business tick all three of those boxes. 

### 2. Drive more referral traffic from your Trustpilot business profile. 

On top of the off-page SEO benefits for your actual website, creating a profile on Trustpilot can also lead to a huge spike in referral traffic. 

That’s because when someone searches for reviews of a brand, they’re likely to find that brand’s Trustpilot [business profile page](https://support.trustpilot.com/hc/en-us/articles/360013930439-Introduction-to-your-company-profile-page) at the top of the search results. Why, you ask? 

We don’t mean to brag, but Trustpilot’s [domain authority](https://moz.com/learn/seo/domain-authority) is strong. So, the more reviews you collect — and the more you [enrich the content](https://support.trustpilot.com/hc/en-us/articles/202616716-Customize-your-company-profile) on your business profile page — the easier it will be for search engines to associate your brand with ours, and show your presence on Trustpilot right at the top of search results.

This could be your competitive advantage since referral traffic is so often overlooked — even though it’s a free source of qualified leads, and can even [improve your organic search performance](https://moz.com/blog/organic-traffic-without-ranking). 


Learn how TaxSlayer used their enriched business profile page to generate a 500% increase in referral traffic to their site.

### 3. Get more organic traffic by displaying customer reviews on your website.

Featuring customer reviews on key landing pages is easy to pull off with review widgets, and this small addition to your website can improve how often your pages show up in organic search results. 

That’s because reviews are a form of user-generated content, and UGC is SEO gold:

- __Reviews increase the amount of text on each page.__ This extra text makes your page more valuable in the eyes of Google because you’re offering them more context for what the page is really about — and whether it should surface for the user’s search query. 
- __The ratings associated with your reviews help Google understand the quality of your products and services.__ At the end of the day, Google wants to show the most reputable search results in hopes of delivering the best experience to their users. 
- __Review text adds fresh content to pages that might not otherwise get frequent updates.__ This tells Google that the information about your business is recent and up-to-date, and is therefore worth surfacing for the user’s search query.  

These elements work together to [help Google understand your website](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/build-trusted-brand/why-does-google-care-if-your-business-has-online-reviews-in-2019). Over time this can lead search engines to show your pages in search results more frequently, and drive larger volumes of high quality traffic to your site.


reviews are great for SEO because they provide fresh content and long tail keywords, both of which Google loves

complete-guide-to-reviews-img4

Google search on a laptop

### 4. Earn review snippets in organic search with product reviews. 

When marketers think about star ratings in search results, paid listings usually come to mind — and we’ll get there in the next section. But most marketers don’t realize they can also earn star ratings on their organic search listings and appeal to those savvy shoppers who might be [less inclined to click-through an ad](https://business.trustpilot.com/guides-reports/build-trusted-brand/can-online-reviews-revive-consumer-trust-in-advertising). 

As it turns out, collecting [Product Reviews](https://business.trustpilot.com/features/product-reviews) can help you qualify for [review snippets](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/get-seen-in-search/rich-snippets-stars-for-product-reviews-can-boost-seo) in organic search.  

And those shiny gold stars on your listings can help attract more attention to your product pages, and even improve your click-through rates by up to 35% in organic search. 

Not bad!

It’s not hard to do — our range of [eCommerce integrations](https://business.trustpilot.com/partners/type/apps) allow you to make your Product Review data discoverable to search engines in just a few clicks that add some simple code (aka schema markup) to your product pages. This allows search engines to easily get a sense of your products’ overall ratings, and determine whether you meet their requirements for displaying review snippets. 

If your review stats meet [Google’s requirements](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/data-types/review-snippet), your product pages could appear with performance-enhancing review snippets in the SERPs. 


According to Conversion XL, review stars in search engine results can improve CTR by as much as 35%.

complete-guide-to-reviews-img5

According to ConversionXL, review snippets can improve click-through rate by as much as 35% in organic search

### 5. Rank for long tail search queries with product reviews.

Collecting product reviews can also amp up the SEO power on each of your product pages, and help you rank for a broader range of relevant keywords. 

It’s pretty straightforward. Allowing customers to leave reviews about your individual products — and putting them front and center on your product pages — can improve your site’s visibility for [long tail search queries](https://yoast.com/focus-on-long-tail-keywords/#:~:text=Focusing%20on%20long%2Dtail%20keywords,as%20they%20are%20more%20specific.), with no copywriting effort on your part.

Try as you might, thinking of every possible descriptor, use case, or problem your product solves can be difficult to say the least. Thankfully, product reviews let your customers become the copywriters, enabling them to share their own unique experiences with your products. 

The icing on the cake is that all this happens automatically — no extra copywriting or content creation for you.

## Enhancing paid digital campaign performance with customer reviews

Today’s consumers have seen it all — and many of them don’t want to see ads or slick marketing messages anymore. In fact, more than [75% of consumers](https://deloitte.wsj.com/cmo/2018/04/03/are-consumers-adlergic-a-look-at-ad-blocking-habits/) regularly use an adblocker.

To make matters even more challenging for digital marketers, research shows [fewer than 3 in 10 consumers](https://business.trustpilot.com/guides-reports/learn-from-customers/trustworthiness-in-advertising-what-consumers-have-to-say) report a solid level of trust towards digital advertising channels.  

__Fortunately, customer reviews and star ratings can enhance your digital campaign performance on the channels that have the [biggest influence](https://business.trustpilot.com/guides-reports/build-trusted-brand/can-online-reviews-revive-consumer-trust-in-advertising) on consumer’s purchasing decisions.__

### 6. Qualify for Google Seller Ratings to improve Google Ads performance.

A close relative of review snippets in organic search, [Google Seller Ratings](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/get-seen-in-search/how-to-land-great-reviews-and-boost-your-google-seller-rating) are a one-stop-shop for:

- Adding a healthy dose of social proof to your paid search listings.
- Making your business stand out from the competition.
- And increasing click-through rate on your Google Ads campaigns.

A higher click-through rate often leads to increased sales, and will usually improve your [Quality Score](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/140351?hl=en) — meaning you’ll get traffic at a lower cost per click. This in turn gives you a lower cost per acquisition, and frees up more budget for the rest of your business.

Just keep in mind that whether Google Seller Ratings display on your paid search listings is up to Google’s discretion in line with their [latest guidelines](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2375474?hl=en) — which tend to stipulate that a business must have a certain number of reviews and a certain aggregate rating before those shiny gold stars will appear below your [Google Ads](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/browsers-to-buyers/why-wont-my-google-seller-ratings-show-up-and-4-other-gsr-questions).

Once you do earn them though, your [Google Seller Ratings](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/get-seen-in-search/how-to-land-great-reviews-and-boost-your-google-seller-rating) will appear in Google search results, Google Shopping listings, and even on Google search partners’ listings. 

So if you ask us, it’s worth setting yourself up to qualify for them.

### 7. Enhance your retargeting campaigns with customer testimonials, reviews, and ratings.

[Retargeting campaigns](https://blog.alexa.com/retargeting-vs-remarketing/) can straddle a range of platforms using paid ads to re-engage potential customers who have visited your website or social media profiles. 

No matter which platform you’re using to run a retargeting campaign, you can see a [performance improvement](https://business.trustpilot.com/customer-stories/finance-insurance/why-taxslayer-chose-trustpilot-to-leverage-customer-feedback) if you include your reviews and ratings in the ad creative. This can look like:

- Quoting an individual customer review.
- Using your overall rating in your ad creative.
- Showing off how many customers have rated you highly.

The best part? Highlighting your reviews in ad creative can be done without design skills (or even an in-house designer) with some help from Trustpilot’s social media [Image Generator](https://business.trustpilot.com/features/social-media-tools).

With retargeting, you’re putting ads in front of people who have some existing relationship with your business. The extra social proof you add to your retargeting creative might be the deciding factor that nudges customers to purchase from you.


Learn more about Trustpilot's social media tools. 

## Getting more from your email marketing with the voice of the customer 

Though it’s a tough number to pin down, email marketing experts estimate that the average person sends and receives [126 business emails per day](https://www.campaignmonitor.com/resources/knowledge-base/how-many-emails-does-the-average-person-receive-per-day/). That’s a whole lot of emails.

It’s easy to see why the average open rate for emails is about [22%](https://mailchimp.com/resources/email-marketing-benchmarks/) — and why it can be so challenging to cut through the noise with email marketing.

__Here are four ways you can let the voice of the customer do it for you.__

### 8. Boost email click-through rates by adding customer reviews and testimonials.

Every improvement in email click-through rate is going to drive more qualified traffic to your website and increase the odds of a conversion. So you might be interested to know that customer reviews can improve the click-through rate in all of your [marketing emails](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/browsers-to-buyers/4-email-marketing-strategies-to-unlock-black-friday-sales-volume-throughout).

Unlike channels with strict word counts and requirements for visual creative, with email you’re free to be creative with how you show off your reviews. You can even use them as the entire basis for different types of email content and CTAs. 

Whether you’re drafting a monthly newsletter, a seasonal product promotion, or a dynamic remarketing campaign – [highlighting a customer review](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/inside-trustpilot/social-proof-in-email-marketing-is-easier-than-ever-with-trustpilots-klaviyo) that’s directly related to your offer puts the social proof your customers crave right on a silver platter, and [increases the odds](https://www.campaignmonitor.com/blog/email-marketing/2019/06/improve-your-ctr-using-social-proof/#:~:text=4.,a%2037.5%25%20increase%20in%20conversions.) that they’ll click-through to your landing page, and ultimately convert. 

And with [82% of shoppers](https://business.trustpilot.com/guides-reports/build-trusted-brand/why-and-how-social-proof-influences-consumers) reporting that ratings and reviews in email marketing can make them more likely to purchase, that’s pretty promising.  

### 9. Let customer reviews do the talking in your welcome campaigns.

Welcome campaigns are your first opportunity to build a direct relationship with a future customer. Most of your email signups probably haven’t made a purchase yet, and they could even be brand new to your business.

This is your opportunity to convince them you’re a brand they can feel comfortable buying from — and it’s the perfect time to let your satisfied customers do the talking. 

Think of your reviews as a dynamic database of nuanced marketing content to make your campaigns as compelling as possible to your email audience segment. 

When you’re in the early stages of building a relationship with your future customers, it’s a good idea to: 

- Include a relevant customer review in each email, whether it’s about a specific product or your customer experience in general. 
- Feature your top-rated products and services based on your reviews. 
- Show off your brand’s personality by curating some surprising or funny customer reviews. 

This is just a sampling of the creative ways you can make a first impression through your customer reviews and generate warm responses to your email campaigns. 

### 10. Show off your trustworthiness in the email header, footer, and subject line.

Every email you send should include some proof of your trustworthiness. One easy way to achieve this is by including your star rating to your email template’s header, or adding a customer testimonial in the footer. 

