The Next Generation of Online Reviews

 In today’s online shopping world, consumer reviews are everywhere—popping up as trusted companions for millions of purchases. Shoppers and e-tailers alike rely on reviews to build trust, create transparency, and shape the ultimate buying experience. But with thousands of reviews stacking up for each product, the challenge grows: who has time to sift through them all? Enter consumer review summaries, the next big step in eCommerce! In this blog, we’ll explore how review summaries on leading eCommerce sites streamline product insights, help customers make informed decisions faster, and create lasting value for businesses and buyers alike.

Why Review Summaries?

With thousands of reviews, many of the leading eCommerce websites are using AI to provide potential buyers with a snapshot of feedback from the hive mind. The summary is an aggregate of the reviews and provides some indication of consumer sentiment while highlighting some of the key topics that made a product a success or not. Amazon announced this last August and other prominent retailers have followed suit.

Since Amazon’s announcement, we have seen consumers shift towards using the summary to make their purchasing decisions. Let’s take a closer look at why this is disrupting e-commerce. 

In the snapshot below, a user gets a short recap of the thousands of written reviews for a Jansport backpack. Select product attributes are highlighted and color-coded with consumer sentiment. Potential buyers can drill down into topics of discussion and peruse the range of consumer feedback to help support their decision-making. It also includes an array of product photos submitted by consumers. 

What’s unclear about the model are the criteria for summaries implemented on a product page. Does the product need to reach a critical threshold of reviews before a summary is created? This is a question that emerges across many sites.

Benefits of Consumer Review Summaries

In the Amazon example, we delved into the different components of the review summary, but what is the value to online retailers? The use of AI to recap consumer reviews is a significant investment and takes up prime real estate on the product description page. It pushes the online review model to a whole new level–Reviews 2.0.

The effort pays off in spades because review summaries achieve a number of goals for eCommerce sites:

• Reduces bounce rate and churn: Optimize your on-page experience so users don’t have to look for product information somewhere else.
• Supports consumer decision-making: Instead of being overwhelmed by reading review summaries, the review summary optimizes the user experience. Potential buyers are engaged by the retailer with compelling content about the product they’re interested in purchasing.
• Cultivates Credibility: Trust is already something that online reviews build since it allows the authentic consumer experience to shine through. However, the summaries add another layer of transparency that customers can appreciate. It makes it easy for consumers to glean the information they need to make their purchasing decisions.

A Closer Look at Brands Using Review Summaries

Earlier, we zoomed in on Amazon and how it’s trailblazing in the field. Now, let’s survey the ecosystem to see which other eCommerce leaders are upping their game to stay competitive.

Target

Here’s an example from Target, where a Revlon lip product has over 1000 reviews. It’s not feasible for a potential buyer to read them all. Beyond the star rating averages, Target highlights some of the key product features and summarizes consumers’ likes and dislikes. The most discussed features are also color-coded to indicate if there is positive or negative consumer sentiment. In this case, long-lasting and vibrant colors are in green. Finally, some consumer images are also highlighted.

What’s crucial here, is that the review summary mentions that it includes incentivized reviews which are known to skew consumer data positively. 

Best Buy

This is one of the leading appliance and electronics sites in the US and the screenshot below is a summary of 15,000+ reviews for the AirPods. Again, anticipating how impossible it is to read the feedback, the summary is a concise way for consumers to ascertain the highlights. Beyond the summary, BestBuy also provides ratings for key features and highlights the sentiment for important product topics. The data and summary provides consumers with the most important information to make an informed purchase.

TripAdvisor

We focused on online retailers for the most part, however, this popular travel review site has started implementing review summaries as well. Below is the summary of over 5,000 reviews for the W Hotel Times Square, highlighting key attributes like Location, Cleanliness, Rooms, and many others. However, the topics are not color-coded.

This has not been implemented across all travel categories. For instance, below is a rating snapshot for Disneyland, which has garnered over 28,000 reviews—significantly more than the above-mentioned hotel. However, there is no review summary to be found. The only additional module here is the list of the most popular mentions in the reviews, such as Small World, Happiest Place on Earth, and Space Mountain. However, no sentiment is associated with these terms.

Conclusion

Leading eCommerce sites have been showcasing reviews for years, but AI-powered summaries are revolutionizing the way consumers interact with feedback—ushering in Reviews 2.0. If you run an eCommerce site, it’s time to embrace this latest trend. Implementing review summaries can reduce bounce rates, increase consumer engagement, and bolster trust and credibility. As the competitive landscape continues to evolve, leveraging these tools will not only help support your consumers but also enhance your site’s ROI.

Jump on board now, and ensure your business stays ahead in the fast-paced world of eCommerce!

Florence Broder

Florence Broder is a marketing professional with over 20 years of experience. She has worked in a range of global high-tech companies.