I always make it a point to look at the reviews of a product when I’m planning to buy it from an online store. I obviously know what the product is and I can easily scan through its specifications in Google; but, reviews on that specific product left by previous customers help me understand how the product has performed and whether the buy will be worth the money or not.
Source: http://www.enveritasgroup.com
Types Of Online Reviews
Let me get straight to the point. There are basically three types of online product reviews:
#1. The Essay: These are somewhat like a “press release”, but focuses more on the user experience rather than the specifications. As the name suggests, they are essay-type ones and their length is pretty big. These are either written by the manufacturer himself, or by someone who’s asked by the seller to write on it. As a result, these reviews tend to talk more on the positive side.
#2. The Review Website: There are numerous review websites. In fact, most of the e-commerce websites have a distinct section under the product details section which deals with customer reviews. You don’t have to look for reviews anywhere else; scroll down to the review section once you’ve found the product you are looking for.
#3. Forum & Discussion: Reviews on forum and discussions are easy to find too. Just type in your query on Google, and you would stumble upon a large number of forums and discussions in online forums (it depends on the popularity of the query search, of course).
Fake Or Honest?
Now let us come to the most important part. You might find it alarming, but 5% of all online reviews are fake. They are written by real people, but these people are not the ones who are writing after using a product or service. And 88% of these reviews are positive – written in order to increase the sales figure.
The best way to judge a product (knowing that some reviews might be fake) is to trust in your gut feeling. When you see that there are too many “awesome” reviews and 5-star ratings for a product, digest it with a pinch of salt. You might buy it for sure; but expect it to work as a 4-star product.
I actually encourage every Internet shopper to read the reviews before buying a product, as only 5% of them are fake… and there are 95% completely honest reviews. Just don’t scan through the first 3 reviews, but read the entire page carefully. Get a good grip on it, check on your gut feeling, and add it to your cart. Simple as that!