With email [open rates](https://mailchimp.com/help/about-open-and-click-rates/) hovering around a modest 22%, it’s also in your best interest to lead with social proof right in the subject line. Here are some sample ideas to get you started:

*- "Our top reviewed products this month."*
*- "Thank you for making us a 5 star company."*
*- "5 ways we’ve used your reviews to improve our customer service."*
*- "Meet Sue, our top customer service rep."*
*- “We thought our teapots were great, your feedback has made them even better!”*
*- “The products you love.”*


Complete Guide to Reviews Quote Jillian Lore

Trustpilot logo Round Star BlueBG 420x420

Digital Marketing Specialist, Rush49

### 11. Abandoned cart emails are more effective with customer reviews.

No matter how watertight your online shopping journey is, abandoned carts are bound to happen. 

According to the experts at [Klaviyo](https://www.klaviyo.com/blog/whats-is-abandoned-shopping-cart-email), the average cart abandonment rate is about 70% on desktop and a whopping 85% on mobile — so it’s not surprising that abandoned cart email flows have become so popular. 

Many retailers rely on special offers and promotions in these email campaigns to lure would-be customers back to their website, but adding a testimonial, review, or rating can be more than enough to bring them back without compromising your precious margins.  

So if you’re putting together an abandoned cart email flow, consider including a few reviews about your customer experience or best-selling products to reassure any hesitant shoppers out there that your business is not only safe to buy from — but that there’s plenty to love about your brand.

No matter what type of email campaign you’re running, it’s easy to feature Trustpilot reviews with our integrations for major email providers like [Klaviyo](https://business.trustpilot.com/partners/klaviyo), [Fresh Relevance](https://business.trustpilot.com/partners/fresh-relevance), and [Movable Ink](https://business.trustpilot.com/partners/movable-ink). 


Adding reviews to your cart abandonment email campaigns can boost CTR by up to 220%

complete-guide-to-reviews-img7

NewYorkDress saw a 220% increase in CTR after adding reviews to their cart abandonment emails

## Improving website conversion rates by putting customer reviews front and center

Today, [89%](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/build-trusted-brand/4-things-every-business-owner-should-know-about-the-state-of-reviews) of consumers check online reviews throughout the online shopping journey. So, by the time a potential customer lands on your website, chances are they’ve already formed a first impression about your brand. 

If you want to make sure that first impression leads to a conversion, it’s a good idea to provide all the reassurance they need to click “BUY” right on your website. 

__Here are four ways to [improve your conversion rate](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/browsers-to-buyers/what-is-conversion-rate-optimisation) with customer reviews on your website.__

### 12. Use reviews to make a stellar first impression on your homepage. 

When you improve the trustworthiness of your marketing campaigns, you’re likely to drive a lot more qualified traffic to your website. If your goal is turning more site browsers into buyers, your website should be just as trustworthy as the marketing materials that led them there. 

When it comes to website optimization, the homepage is often overlooked in favor of product pages and the checkout page — and that’s a missed opportunity.

Even if the majority of your site visitors arrive via a specific landing page, there’s a good chance they’ll still want to check out your homepage, especially if they’re unfamiliar with your brand. 

With this in mind, try to highlight customer reviews as much as possible on your homepage. You could:

- Showcase the quality and quantity of your reviews — for example, *“We received 2,365 reviews this year, and 95% of customers gave us a 5/5”.*
- Feature 3-5 recent reviews to show off what your others love about your customer experience.
- Round up your most reviewed or highly rated products and services — for example, *“Here are some products our customers gave 5 stars”.*

Remember, your homepage is where site visitors turn to find [trust signals and other social proof](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/build-trusted-brand/what-is-social-proof-and-why-is-it-important-for-marketing) for your brand — so don’t miss this opportunity to easily build trust with curious customers by showing off a highlight reel or some summary statistics about your customer reviews. 


complete-guide-to-reviews-img9

ThirftBooks have embedded customer reviews throughout the customer journey

### 13. Add review widgets to product pages to make the buying decision easy.

We’ve already established that product reviews are an SEO secret weapon — but they can also make [conversions skyrocket on your product pages](https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/customer-stories/get-seen-in-search/ann-summers-uses-product-reviews-to-increase-sales-up-to-230). 

According to the experts at [Shopify](https://www.shopify.com/blog/15359677-why-online-store-owners-should-embrace-online-reviews), 79% of online shoppers trust information shared in product reviews as much as a personal recommendation. And other studies have revealed that [product reviews are 12x more trusted](https://econsultancy.com/ecommerce-consumer-reviews-why-you-need-them-and-how-to-use-them/) than manufacturer or product descriptions. 

In short, [showing relevant reviews](https://business.trustpilot.com/features/trustbox-widgets) on product pages makes the buying decision easier for hesitant shoppers. 

That said, not all reviews carry the same weight. 

Research shows that shoppers want to see real product images from other customers (aka [user-generated content](https://business.trustpilot.com/features/product-reviews)) when they look at product reviews:

- Millennials trust user-generated content [50% more](https://www.iab.com/insights/user-generated-content-for-marketing-and-advertising-purposes/) than traditional media and think it’s 20% more influential on their purchasing decisions.
- Consumers are [3x more likely](https://www.iab.com/insights/user-generated-content-for-marketing-and-advertising-purposes/) to perceive user-generated content as authentic compared to content created by a brand.

So if your goal is to increase conversions on your product pages, make sure your product review provider gives customers an opportunity to share their own photos.

If you display these on your product pages, your conversion rate is sure to thank you. 

### 14. Add star ratings to the site header and footer to make every single page more trustworthy. 

Depending on what they searched to find your business, customers can land on almost any page on your site from the SERPs. With this in mind, every page is an opportunity to convince them to make the critical decision to purchase.

The easiest way to make sure your trustworthiness comes across loud and clear — no matter where visitors land on your site — is to add your star rating to your header or footer.

It’s a small change that can make a big difference.

### 15.  Reduce your exit rate by highlighting reviews and ratings on exit pages. 

Every journey has a start point and an end point — and if that end point isn’t the order confirmation page, you should take every opportunity to increase your conversion rate.

First, identify any pages with high exit rates by checking out your [exit page performance](https://www.paperstreet.com/blog/how-to-use-google-analytics-to-identify-exit-pages-and-improve-them/) in Google Analytics and noting which ones have high traffic and a high exit percentage. 

With exit pages, it’s worth taking the time to look at the actual page and see if you can spot a problem:

- Are there enough calls to action on those pages to keep people on the website?
- Is the page a dead end on the website?
- And of course, are there any customer review sentiments that might help keep people on this page?

Once you’ve ruled out other potential issues, it’s worth exploring any opportunity to show off relevant reviews on your exit pages — and Trustpilot’s [Review Tagging](https://business.trustpilot.com/features/review-tagging) feature makes this easy.

Here’s an example.

If your Delivery and Returns page has a high exit rate, you might start tagging reviews that mention delivery or returns so you can easily filter reviews by those keywords. This should make it easy to find a testimonial or two that sings your praises about delivery and returns — so you can feature them on your Delivery and Returns page. 

This tiny consideration could lead to a meaningful drop in your exit rate, and more conversions down the line. 

## Grow your business by amplifying the voice of the customer

If you made it this far, it should be clear that there’s an infinite number of creative ways you can integrate reviews into your marketing strategy to attract more customers — and make sure they actually convert. 

As we laid out at the beginning of this guide — customer reviews are all you need to kickstart a sustainable cycle of business growth. 

1. __Build trust in your brand__ by collecting and responding to reviews.
2. __Attract new customers__ by adding reviews to your marketing campaigns and across your website’s shopping journey. 
3. __Tap into the goldmine of fresh consumer insights__ within your steady stream of new customer reviews.

And then the cycle repeats, all because you put your customers at the heart of your marketing strategy. 

And if you really want to make the most of your customer reviews in your marketing strategy, focus on growing your [review collection](https://business.trustpilot.com/features/review-invitations) until your [social proof reaches critical mass](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/build-trusted-brand/3-reasons-why-you-really-need-to-get-more-reviews). This makes it easier to highlight your reviews across your marketing channels, and eventually tailor your review curation to campaigns and product promotions.

So, the next time you approach a marketing campaign or a business challenge — whether it’s online or [offline](https://business.trustpilot.com/guides-reports/build-trusted-brand/ratings-and-reviews-in-above-the-line-advertising) — ask yourself if customer reviews could be used to boost performance results.

You heard it here first: the answer is yes. 


Speak to one of our review experts today. 

Trustpilot Consumer Insights: 2020 Holiday Readiness Guide, featuring 8 tips to help your customers buy with confidence in peak shopping season

2020 Holiday Report

Trustpilot Consumer Insights: 2020 Holiday Readiness Playbook

This holiday season is poised to mean more than ever to consumers, so we used Trustpilot consumer insights to create 8 tips to help your customers buy with confidence this holiday season.

Suffice to say that COVID-19 and the resulting global recession, disrupted supply chains, and mass uncertainty have had a lasting effect on [consumer behavior](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/learn-from-customers/consumer-behavior-in-the-age-of-coronavirus-global-review-trends-by-industry), with some industries seeing unprecedented sales as the world sought to entertain themselves with new hobbies during lockdown — and others finding themselves more [prone to fraud](https://business.trustpilot.com/guides-reports/build-trusted-brand/2020-consumer-report-combating-misinformation-in-the-health-beauty-sector), disappointing customers who had less to spend in the first place.

According to the consumer sector experts at [McKinsey](https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/the-consumer-sector-in-2020-and-beyond), two pandemic-fueled consumer behavior trends are here to stay. The first is that in the face of widespread economic uncertainty, shoppers are more focused than ever on the perceived value of their purchases — a measure which tends to skyrocket when [the brand in question is trusted](https://www.inc.com/young-entrepreneur-council/how-to-increase-sales-by-building-brand-equity-shaping-brand-perception.html). The second is the obvious shift to making purchases almost exclusively online.

Some consumers are doubling down on loyalty while shopping online, purchasing only from [brands they already trust](https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/the-future-of-brand-strategy-its-time-to-go-electric). But some are taking chances on new brands and products now that their options have multiplied, in many ways leveling out the playing field and creating more opportunity for lesser known brands and businesses.

Either way, this holiday season is a huge opportunity for businesses of all shapes and sizes: consumers have shifted so much of their spend to online channels that eCommerce shopping levels have been tracking well above peak holiday shopping levels, and compared to predictions from the [2020 Adobe Digital Economy Index](https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/www/us/en/experience-cloud/digital-insights/pdfs/adobe_analytics-digital-economy-index-2020.pdf) for the period of March to June 2020, an extra $77 billion dollars have been spent online.

Image courtesy of the Adobe Digital Economy Index

Online Retail Spend Actual vs Expected via Adobe Digital Economy Index

Online Retail Spend Actual vs Expected Adobe Analytics

Whether consumers are tightening their purse strings or trying to forget the last six months by immersing themselves in holiday cheer, it’s safe to say that shoppers’ expectations will be higher, and businesses will be under the microscope.

And with recent action around the [Black Lives Matter movement](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/31/business/media/companies-marketing-black-lives-matter-george-floyd.html) placing an even stronger emphasis on corporate social responsibility and belief-driven buying (particularly in big gifting categories like fashion retail and health and beauty) this is the year to make sure your brand is trusted leading up to the winter holidays — and always.

To that end, we took a deep dive into more than 30 million consumer reviews on Trustpilot posted from August 2018 to August 2020 to uncover consumer behavior trends leading up to peak shopping season, and formulate some helpful tips to make sure your business is primed and ready to turn more browsers into buyers on Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and beyond.

## Here are 8 tips to help your customers buy with confidence this holiday season.

### Tip 1: Timing is everything, so start building your online presence with third-party reviews by the end of October.

Collecting reviews for your business is always a good idea, but know this: in the world of eCommerce, not all reviews are created equal. Most major eCommerce platforms offer native review solutions, which can offer business owners perhaps too much control over the review process — and provide consumers little transparency into the origins and authenticity of the reviews.

[Social proof](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/build-trusted-brand/why-social-proof-marketing-essential-business-growth) works best when consumers genuinely trust that the sentiments are authentic, and unlike native review solutions, third-party review platforms tend to have the proper [checks and balances](https://www.trustpilot.com/trust/combating-fake-reviews) in place to reassure shoppers that the reviews they encounter haven’t been curated or fraudulently sourced by unscrupulous business owners.

And that’s exactly why so many consumers consult the business profile pages on Trustpilot to research their purchases, especially leading up to the [holiday season](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/build-trusted-brand/holiday-playbook-5-ways-to-win-over-wary-holiday-shoppers).


Consumers search for reviews more often leading up to the holiday rush

Traffic to Trustpilot Profile Pages by Industry

Our Trustpilot platform data from the past two years consistently shows a swift uptick in traffic to Trustpilot’s business profile pages in the month of October, as shoppers begin planning their holiday shopping hauls and researching the best businesses to buy from. Traffic increases have been significant year over year — especially in major holiday shopping categories like fashion apparel, electronics, health and beauty, and home and garden.

It’s no mystery why traffic across all categories has reached a new high watermark in April 2020. As consumers had to adjust their shopping behaviors in accordance with the coronavirus pandemic and resulting lockdown, they turned to [reviews to reduce uncertainty](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/build-trusted-brand/the-importance-of-trust-in-uncertain-times) around potential purchases.

While we don’t have a crystal ball, it stands to reason that between the return of cold and flu season and a projected second wave of coronavirus, shoppers will not only carry out their entire customer journey online during peak shopping season, but rely even more heavily on third-party reviews to make sure their holiday season goes off without a hitch.

And if the past two years are any indication, it’s in your business’ best interest to have third-party reviews in place by the end of October. With that in mind, below are some helpful resources for getting a jump start on your [review strategy](https://business.trustpilot.com/guides-reports/learn-from-customers/the-complete-guide-to-reviews):

- [Intro to Automatic Feedback Services](https://support.trustpilot.com/hc/en-us/articles/360012437420-Introduction-to-Automatic-Feedback-Service-AFS-)
- [How are reviews collected?](https://support.trustpilot.com/hc/en-us/articles/223402468--How-are-reviews-collected-)
- [Send a basic review invitation](https://support.trustpilot.com/hc/en-us/articles/115008302187--Send-a-Basic-Invitation)
- [More is better: why review quantity matters](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/build-trusted-brand/more-is-better-why-review-quantity-matters)

### Tip 2: Be ready to reply to reviews as they roll in, and don’t be afraid to reply retroactively — a late reply is better than no reply.

According to our platform data from the last two years, customers leave far more reviews beginning in November and lasting all the way through New Years. Sure enough, more transactions leading up to the holidays leads to more feedback from customers — and that’s a good thing.

Customers leave more reviews on Trustpilot during the holiday shopping rush

Customer Reviews Left on Trustpilot by Industry

More public customer feedback means more opportunities to show off what shoppers love about your [customer experience](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/learn-from-customers/5-reasons-why-customer-experience-is-the-pulse-of-every-business), ultimately building more trust in your brand. But more feedback can also highlight areas of improvement, and potential customers are just as interested in [how brands respond](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/learn-from-customers/dos-and-donts-best-practices-for-responding-to-reviews) and resolve any issues raised in their reviews.

The charts below show that most companies, regardless of industry, are mostly responding to reviews during peak shopping season — and responding to positive reviews far more often than they reply to negative ones.

This presents a unique opportunity to differentiate yourself by becoming the business that replies all year round to negative and positive reviews alike. This is an especially valuable opportunity in more saturated categories like fashion, home and garden, and health and beauty.

most companies, regardless of industry, are mostly responding to reviews during peak shopping season

Reviews with Replies by Industry

Companies mostly reply to positive reviews, even though negative reviews are more deserving of a response

Reviews with Replies by Star Rating

Taking time to respond, no matter the season or sentiment, will show potential customers that your business has integrity, cares deeply about its customers, and is therefore safe to buy from.

And if you’re lucky enough to have plenty of reviews from last year’s peak shopping season, don’t miss the opportunity to start replying retroactively. Believe it or not, shoppers understand that no one’s perfect, so a late reply is better than no reply. Going back to respond to unresolved reviews will show this year’s shoppers that you’re human, and help you earn their trust.

Below are some helpful resources for replying to reviews:

- [6 Ways to make trust your essential brand differentiator](https://business.trustpilot.com/guides-reports/build-trusted-brand/6-ways-to-make-trust-your-essential-brand-differentiator)
- [Bad reviews: why people write them and what they expect](https://business.trustpilot.com/guides-reports/learn-from-customers/bad-reviews-why-people-write-them-and-what-they-expect)
- [How to respond to negative reviews](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/learn-from-customers/how-to-respond-to-negative-reviews)

### Tip 3: Show off your customer reviews on key shopping pages and landing pages.

Collecting reviews on a third-party platform is the crucial first step to building a trusted brand leading up to the holidays. When it comes to converting more site visitors into paying customers, however, [embedding third-party reviews](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/browsers-to-buyers/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-trustboxes-but-were-too-afraid-to) right on your site is the way to go.


Trustpilot data shows that impressions on TrustBoxes always see a spike around peak shopping season

TrustBox Impressions by Industry

Our data shows that [impressions](https://www.bigcommerce.com/ecommerce-answers/impressions-digital-marketing/#:~:text=Definition%3A%20Impressions%20are%20when%20an,intent%20on%20spreading%20brand%20awareness.) on [TrustBoxes](https://business.trustpilot.com/features/trustbox-widgets) always see a spike around peak shopping season, but they have also skyrocketed since lockdown began in categories like fashion and home and garden.

Displaying reviews right on site is a surefire way to improve conversions, increase basket size or order value, and even reduce cart abandonment. To level up with competitors in saturated categories and win the lion’s share of conversions this year, make sure you’re displaying reviews not only on product pages, but any landing page a potential customer might encounter along the buying journey.  

Here are some additional resources for how to best apply social proof on your website:

- [7 Tried and true conversion strategies: a guide](https://business.trustpilot.com/guides-reports/browsers-to-buyers/7-tried-and-tested-conversion-strategies-guide)
- [How luxury brands can use social proof to ignite high-ticket conversions](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/browsers-to-buyers/how-luxury-brands-can-use-social-proof-to-ignite-high-ticket-conversions)
- [5 Tactics to increase your eCommerce conversion rate](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/browsers-to-buyers/5-tactics-to-increase-your-ecommerce-conversion-rate)

### Tip 4: Double down on customer service and fulfillment leading up to — and throughout — the holiday shopping season

To get to the heart of what this year’s shoppers will care about most during the holiday season, we analyzed the most common 2-word phrases in both positive and negative reviews published between October and January from 2018–2020.  


For positive reviews left during peak shopping season, “Excellent Service” and “Customer Service” were among the most common phrases, showing up in about 5.5% of all English-language reviews from the time period.

Sentiments from Positive Reviews

For positive reviews left during peak shopping season, “Excellent Service” and “Customer Service” were among the most common phrases, showing up in about 5.5% of all English-language reviews from the time period.

Not far behind in popularity were “Highly Recommend”, and “Fast Delivery”, which were mentioned in about 4% and 3.5% respectively in favorable reviews left during peak shopping season over the past two years.

When it came to negative reviews, “Customer Service” was mentioned in about 20% of negative reviews left during peak shopping season between 2018 and 2020. “Money Back” and “Phone Call” were also mentioned in about 3% of negative reviews.



Sentiments from Negative Reviews

When it came to negative reviews, “Customer Service” was mentioned in about 20% of negative reviews left during peak shopping season between 2018 and 2020. “Money Back” and “Phone Call” were also mentioned in about 3% of negative reviews.

So, what can businesses take away from these trends in customer feedback?

According to holiday shoppers leaving positive reviews over the last two years, attentive customer service and quick delivery have meant the most. While it might be difficult to guarantee fast shipping with supply chains still reeling from the global pandemic, your customers will appreciate detailed shipping information and updated fulfillment times on your website so they can know what to expect.

And if you’re able, it’s a great idea to invest in customer service resources before and during peak shopping season. Even if it’s a short-term investment, having more hands on deck to help resolve issues and make customers feel heard will likely pay off in dividends — and even help you retain customers for life.

Here are some additional readings on how to tune up your customer service and customer experience leading up to the holidays:

- [6 Types of online customer service you can implement on your website today](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/learn-from-customers/6-types-of-online-customer-service-you-can-implement-today)
- [7 Ways to improve customer experience on your website](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/learn-from-customers/how-to-improve-customer-experience-on-your-website)

### Tip 5: Showcase your company's rating in Google Shopping listings

If you’re not familiar with how Google Shopping works yet, it enables users to view and buy products from merchants directly through Google. Merchants are usually charged a fee every time a shopper clicks on a listing and buys from a website. However, this has now changed in the US market.

In April 2020, Google announced that it’s now [free to sell on Google](https://blog.google/products/shopping/its-now-free-to-sell-on-google/) in the US, making it easier for retailers to gain visibility and sell on Google Shopping. Following their first April announcement, in July 2020, they also revealed that [‘Buy on Google’ is now commission-free](https://blog.google/products/shopping/buy-on-google-is-zero-commission/) in the US. According to Google, these changes will be made global by the end of the year.

They also announced two new integrations with Shopify and Paypal, which allow businesses to integrate tools they might already be using, whilst letting consumers checkout directly in Google, without having to go through their website at all.

This is great news for merchants wanting to get more exposure on Google. But how can you guarantee more sales this holiday season whilst trying to stand out from the new competition in Google Shopping’s free listings?

A recent Trustpilot and Canvas8 study found that, today, [89% of global consumers check online reviews](https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/guides-reports/build-trusted-brand/the-critical-role-of-reviews-in-internet-trust) as part of their online buying journey, and 49% of global consumers consider positive reviews one of their top 3 purchase influences.

Collecting reviews with a Google Review Partner can help you qualify for Seller Ratings, which you can then display in your product listings in Google Shopping.

Adding trust signals such as ratings and reviews to your listings can make a big difference when it comes to building trust and credibility earlier on in the customer buying journey — especially now that consumers can buy products on Google Shopping without having to go through the retailer’s website at all.

Being as transparent as possible by showcasing consumer trust in Google Shopping can help you stand out from the crowd, especially at the busiest time of year.

[This article](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/get-seen-in-search/what-the-new-google-shopping-updates-mean-for-reviews) might be of interest if you’d like to learn more about the new Google Shopping updates.

### Tip 6: Use product reviews to earn Review Snippets and improve organic search performance

Organic SEO is a prime channel for product discovery, especially during the holiday season, and businesses who are looking to improve their SEO performance might be interested to hear more about reviews and Review Snippets...

If you’ve ever typed into Google’s search bar, you’ve seen Review Snippets in action. Yet not many people have heard of that term.

Review Snippets is the markup of your content with ‘structured data’ that allows search engines to better understand and index this information. This markup helps businesses stand out by displaying their star ratings in organic listings on Search Engine Results Pages. Showcasing trust signals so early in the funnel can help attract more attention, and can therefore help brands increase their click-through and conversion rates.


Example of review snippets in action

So, how can businesses obtain Review Snippets in time for Q4?

Review Snippets can be earned by collecting product reviews through a Google Review Partner, and adding a simple code to your product pages. If you meet [Google’s guidelines](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/data-types/review-snippet), you will then qualify for Review Snippets in organic search results.

But that’s not all. Product reviews can also help you rank better for long-tail keywords. Long-tail keywords are usually a group of 3 or 4 keywords that are a lot more specific than normal keywords. They tend to have lower search volumes, but convert a lot more as they are so specific and are usually used by people on the lower-end of the funnel. Long-tail keywords can be anything from “best running shoes for women” to “Christmas trees with built-in lights”.

With customer product reviews, you’re essentially getting fresh content every month. Because reviews tend to be written in a familiar, more ‘human’ way, they’ll likely contain a lot more long-tail keywords than any other type of content. And with the rise of voice search, longer-tail keywords are a great opportunity for smaller businesses to stand out from the crowd.

Long-tail keywords from product reviews can be a great opportunity for businesses to start engaging with prospective customers who are already at the bottom of the funnel and looking to buy soon.

These articles might be of interest if you’d like to learn more about Review Snippets, and the importance of long-tail keywords for organic search performance:

- [The powerful SEO hack you probably haven't tried: Review Snippets](https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/reviews/get-seen-in-search/rich-snippets-stars-for-product-reviews-can-boost-seo)
- [The complete guide to reviews](https://business.trustpilot.com/guides-reports/learn-from-customers/the-complete-guide-to-reviews)
- [The new face of SEO: Answer Engine Optimisation](https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/guides-reports/get-seen-in-search/the-new-face-of-seo-answer-engine-optimization)

### Tip 7: Use customer reviews to earn Google Seller Ratings and improve paid search performance

With shopping continuing to move almost entirely online, paid search is getting more and more competitive by the day.

Many businesses choose to spend a large amount of their digital budget on paid search, but don’t always see the results they’d hoped for.

So how can brands stand out in paid search during the holiday season?

If you’re not familiar with Google Seller Ratings, they are an automatic Google Ads extension that is displayed globally to customers to help them find businesses that offer quality services. The extension allows businesses to display their star rating underneath the URL on their Google Ads, like this:

Trustpilot profile pages often show up at the top of results and get thousands of search impressions per month

complete-guide-to-reviews-img6

example of Google Seller Ratings

Google Seller Ratings were created to demonstrate consumer trust in businesses. They can help brands stand out from the competition, and build trust earlier in the customer journey. Why? Simply because consumers are more likely to click on an ad with star snippets, than an ad without.

So how can you get Google Seller Ratings in time for the holiday season?

Well, Google displays Seller Ratings on a per-country basis, and requires at least 100 reviews per country in the last 12 months, and a rating of 3.5/5, to showcase the star snippets on ads. Collecting reviews through a Google Review Partner is a great way to start your Google Seller Ratings journey.

Showcasing consumer ratings directly on Google Ads can help businesses increase their click-through rates, and improve their overall search performance during the busiest time of year.

If you’d like to find out more about Google Seller Ratings and how they can help your paid search performance, here are some articles that might interest you:

- [Google’s new Seller Ratings threshold lowered to 100](https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/reviews/get-seen-in-search/google-new-seller-ratings-threshold-100)
- [How to land great reviews and boost your Google Seller Rating](https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/reviews/get-seen-in-search/how-to-land-great-reviews-and-boost-your-google-seller-rating)
- [How to calculate Google Seller Ratings’ effect on CTR for Google Ads](https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/reviews/get-seen-in-search/how-to-calculate-google-seller-ratings-effect-on-adwords)

### Tip 8: Turn more browsers into buyers with a trustworthy presence online and offline

Today’s consumers no longer base their purchasing decisions on what they hear or read from brands. Instead, they turn to their peers for third-party validation and trustworthy information.

There’s no doubt social proof is now one of the most powerful tools available for businesses out there. In fact, Trustpilot research found that [66% of customers](https://business.trustpilot.com/guides-reports/build-trusted-brand/why-and-how-social-proof-influences-consumers) said the presence of social proof increased their likelihood to purchase a product, and 82% said positive star ratings and reviews made them more likely to make a purchase.

A lot of brands already [display their customer reviews](https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/reviews/build-trusted-brand/what-is-social-proof-and-why-is-it-important-for-marketing) online — from their website and emails, to their social channels and paid ads. But what about showcasing reviews offline? 

A London Research survey found that [only 8% of businesses](https://business.trustpilot.com/guides-reports/build-trusted-brand/ratings-and-reviews-in-above-the-line-advertising) using Trustpilot are harnessing their trustworthiness offline, compared to 84% online. 

An omnichannel presence is essential to ensure there is no disconnect in the customer experience — both online and offline – to create a seamless buying journey for consumers.

It’s all about creating as few barriers as possible, so that a customer would never notice a difference in their experience with your brand, whether they shop on your website, app, or in-store. And that works with trust signals too. 

Consider displaying and mentioning your reviews in-store, at the till or in the fitting rooms, in your TV ads, on the radio, on your packaging, and even on billboards. 

Those are all great places where you can showcase customer reviews to build confidence and trust outside of your online channels. Remember, many shoppers still like to browse in-store before they buy online, or vice-versa, and brands are missing an opportunity to harness their trustworthiness offline, especially during the holiday season.

## This year, showcase the trust in your brand

With so many choices when it comes to gifts, the best way to differentiate yourself and win customers this year is to cultivate a trustworthy brand presence online and offline. In the wake of the global pandemic and human rights movements this year, consumers are rightfully more skeptical than ever. This year shoppers will want to support the businesses who lived by their values, spoke up about important issues, and did right by customers when times were tough. 

So as we head into the peak shopping season of a high stakes year, why not align your business with a universal symbol of trust? Collecting reviews on Trustpilot will show customers that your business is not only a safe bet for a smooth holiday season, but also a brand they can feel good about supporting at a time when each transaction means more to everyone. 


### Methodology

We analyzed more than 30 million global reviews on Trustpilot within relevant online retail categories written between August 2018 to August 2020 to look at trends in review activity month over month, and uncover commonly used words and phrases in positive and negative reviews. The keyword analysis was carried out on an English-language subset of the reviews published within the peak shopping season of October to January between 2018 and 2020.  


Trustpilot Consumer Insights: 2020 Holiday Readiness Guide

7 Tried and Tested Conversion Strategies

According to research, in 2020, the average global conversion rate is [4%.31](https://www.invespcro.com/blog/the-average-website-conversion-rate-by-industry/). But in today's competitive landscape, it's getting harder for businesses to keep visitors engaged. So how can brands keep customers hooked and ensure their business generates more revenue?

In this guide, you’ll learn how to:
• Easily turn browsers into buyers
• Leverage your social proof to increase sales
• Use customer feedback to shape a great customer experience and encourage customer loyalty.

key cart abandonment statistics

## 1. Create an efficient checkout process

Needing as few steps as possible to actually complete the purchase process is a surefire way to increase conversions. Here are some of our top tips.

__Avoid complex clicks and unnecessary steps__

Make sure your checkout experience is completely linear - no confusing steps within steps. Never make objects clickable during the checkout phase so visitors get distracted and leave, abandoning their basket. You want the sole focus of the checkout page to be the checkout!

According to [VWO](https://searchenginewatch.com/2016/12/22/seven-fascinating-stats-on-ecommerce-and-cart-abandonment/), a confusing checkout is among the top five reasons for cart abandonment.

__Don’t push customers to register__

Make it optional to create an account. Some customers just want to buy their goods and be gone, and that’s fine. Have an express route for these shoppers. Baymard claims that [35%](https://baymard.com/lists/cart-abandonment-rate) of shoppers leave a purchase if they’re forced to create an account.

__Create a compelling checkout page__

We all like something to function and look good at the same time.

Think about the colours on your checkout page, the data fields you require, and even the calls-to-action you use. Don’t forget to add credibility to your checkout too by informing the customer what payment methods are accepted, or how secure their data actually is by adding security icons to your website.

Don't forget be clear about your final pricing so customers can see where their money is going.

__Reduce the amount of manual work__

A shipping address that is also the billing address by default can save the customer a lot of time in their purchase. You should also inform customers as early as possible if an item is unavailable or will be subject to delayed delivery, rather  than notifying them after they’ve gone through several steps.

Provide customers with a back button that leads to the previous page, so the customer doesn’t need to fill in their details again. Providing users with real-time support can also be a crucial tool to keep them on the path to completion.


## 2. Optimise your site for common web browsers

Different browsers – and even different versions of the same browser – see your site differently. When you’re designing your website, try to avoid to rely on browser-specific behaviour, and test its appearance and functionality on multiple browsers to make sure that all your visitors are getting the experience you’ve worked hard to create.

Once your site is up and running, be sure to retest at regular intervals and adapt where necessary. A site that is not regularly upgraded will not keep pace with new browsers or new versions of browsers affecting how the site is displayed. 

Don’t forget to consider your site’s overall accessibility. Not all users may have JavaScript enabled in their browsers and technologies such as Flash and ActiveX may not render well (or at all) in every browser. 

According to real-time web stats analysts [StatCounter](https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share), as of April 2020, the top five browsers by market share are:

- Chrome - 64%
- Safari - 13.6%
- Firefox - 4.21%
- Samsung Internet - 3.4%
- Edge Legagy - 2.23%


## 3. Optimise your site for mobiles and tablets

It’s no secret that mobile ownership and usage [has surpassed desktop](http://www.smartinsights.com/mobile-marketing/mobile-marketing-analytics/mobile-marketing-statistics/). 

Mobile marketing is arguably the closest you can get to the consumer, as there is no other device that is as personal or portable. 

If your website doesn’t automatically resize to fit the screen that it’s being viewed on, you are running the risk of losing a lot of business. More than this, Google might not consider your website as much if you avoid mobile adaptability, thanks to a 2015 update to their algorithms (popularly dubbed ‘Mobilegeddon’). Without a mobile-optimised site, your mobile discoverability will suffer.


## 4. Display online reviews to boost trust

There’s no better way to build consumer trust than by showcasing the experience of your customers with your company. 

Canvas8 research found that, in 2020, [89%](https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/reviews/build-trusted-brand/4-things-every-business-owner-should-know-about-the-state-of-reviews) of global consumers check online reviews as part of their online buying journey, and 49% of global consumers consider positive reviews one of their top 3 purchase influences.

Having customer feedback on display on your site gives customers the encouragement they need to complete a purchase. More than that, customer reviews give you unparalleled insight into customer trends. 

You might notice the same kind of feedback appearing again and again in reviews. If so, this tells you you’re either doing something great, or there’s something that requires attention. 

Make sure you’re encouraging customers to leave reviews - and quickly respond to all of them, whether they’re positive or negative. It shows that you are listening and that you care. No matter how great your product is, if people don’t trust you, they won’t want to engage with you. 

## 5. Use social media to drive online sales

Savvy ecommerce managers are now exploring social media as a tool to directly boost sales. Over a quarter of individuals say brands that are active on social media are more “human”, meaning they appear more approachable and helpful by having real conversations with customers online.

Don’t forget, there are customers and prospects out there ready to connect with you on social media. Here are some tips to transform your social media success. 

__Develop a content strategy for your social media channels__

Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin have become great vehicles for content, meaning brands are paying attention and making the space more competitive than ever. Make sure you have a well-thought out strategy around your messaging, what you want to promote, and how you’ll differentiate yourself.

__Use YouTube playlists to showcase your own products__

Cisco predicts that online video will account for [82%](https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-how-much-ip-traffic-will-be-video-by-2021-2017-6) of all web traffic by 2022. YouTube playlists allow channel owners to select which videos will play sequentially, so a company’s use of this tool enables it to present viewers with additional products they may be interested in, increasing potential sales. 

__Manage and monitor social media and customer feedback in one place__ 

To find succeed in social media, you need to effectively monitor it. Save time and energy by monitoring your online reviews and social media activity from one console. If you use Hootsuite, Trustpilot has just the [Hootsuite app for you](https://business.trustpilot.com/partners/hootsuite).

__Share your customer reviews on social media__

Today, [90%](https://sproutsocial.com/insights/instagram-stats/) of people follow at least one business on Instagram. Instagram has become known as an ideal fit for eCommerce marketing. 

The social platform is often used as the discovery portion of the sales funnel. [83%](https://www.facebook.com/business/news/insights/how-instagram-boosts-brands-and-drives-sales) of Instagram users say they discover new products and services on the platform. That's why encourage businesses to share their customers' feedback on social channels too. 

It’s a great way to showcase great stories from your customers and convert prospective customers. If you're not sure where to start, check out Trustpilot's guide to [social media reputation management here](https://uk.business.trustpilot.com/reviews/build-trusted-brand/trustpilot-guide-to-social-media-reputation-management).

## 6. Dedicate staff to web design

If your company has separate departments or suppliers for marketing and web design, the responsibility for turning website visits into sales tend to fall between two camps. This can be bad news for any business hoping to turn their online investments into real profitability. 

A web designer is a technical expert who can dedicate their time to testing and retesting website variations to further optimise your website’s buying process. However, a marketer should have a unique understanding of the needs and wants of your customers, and therefore a valuable insight into what will convert visitors into clients or customers, and what won’t. 

Ideally, the staff dedicated to website conversions should have a background in both areas. Including financial incentives for reaching performance goals will also correlate in getting your conversion rates closer to where you’d like them to be.

If you’re working within a smaller budget, consider investing in a professional developer, or try Shopify, the leading e-commerce website building tool. With [Trustpilot’s online review app for Shopify](https://business.trustpilot.com/partners/shopify-plus), so you can design a sleek site that displays customer feedback in no time at all. 

## 7. Consider a retargeting strategy

Retargeting can help reduce shoppers’ concerns and turn hesitant visitors into happy customers.

Start by determining which shoppers have added something to their cart, but haven’t completed their purchase. Once you have identified your audience, it’s important to decide how long you want to target cart abandoners. 

Reaching consumers as soon as they abandon is a must, but the length of time you target them should be determined by the products your business sells. Bigger purchases such as furniture, holidays, or electronics can have a longer consideration cycle, whereas other products like clothes or cosmetics don’t usually have a very long decision-making cycle.

__SMS retargeting__

According to Search Engine Watch, SMS messages are more effective than emails. Consider sending a reminder to cart abandoners. Typically, [90%](https://searchenginewatch.com/2016/12/22/seven-fascinating-stats-on-ecommerce-and-cart-abandonment/) of all SMS messages are opened, and 90% are read within 3 minutes.

It’s a great way to convert those hesitant shoppers, but if you’d rather use display retargeting, here are some of our top tips.

__Display retargeting done right__

- Test the kinds of displays to show cart abandoners - personalised, or static? 
- Use a promotional offer like free shipping to increase conversions 
- Offer a discount on future products to encourage a repeat purchase.


## Key Takeaways

By now, you should have a long to-do list to ensure you’re optimising your eCommerce business for conversions and efficient checkouts. But if you need a cheat sheet, here’s a quick list of key points. 

Turn your ecommerce conversion rates around by: 

- Making sure your checkout process is optimally designed  
- Optimising your site for mobiles and tablets 
- Using social media to drive online sales 
- Making sure your site is optimised for your visitors’ browsers 
- Using online reviews widgets to boost trust 
- Assigning responsibility for online performance and conversion goals to a dedicated member of staff.

If you'd like to learn more about Trustpilot and how reviews can help you amplify your marketing efforts, request a free demo below.

7 Tried and tested conversion strategies

The Value of Customer Ratings and Reviews in Advertising in the US

This research explores the value of showcasing customer ratings and reviews in advertising, and in particular the impact of Trustpilot content in digital campaigns. Based on a survey of 1,000 US consumers and interviews with Trustpilot business customers

This [London Research study](https://londonresearch.com/) reports on the benefits of using Trustpilot ratings and reviews in advertising to build trust and increase propensity to purchase.

The research also looks at the extent to which specific types of Trustpilot content in online advertisements influence US consumers, including the Trustpilot logo and stars, TrustScore, the volume of reviews, and the impact of an authentic customer testimonial.

To test the value of Trustpilot ratings and reviews in ads, 1,000 American consumers were shown a series of digital advertisements for a new cell phone plan, and asked which ads they would be most and least likely to click in order to buy.

### Summary of the research

anatomy of a co branded ad

Anatomy of a co branded ad

- 63% of US consumers agree a good Trustpilot score makes them more likely to trust a brand.
- 61% agree a good Trustpilot score makes them more likely to buy from a brand.
- An online advertisement with the Trustpilot logo and stars is 37% more persuasive than the same ad without them.
- Consumers are two-and-a-half times more likely to click a Trustpilot co-branded ad showing a five-star customer rating, TrustScore, 3,000+ reviews, and a customer review, than an ad with no Trustpilot content.
- A Trustpilot five-star advert with a 4.8 TrustScore showing 500+ reviews is more than twice as compelling as an ad with no Trustpilot branding.
- A Trustpilot five-star advert with a 4.8 TrustScore showing 3,000+ reviews is 31% more compelling than the same ad just showing the TrustScore.
- A Trustpilot five-star advert with 3,000+ reviews performs 10% better than the one with 500+ reviews.
- A five-star ad showing a high TrustScore with 3,000+ reviews and an actual customer review performs twice as well as an ad with no Trustpilot components, even when the price is 20% higher ($48 versus $40).

## The importance of ratings and reviews in the buyer journey

Consumers are right to be cautious about putting their trust in brands when they’re looking to buy products and services online. According to the Federal Trade Commission, Americans have lost $588m to scams during the pandemic era alone, which makes people even more eager to ensure they’re buying from a reputable business and spending their money wisely. At the same time, consumers are becoming increasingly savvy about fake reviews used by less-known brands to bolster their credibility.

Our research shows that authentic customer reviews and star ratings are now firmly established as a go-to source of information for the majority of shoppers. Sixty-four percent of US consumers say they’re ‘often’ or ‘very often’ influenced by customer reviews during the journey to purchase, while 63% say the same for star ratings (Figure 1).

This does not surprise Kyle Rao, President and CEO of Secure Medical. As the company behind eDrugStore.com, they are fully aware that consumers need to see that people like them have used a service before, and rated it highly.

Kyle Rao quote

President and CEO, Secure Medical

64% of US consumers say they’re ‘often’ or ‘very often’ influenced by customer reviews when buying something.

Figure 1

Ratings and reviews play an important role in influencing buying decisions across a wide range of categories, from electronics to travel, and property to auto rental. For every sector shown in Figure 2, at least half of consumers surveyed regard ratings and reviews as ‘useful’ or ‘very useful’.

Across a wide range of sectors and categories, the majority of consumers regard ratings and reviews as useful.

Figure 2

Advertisers should strive to understand how different touchpoints and channels work together to build trust and positively impact the decision-making process during the customer journey.

After customer ratings and reviews, the next most frequently visited touchpoints in influencing a buying decision are search engines, followed by ecommerce sites and social media (Figure 1). Given their usefulness and popularity, savvy marketers should think about how they can harness ratings and reviews across other channels, including both online and offline advertising, as well as across their own digital properties and email campaigns.

SuretyBonds.com is a good example of a financial services brand showcasing star ratings and customer reviews.

Example SuretyBonds

### The benefits of Trustpilot content through the funnel


61% of US consumers agree a good Trustpilot score makes them more likely to buy from a brand.

Figure 3

The trust engendered by adding Trustpilot stars and scores to digital advertising is not just good for brand image, it is also a core component in driving sales. Sixty-one percent of US consumers agree a good Trustpilot score makes them more likely to buy from a brand, including 26% who strongly agree (Figure 3). The propensity to buy something from a company is very closely linked to the level of trust in that brand. A very similar percentage of consumers (63%) agree that a good Trustpilot score makes them more likely to trust a brand (Figure 4).

63% of US consumers agree a good Trustpilot score makes them more likely to trust a brand.

Figure 4

Brands are seeing this throughout the customer journey. For Octopus Energy Germany, a green energy supplier, adding its star rating is a way for it to build trust while also raising awareness at the top of the funnel.

Quote Melanie Schiller

Head of Brand Communication, Octopus Energy Germany

At fashion brand Bamigo, work is under way to add the Trustpilot logo, star rating and customer reviews to all its product pages because, as the company’s Marketing Manager Freek Rijken reveals, they are proving highly effective at the purchasing end of the funnel as well as the awareness stage. He believes this is because they convey to prospects how happy existing customers are with the quality of its products and service.

Quote Freek Rijken

Marketing Manager, Bamigo

## The impact of Trustpilot

### 1. Logo with star rating

We have seen that consumers say they’re more likely to trust and buy from a brand with a high Trustpilot rating. A key objective of our research was to understand the impact of different Trustpilot content elements, namely the logo and stars, TrustScore (out of five), number of reviews, and an actual quote from a customer.

As part of our proprietary research, consumers were shown a series of digital advertisements for a new cell phone plan, and asked which ads they would be most and least likely to click in order to buy.

Trustpilot star rating ads

The research found that an online advertisement with the Trustpilot logo and stars is 37% more persuasive than the same ad without them.

Another finding from the research was that consumers looking to buy something are two-and-a- half times more likely to click a Trustpilot co-branded ad with a five-star customer rating, high TrustScore, 3,000+ reviews, and a customer testimonial (compared with a baseline ad with no Trustpilot vs. branding).

As well as seeking to understand the overall impact of the full suite of Trustpilot content and the logo and stars on their own, we also wanted to explore the relative impact of different content components, namely the customer review, the TrustScore at different levels, and the volume of reviews.

Quote 2 Kyle Rao

### 2. Customer review

US consumers are 88% more likely to click through on a Trustpilot co-branded ad when it contains an authentic customer review.

Micael Saillen, CEO and Co-Founder at energy supplier Tate, has quantified adding a customer review as typically improving digital advertising clickthrough rates by 10% to 20%.

“People know brands say they are great in their adverts but when a company shows what people actually say about them, consumers know the advertiser is showing they have nothing to hide,” he says.


Example reviews in ads

Example customer reviews in ads

Quote Micael Saillen

CEO and Co-Founder, Tate

### 3. TrustScore

US consumers are 30% more likely to click through on a like-for-like Trustpilot co-branded ad when it specifies the high TrustScore behind the five-star rating. The ad with a 4.8 score performs 75% better than the ad with a 4.2 score.

US consumers are 30% more likely to click through on a like-for-like Trustpilot co-branded ad when it shows the actual five-star TrustScore.

example ad trustscore

Example ad trustscore

### 4. Number of reviews

A Trustpilot five-star advert with a 4.8 score showing 500+ reviews is more than twice as compelling as an ad with no Trustpilot branding, according to our research.

example ads with number of reviews

Example ads with number of reviews

Mike Henderson is Chief Marketing Officer at SuretyBonds.com, which has a 4.9 TrustScore. He credits adding the number of Trustpilot reviews on the company’s digital advertising with delivering a 20% improvement in clickthrough rates.

Quote Mike Henderson

CMO, SuretyBonds.com

Our consumer research also shows that a Trustpilot five-star advert with 3,000+ reviews performs 10% better than the one with 500+ reviews.

According to Dan Cristo, Director of SEO Innovation at performance marketing agency Catalyst: “One of vs. our clients in the hospitality space has an average of 2,000 reviews on each property. These are real experiences customers volunteered to share with others simply because they wanted to tell their story. This desire to share experiences with others as a way to ‘pay it forward’ and help others in the community is a core part of how humans socialize.”

Quote Dan Cristo

Director of SEO Innovation, Catalyst

### 5. Impact on higher price

The research also found that a Trustpilot ad with five stars, TrustScore, 3,000+ reviews and a customer testimonial performs twice as well as the ad with no Trustpilot content, even when the price is 20% higher.

Example ads with higher price

Adding all the possible elements of a Trustpilot rating — including logo, stars, score, number of reviews and a customer quote — is certainly paying dividends at fintech business PensionBee. Its Chief Marketing Officer, Jasper Martens, reveals the company puts all elements on its digital advertising which it credits with delivering a 15% rise in clickthrough rate.

“For us the Trustpilot logo and our score are a nudge to check us out,” he says. “The number of reviews is crucial in convincing people you’re providing a good service because if you have more than 5,000 people know it’s real, it’s very powerful. Ultimately, the customer voice is the main convincer, we believe, so customer reviews are essential.”

Quote Jasper Martens

CMO, PensionBee

If you're interested in sharing this report with others, why not download the free PDF version below? It's quick and easy. 

Alternatively, you can download the infographic, with all of our research's findings.


### Authors

__Linus Gregoriadis – Director, London Research__

Linus is an experienced digital marketing analyst and business writer who co-founded London Research in 2017 as a sister company to Digital Doughnut, the world’s largest community of marketers and digital professionals, and also to Demand Exchange, an advanced B2B lead generation platform. He spent more than a decade setting up and building the research function at Econsultancy, a digital research and training company now owned by Centaur Media. After leaving Econsultancy, where he oversaw the production of hundreds of survey- based trends reports, buyers’ guides and best practice guides, he launched ClickZ Intelligence for B2B media company Contentive.

__Sean Hargrave – Journalist and business report writer__

Sean Hargrave is a journalist and business report writer covering media, advertising and marketing. He regularly writes for Digital Doughnut
and sister business, London Research. He also regularly writes for The Guardian, The Telegraph, and Wired on business and tech issues.

__We'd like to thank the following people for contributing to this report:__

- Kyle Rao, President and CEO, [eDrugstore.com](https://www.edrugstore.com/) / Secure Medical
- Melanie Schiller, Head of Brand Communication, [Octopus Energy Germany](https://www.octopusenergy.de/)
- Freek Rijken, Marketing Manager, [Bamigo](https://bamigo.com/)
- Micael Saillen, CEO and Co-Founder, [Tate](https://tate.it/)
- Mike Henderson, CMO, [SuretyBonds.com](https://www.suretybonds.com/)
- Dan Cristo, Director of SEO Innovation, [Catalyst](https://www.catalystdigital.com/)
- Jasper Martens, CMO, [PensionBee](https://www.pensionbee.com/)

### About London Research

London Research, set up by former Econsultancy research director Linus Gregoriadis, is focused on producing research-based content for B2B audiences. We are based in London, but our approach and outlook are very much international. We work predominantly, but not exclusively, with marketing technology (martech) vendors and agencies seeking
to tell a compelling story based on robust research and insightful data points.

As part of Communitize Ltd, we work closely with our sister companies Digital Doughnut (a global community of more than 1.5 million marketers) and Demand Exchange (a lead generation platform), both to syndicate our research and generate high-quality leads.

[Find out more about London Research](https://www.londonresearch.com/).

### Methodology

London Research was commissioned by Trustpilot to carry out a survey of 1,000 US consumers in September 2021. The nationally- representative survey included questions about sources of information and touchpoints used during the buying process, and also questions specifically about Trustpilot. A third (33%) of respondents said they were aware of Trustpilot customer ratings and reviews.

A survey-based research technique called MaxDiff was used to quantify consumer preferences when respondents were shown different combinations from a series of 10 different advertisements. Survey respondents were asked which online ads for a new cell phone plan they would be most and least likely to click in order to buy. The Appendix shows the 10 different ads shown to consumers, and the full results for the MaxDiff analysis (with relative levels of engagement expressed as percentages). The same research was carried out in the US, UK, Netherlands, Germany and Italy (5,000 consumers in total).

The value of customer ratings and reviews in advertising in the US

Truspilot 5 trends that will define the future of fashion

Trustpilot 5 trends that will define the future of fashion

A survey from London Research and Trustpilot has shown that fashion shoppers are more cautious on spending this year, and are also acutely aware of the need to buy items from fashion brands with strong ethical and sustainability practices.

[London Research](https://www.londonresearch.com/) and Trustpilot's latest international survey has shown that not only are fashion shoppers more cautious on spending this year, they are also acutely aware of the need to buy items from fashion brands and retailers with strong ethical and sustainability practices.

Fashion brands and retailers now have an opportunity to reach out to consumers who are actively seeking to shop from companies that are kind to the people working in their supply chains, as well as the environment.

Those seeking to market themselves to modern shoppers need to listen to what consumers have revealed they are looking for in sustainable and ethical brands, as outlined in this research.

### Five key trends that will define the future of fashion brands

__1. Four in five customers are led by ethics__

Size and fit are not the only priorities. Fashion brands and retailers need to be aware that treatment of workers across their entire supply chain and environmental footprint are now a vital part of a customer’s purchasing decisions. 

More than four in five customers (82%) reveal they would definitely (31%) or probably (51%) stop buying from a brand found to be lacking ethical standards. 

__2. Shoppers are cautious on spending__

The recession looming over the global pandemic is shaping fashion spending habits. Just under three-quarters of consumers (72%) are spending less or the same as they did before.

As befitting markets where many are working from home, casual clothing and leisurewear is the category with the highest proportion of consumers having increased spend (21%). This figure is nearly double that seen in formal wear or luxury items.

__3. Fashion shoppers trust reviews and each other__

Consumers are eager to seek out fashion brands and retailers with solid ethical and sustainability strategies.

They are getting advice on which brands meet these criteria from many sources, but they trust each other above all else – 89% of consumers have a high or medium trust level in word of mouth and 85% in ratings and reviews.

The levels of high trust placed in word of mouth and reviews are two to three times greater than other sources, such as magazines, advertising and brand websites. The least trusted source is celebrity influencers. People are three times as likely to highly trust ratings as they are a well-known figure touting a fashion product on social media.

__4. Fashion shoppers are acting on a brand’s ethical record __

The research found brands must not think of ethics as an issue to be addressed in the future. Shoppers are already acting on their concerns right now. More than half (54%) of consumers say that coverage of working conditions and sustainability policies has influenced where they buy, or don’t buy, fashion items.

Nearly as many (41%) have been steered by coverage of a fashion retailer’s diversity and inclusivity policy and 33% by a brand pretending to be ethical but not backing it up with real action (‘slacktivism’).

Given that consumers trust word of mouth and customer ratings three times or two times (respectively) as much as the media, savvy brands should realize the need to communicate how their ethical and environmental strategies match the modern shopper’s concerns. This way, those credentials are more likely to be reflected in customer conversations and ratings.  

__5. Brands can tap into consumers’ ethics and sustainability wishlist__

Customers have revealed what they want to see from fashion brands and retailers. Joint top spot (46% each) goes to a commitment to good working practices throughout the supply chain as well as to environmentally-friendly packaging. A recycling service (41%) was just behind in third place.

Feeling inspired? Let's dive in!

## Introduction – cautious consumers tell brands their values are more important than discounts

Consumers are changing their mindset and behavior when it comes to buying clothes, and the effects are set to be profound for fashion brands and retailers.

The national and local lockdowns caused by the coronavirus pandemic have accelerated a change in attitude among shoppers to be more caring for one another and the environment. Communities have come together to fight a common foe and taken stock of the values they find important to them, which they want to see reflected in the brands they buy from.

This prompted London Research, in association with Trustpilot, to ask fashion consumers in the UK, the US, France, the Netherlands, Italy and Sweden to reveal the importance of brand values around issues such as sustainability, working conditions and diversity. What principles do they expect fashion brands and retailers to live up to? 

Just as importantly, how do they know they are truly committed to these causes, and whom do they trust in making those judgement calls?

### Sustainability over discounts

[Research from McKinsey](https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/survey-consumer-sentiment-on-sustainability-in-fashion) has already shown lockdown has forced fashion consumers’ priorities to change. They now place the welfare of employees and supply-chain workers, as well as protecting the environment, way ahead of being offered promotions and discounts.

This points to a significant change in consumer priorities, according to fashion writer Olivia Pinnock. She has created a series of events, called [The Fashion Debates](http://www.thefashiondebates.com/), through which the industry can come together to discuss how to clean up an industry with a poor record on worker conditions and sustainability.

“We had the sweatshop scandals of the ‘80s and ‘90s but the issue seemed to have been swept under the carpet,” she says.

“Now, though, we’ve got a generation who realize they can’t ethically buy a T-shirt for £5 when there are so many people in the supply chain to pay. There are also a lot of executives who are pushing for real change because they have been shocked by the industry’s record and don’t want to be a part of it any more.”

Pinnock believes the push for change is real and is relying on changing attitudes among shoppers. However, there are two major challenges.
“Fast fashion’s cutting corners on worker rights and the environment has got us all used to cheap clothing,” she explains.

“It’s skewed our perception of cost. Then there’s availability. The vast majority of clothes, outside a pandemic, are bought in stores and it’s only the big chains, who are highly competitive on price, that can afford to roll out chains of shops in every town.”

### Consumers are cautious on spend

It is not surprising that in the midst of the global coronavirus pandemic, the majority of respondents are not spending more on fashion. Instead, they are maintaining previous spending patterns or cutting back. 

On average, 28% of respondents say they are spending more. That leaves exactly a quarter who are spending the same amount as before (25%) and nearly half (47%) who reveal they are cutting back (Figure 1).


Figure 1: How has the coronavirus pandemic impacted your overall monthly spending on fashion and clothing products?

As shown in Figure 2, the standout category for increased spending is casual and leisure clothing (21% of consumers), nearly double the percentage of respondents spending more on luxury apparel (11%) and significantly more than the proportion of consumers increasing their outlay on smart clothes (13%).

Across all international markets surveyed, those going through lockdown and social distancing measures have clearly been prioritizing comfortable attire for home use over spending on formal clothes for the office or expensive luxury items for big nights out.


Figure 2: How has the Covid-19 crisis impacted the amount you’ve spent on the following types of fashion and clothing products?

- Consumers in the US are more likely than those in other countries surveyed to be increasing their spending on casual clothes (28%), footwear (20%), smart fashion (20%) and luxury products (15%) (Figure 9, see appendix).
- The UK, on track to have its worst economic downturn on record, leads the way for the most cautious shoppers. Just over a fifth (22%) reveal they’ve been cutting fashion spending by more than half (Table 1, see appendix).

### More careful? Or more thoughtful?

Consumers are clearly cautious when it comes to fashion spending. It will become clearer when the developing global recession caused by the global pandemic eases whether this is an economic decision or an environmental choice.

Dialing down consumption is what Olivia Pinnock refers to as ‘the elephant in the room’. In addition to looking out for fair trade labels and commitment to ethical and environmental standards, she believes modern consumers will soon realize they need to buy fewer clothes.

It is a message echoed by Laurel Wolfe, VP of Marketing at deferred payment platform [Klarna](https://www.klarna.com/).

“The pandemic has made us all think carefully about how, where and why we shop - whether that's online instead of in-store, or with smaller, local brands.” she says.

“For us, this has meant helping people be mindful consumers, to ensure they buy items they will truly use and love. We have been running campaigns, particularly with thought influencers, echoing the money management advice on our site and asking shoppers to ‘think thrice’. Do I love it, will I use it, is it worth it?” 

The message underlines how the market is evolving to row back from the days of fast fashion by being more considerate in how workers in the supply chain are treated and mitigating the industry’s impact on the environment.

## People trust ratings and each other, not celebrities and magazines

People are clearly cautious about their spending, given the massive uncertainty hanging over the global economy. With budgets curtailed, consumers are looking to make sure the items they buy are right for them. This no longer means right look, size and price.

As shown through our survey, customers are attracted to brands that share their ethical values and are kind to their workers and the planet.
With ethics, sustainability and environmentalism playing a large part in purchasing decisions, who are people trusting for guidance on purchasing decisions?

Here, the research provides a resounding answer. Consumers trust one another. Word of mouth from friends and family is the most trusted source, with 44% rating their trust level as ‘high’. Consumer ratings and reviews (36%) is a close second (Figure 3).


Figure 3: How would you describe your level of trust in the following sources of information when you are researching fashion products and retailers?

In all, 89% of consumers have a high or medium level of trust for word of mouth compared to 85% for ratings and reviews.

The two categories are two or three times as highly trusted as other high-profile sources of fashion information, such as magazines, advertising and social media.

Fashion is an industry filled with well-known designers, models and celebrities who are reported on daily for what they are wearing. However, a key takeaway from the research is that celebrity influencers are poorly trusted as a source of information by nearly two in three consumers (63%).

The research could not be any clearer. Consumers want to make the right decision on fashion, for fit, price and look as well as sustainability and ethics. When it comes to making these decisions, they trust one another’s spoken advice or ratings much more highly than the world of social media and advertising where brands pay a fortune hoping to be noticed.


The Savile Row Company website, displaying the company's Trustpilot rating. This research shows that ratings and reviews, along with word of mouth, are the most trusted sources of information.

The Savile Row
Company website,
displaying the
company's Trustpilot
rating. This research
shows that ratings
and reviews,
along with word of
mouth, are the most
trusted sources of
information.

- The US and Italy stand out as the markets where reviews are most highly trusted (43% of consumers) (Figure 10, see appendix).
- Sweden and the Netherlands show the highest trust for word of mouth, for nearly half (49% and 48%, respectively) of consumers (Figure 10, see appendix).

## Customer loyalty depends on ethics

Everyone needs clothes and it is fair to say that the driving force in purchasing decisions will depend on garments matching an individual’s sense of style and budget. Increasingly, however, image and price point are being joined by a new criterion. Customers want to know a business shares their values.

More of us want to know a business is run ethically and that it tries its best to ensure people in its supply chain are treated with respect and paid properly, while attention is paid to sustainability.

One of the major takeaways from this research is that more than four in five customers (82%) would either ‘definitely’ (31%) or ‘probably’ (51%) stop buying from a brand that was found to lack ethical standards (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Would you stop buying from a brand or fashion retailer you knew to be lacking ethical standards?

The finding should serve as a warning to brands who have yet to put ethics at the heart of their brand strategy. While nearly a third would definitely withdraw their business if non-ethical practices were discovered within the business or wider supply chain, half of the market would consider it.

This is not only a hypothetical question. For any fashion brand wondering when the market will evolve to a point where bad press around their ethics will lose them customers, the answer is we are already there.

More than half of consumers (54%) say that coverage of working conditions and sustainability policies has influenced which brands they buy or don’t buy fashion items from (Figure 5). Nearly as many have been steered by a fashion retailer’s diversity and inclusivity policy (41%) and 33% by a brand pretending to be ethical but not backing it up with real action (‘slacktivism’).


Figure 5: Has positive or negative coverage relating to any of the following issues impacted where you buy (or don’t buy) fashion and clothing items from?

Sophie Slater, who co-founded online women’s ethical fashion business [Birdsong](https://birdsong.london/), is not surprised by the findings. The company’s workers in London are paid the London Living Wage to produce garments made from organic cotton which are packed by a charity supporting adults with learning difficulties. Protecting staff from Covid meant closing down production, which has relied on customers accepting delays in deliveries because ethical fashion is not fast fashion.

“We’ve seen fashion businesses talk about sustainability for the past few years but the last year or so has definitely seen a rise in people thinking about ethics,” she says.

“People have seen how workers are treated in sweatshops in Leicester (in the UK) by well-known brands… there’s been a lot of bad press for fast fashion. We rely on good press and social media to get our message out to people who are motivated by social inclusion and treating people ethically and so will pay a little more for clothes made by people paid the London Living Wage.”

- Italy is the clear leader in customers making decisions based on media coverage (Figure 11, see appendix). More than three in four have been influenced by stories about a brand’s ethics (79%) and working conditions (77%). Perhaps this is a result of the country being the EU’s biggest producer of clothing so environmental impact and working conditions are factors that are far closer to home for Italian shoppers.

## Trust – winning over the ‘moderately trustful’ half by being kind to workers and nature

The good news for the industry at large is that more than a quarter of consumers (28%) have a ‘very’ (9%) or ‘quite’ (19%) high level of trust in fashion brands and retailers in terms of their ethical standards (Figure 6).

The bad news is this is negated by a quarter of the market (26%) which has a ‘very’ (7%) or ‘quite’ (19%) low level of trust. This leaves almost half of consumers (46%) sitting on the fence, with only a moderate level of trust in the industry.

Figure 6: How would you describe your level of trust in fashion brands and retailers in terms of their ethical standards?

With a quarter of the market trusting the industry and a quarter not trusting it, the battleground is clearly winning the hearts and minds of the remainder who are fairly neutral.

Given that four in five respondents have also revealed they are ready to dismiss a brand which treats workers or the environment disrespectfully, the focus should be on convincing customers with a moderate level of trust that a brand is truly committed to treating its workers and the planet with respect.

There are some novel ways of improving trust being deployed at eco-friendly fashion brand [SANVT](https://sanvt.com/) (which means gentle on nature in German). The company’s Head of Marketing and Co-Founder, Benjamin Heyd, reveals the company is dedicated to working with suppliers who use organic cotton and do not use toxic chemicals in the dyeing process. To underline the point, they have an unusual approach to transparency and promotions.

“We keep our environmental impact low and our ethical standards high by using a factory in the EU, in Portugal,” he says.

“We offer a virtual tour of the factory so people can see for themselves the high standards we adhere to. We also don’t run sales promotions, we just offer to plant more trees within our carbon offsetting program when people buy promoted items. I don’t think we’re quite at the point yet where sustainability is the most crucial part of a customer choosing a brand, compared to the design and fit of clothing. However, in the long term, we are definitely getting there and brands will soon need to be able to show consumers they are eco-friendly and ethical.”

- Sweden and the Netherlands stand out as the markets with the lowest opinion of fashion brands and retailers. In each market, only 4% trust them highly. France is close behind with a high level of trust reaching just 5%.
- The US has the biggest level of ‘very high’ trust in fashion brands and retailers at 14%, backed up by a 20% level of ‘quite high’ trust.
- Overall, Italy is the most trusting nation, with more than a third (39%) of consumers having ‘very’ (8%) or ‘quite’ (31%) high trust levels.

## Customers need ethical and sustainable fashion brands

It is clear today’s fashion customer is starting to look for more than items that suit their style. In particular, they are committed to avoiding brands found to be acting in a non-ethical and unsustainable way. They are also expecting brands to embrace diversity and inclusivity.

So, what does this mean in practice? What are the strategies, commitments and services modern customers are looking to see more of in the future from fashion brands and retailers? When allowed to suggest three proof points that companies are walking the proverbial walk, what do they pick out?

Joint top, for nearly half of respondents, was commitment to good working conditions throughout the supply chain (46%), along with environmentally-friendly packaging (also 46%). A recycling service (41%) comes in third place, with clothes made from recycled materials (38%) and initiatives aimed at reducing the carbon footprint (36%) completing the top-five wishlist (Figure 7).

Methodology note: Respondents could select up to three options.

Figure 7: What three things would you like to see more of in the future from fashion brands and retailers?

For menswear brand [The Savile Row Company](https://savilerowco.com/), it is not a major surprise that environmentally-friendly packaging tops the list, alongside ethics. 

Marketing Director Lee-Anne Harris reveals the business has replaced plastic with biodegradable and potato starch bags, with shirt collars and shoulders held in place by paper fasteners rather than the traditional plastic clips.

“The data we’re getting from our Trustpilot reviews shows customers are reacting well to orders arriving in recyclable paper packaging and a biodegradable bag,” she says.

“We didn’t ask customers first; it was just a no-brainer for us because it’s how we want to live and we were pretty sure it’s how our customers want to live as well. It’s more a question of why wouldn’t you? It’s just a base level of decency.”


The Savile Row Company has replaced plastic packaging (left) with a recyclable paper bag (right).

Despite the uptick in positive reviews, Harris confirms recyclable packaging is still a feature that customers appreciate rather than demand as standard. However, she believes it is only a matter of time before customers “truly hold fashion companies to account for their record on plastic waste”. Hence it makes sense to be prepared in advance.

- American customers are way ahead of their European counterparts on the values they want to see from fashion brands and retailers which did not make the top-five list above (Figure 12, see appendix). These include working with charities (35%), offering inclusive product ranges (27%), ensuring diversity in advertising (26%) and taking a stance on social issues (24%).
- It is likely a result of the deep social issues Americans are examining in the year the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement gained massive national, and global, traction. Support for brands taking a stance on social issues, including BLM, is more than twice as high in the US as it is in all other countries surveyed, other than Italy.

## How brands can embrace ethics and sustainability

They know their size, they know their style and they have a good idea of what they are starting to want to see from fashion brands and retailers. But what indicators are customers looking for to find out if a brand shares their values on treating people and the environment with dignity and care?

The challenge for companies is there is no single standout attribute consumers are seeking out. Instead, there are four key drivers of trust which are being actively sought out by a little over half (58% and 59%) of fashion shoppers (Figure 8).

Respondents reveal transparent values and policies, fair trade badges and certification, on-site and off-site ratings and reviews are equally as important, on average.


Figure 8: Do you look for any of the following to give you confidence that you are buying from an ethically responsible fashion brand or retailer?

These are areas high on the radar for luxury online fashion retailer [FARFETCH](https://www.farfetch.com/). Its Director of Sustainable Business, Thomas Berry, explains the fashion brand not only helps customers make more ethical and sustainable purchases, it also has reselling schemes to extend an item’s life.

“As part of Positively FARFETCH, we have an extensive Conscious collection which customers can shop, using either filters, or our dedicated edits, to ensure they’re getting items that meet good independent sustainability standards and certifications,” he says.

“We also have two service offerings that help our customers extend the life of unused clothes. FARFETCH Second Life is a resale service, where customers submit their old hand-bags, get a price quote, we arrange a pick-up slot and, once the item is verified, the quoted price is added as a credit to their FARFETCH account.

“We do the same with our FARFETCH Donate service, where a customer fills a bag with any fashion item they no longer want, the items are sold in aid of their chosen charity, and customers get a third of the proceeds as FARFETCH credit. In both cases someone else gets to enjoy the items so everyone’s doing their bit to help the environment by reducing overall consumption of 'new' items."

The proof that customers are now looking to make more sustainable and ethical purchasing decisions comes from Berry revealing that the Conscious range is growing at a significantly faster rate than all other sales through the site. Additionally, across the industry, he estimates new clothes sales are predicted to grow at most around 3% whereas clothing resale growth is in the 15%-30% range.

## Conclusion

The primary motivators in fashion will likely always be the look, feel, design and price of an item. However, there is a growing consideration to filter fashion brands and retailers according to their action on sustainability and ethics.

This was always bubbling under the surface but it would appear the global pandemic has prompted consumers to take stock of what is important and to value brands who treat their workers and the environment with care and respect.

Research coordinated by Cardiff University found, for example, that the proportion of Britons who believe tackling climate change is urgent rose from 62% to 74% between August 2019 and August 2020. Additionally, nearly half the UK population (47%) is now vowing to fly less than before once restrictions are lifted. In the US, media reports have suggested taking a step back from the daily grind of driving to work has seen air pollution drop by 30%.

These issues should resonate with fashion brands and retailers, given that four in five consumers reveal they would not shop with a brand that lacked ethical and sustainable values. Hence, half of consumers have already revealed they have avoided fashion companies that have received poor media coverage over their ethics and sustainability record.

__Consumers have spoken clearly. They want brands to:__

- Treat workers throughout their entire supply chain fairly
- Produce clothes without damaging the environment
- Use recyclable packaging
- Embrace recycling schemes which extend garments’ lives
- Work hard on carbon reduction measures
- Operate according to transparent brand values

These are the action points fashion brands and retailers need to embrace to win over the half of the market that currently only trusts the industry to a moderate degree and the quarter which does not trust them at all.

When it comes to trust, they need to remember fashion shoppers highly trust one another’s advice and online reviews two to three times as much as glossy magazine articles, social media and advertising. As for celebrity influencers, these are the least trusted source available to fashion marketers.

The message is clear. Consumers want to see sustainable and ethical fashion, and they place their trust on which brands match these values in word of mouth and reviews, not the media and most definitely not on what celebrity influencers are paid to say.

If you'd like to find out more about Trustpilot, and how social proof can help you build trust with consumers, request a free demo below.


### Methodology

London Research was commissioned by Trustpilot to carry out surveys of 2,800 nationally representative consumers across the UK (n=1,000), US (n=1,000), France (n=200), the Netherlands (n=200), Italy (n=200) and Sweden (n=200) in September 2020.

The research was conducted using a Toluna research panel. London Research also carried out a series of interviews for this report.

### Acknowledgements

London Research and Trustpilot would like to thank the following people for their help in compiling this report:

- Thomas Berry, Global Director of Sustainable Business, FARFETCH
- Lee-Anne Harris, Marketing Director, The Savile Row Company
- Benjamin Heyd, Head of Marketing and Co-Founder, SANVT
- Olivia Pinnock, Fashion Writer and Creator of The Fashion Debates
- Sophie Slater, Co-Founder, Birdsong
- Laurel Wolfe, VP Marketing, Klarna

Why ethical fashion brands are future-proof

Health-and-Beauty-Hero - smaller

Combating misinformation in the health and beauty sector

Buying the right health and beauty products can be a minefield at the best of times, with consumers wasting millions each day on health and beauty products that are counterfeit, substandard and in many cases bought on the basis of fake reviews. 

## The cost of fake reviews and counterfeits

The harsh reality is that the products may well be counterfeit. This means customers have not only wasted hard-earned money on a fake product, they could also be risking their health.

If you need to get a hook on why people should be concerned about fake health and beauty products, a good place to start is the Netflix documentary ‘[Broken: Make-Up Mayhem](https://www.netflix.com/title/81002391)’.

In the show, police investigators and doctors list the heavy metals and carcinogens they have found counterfeiters use to create cheap copies of expensive ingredients. At one level, these cause skin diseases, such as dermatitis, impetigo and pustules. At the other extreme, heavy metals can cause fertility issues and lead to miscarriages. One interviewee revealed how a counterfeit Kylie lipstick got its shiny appearance from superglue which stuck her lips together.

### COVID-19 exacerbates the problem

Covid-19 is raising the stakes, considerably. Legitimate businesses and industry experts know that regardless of what is happening to the economy, consumers still want to feel good about themselves. When official outlets they trust run out of stock, as global supply chains come unstuck, even savvy consumers can be tempted to check out online stores they may not totally trust.

Wellness and beauty industry influencer and ITV This Morning guest presenter, Gina Akers, has warned of the dangers of counterfeit products on BBC’s ‘Fake Britain’ television show. She believes many consumers, especially young people, want to look like their favorite celebrity, but cannot afford the high-end prices required. When you add reputable stores running out of stock, you have a counterfeiter’s dream scenario.

*“The big issue is the celebrity influencers have their own lines of cosmetics which are high end and are prone to running out of stock, particularly with the supply problems around coronavirus,”* she says.

*“Young people wanting to look like these celebrities are sorely tempted to get something cheaper from somewhere online that claims to have stock. But they’re often fake and, even worse, they have been made in unsanitary conditions. My advice is that if it’s too good to be true, it probably is. Always buy from a reputable store.”
*

### Market overview: spending is up, so is waste

The [coronavirus pandemic](https://business.trustpilot.com/reviews/learn-from-customers/consumer-behavior-in-the-age-of-coronavirus-global-review-trends-by-industry) has prompted a significant leap in spending in the health and beauty markets. According to our research, 59% of US consumers and 55% of UK consumers say they are spending more on health products due to the coronavirus crisis.

Around a quarter of survey respondents in both markets (26% in the US and 25% in the UK) reveal they are spending more on beauty. As seen in Figure 1, almost half of those consumers spending more on beauty across both markets suggest the extra spending is rooted in wanting to treat themselves (45% in the US and 51% in the UK).



Why consumers have bought more health and beauty products as a result of lockdown and the coronavirus pandemic.

Figure 1: Why consumers have bought more health and beauty products as a result of lockdown and the coronavirus pandemic.

In unprecedented times, both American and British consumers (42% and 40%, respectively) are spending more because they fear that stocks could run out if they do not make a pre-emptive purchase and there is clearly a desire under lockdown to stay healthy and feel good about oneself through a treat purchase.

Consumers are also spending more because salons are closed (45% in the US and 35% in the UK).

In the health category, both markets are clearly showing the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdowns. The most popular products so far this year have been hand sanitizer and soap, with pain relief, vitamin supplements, and prescription and over-the-counter medicines following closely behind (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Which health-related products have you bought since the start of this year?

A third of consumers in the UK and around two in five in the US had already bought plastic gloves and face masks when our survey was carried out in April. This is a new market for both countries which have no tradition of wearing face coverings in public, unlike some parts of Asia. This category will continue to grow as lockdown measures are relaxed, the use of face masks becomes increasingly recommended or enforced, and anxious members of the public return to busy public areas, particularly on public transport.

In beauty, hair and skin care are the most popular categories for spending so far this year in both the US and the UK, with bathing accessories, foot, hand and nail care, fragrances and makeup not far behind (Figure 3).

Which beauty products consumers have bought since the start of the year

Figure 3: Which beauty products have you bought since the start of the year?

The closure of retail outlets has led to an increase in online sales for health and beauty products

The closure of retail stores due to coronavirus has led to an increase in online sales, especially for health and beauty products

Guides and reports

Brand integrity: the new frontier for marketing

Get Seen in Search

The new face of SEO: Answer Engine Optimisation

The beginner’s guide to site speed for SEO

How to use SEO to build your eCommerce reputation — a quick guide

Build a Trusted Brand

The value of customer ratings and reviews in advertising in the US

Why ethical fashion brands are future-proof

2020 Consumer Report: Combating Misinformation in the Health + Beauty Sector

Turn Browsers Into Buyers

The complete guide to marketing with customer reviews: 2021 update

Trustpilot Consumer Insights: 2020 Holiday Readiness Guide

7 Tried and tested conversion strategies

Learn From Your Customers

Trustpilot Consumer Insights: 7 Must-knows for this holiday season

Understanding COVID-19’s impact on business + imagining a post-pandemic world

2021 Consumer finance report: How Covid-19 is impacting banking and payments