sales-customer-reviews

What this skill does

# Customer Reviews Strategy

Helps the user collect, display, moderate, and syndicate product reviews across ecommerce platforms — from choosing the right review tool to optimizing review collection rates and leveraging reviews for conversion and SEO.

## Step 1 — Gather context


If `references/learnings.md` exists, read it first for accumulated knowledge.

Ask the user:

1. **What do you need help with?**
   - A) Choosing a review platform
   - B) Setting up review collection (post-purchase emails/SMS)
   - C) Displaying reviews on product pages
   - D) Getting more photo/video reviews
   - E) Review moderation and responding
   - F) Review syndication to retail partners or Google
   - G) Migrating from one review platform to another
   - H) Something else — describe it

2. **What's your ecommerce platform?** Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, BigCommerce, custom, or other

3. **What's your monthly order volume?** This determines which review tools are cost-effective.

4. **What's your budget?** Free, under $50/month, under $200/month, or enterprise

## Step 2 — Platform comparison

Help the user choose based on their constraints:

| Platform | Best for | Pricing | Photo/Video | Syndication | Google Rich Snippets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Judge.me** | Budget-conscious Shopify stores | Free plan + $15/mo | Yes (paid) | No | Yes |
| **Loox** | Visual-first DTC brands | From $9.99/mo | Core feature | No | Yes |
| **Okendo** | Shopify brands wanting Klaviyo integration | From $19/mo | Yes | Limited | Yes |
| **Stamped** | Multi-channel aggregation | From $23/mo | Yes | Limited | Yes |
| **Yotpo** | Mid-market with loyalty + reviews | From $79/mo | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| **Skeepers** | Enterprise brands wanting UGC + influencer + reviews | ~3K EUR/mo | Yes | Yes (retail network) | Yes |
| **Bazaarvoice** | Enterprise retail syndication | Enterprise pricing | Yes | Industry-leading | Yes |
| **PowerReviews** | Retail brands / CPG | Enterprise pricing | Yes | Strong retail network | Yes |
| **Trustpilot** | Service businesses / B2B | Free plan + paid | Limited | No | Yes (own domain) |
| **Birdeye** | Multi-location service businesses | ~$299/mo/location | Limited | No | Yes |
| **G2** | B2B software (SaaS) | Free + $299/mo+ | No | No | No (G2 badges instead) |

**Decision framework:**
- **Just starting / low budget**: Judge.me (free plan is exceptionally generous) or Loox (if visual reviews matter)
- **Growing Shopify brand**: Okendo (tight Klaviyo integration) or Stamped (multi-channel)
- **Mid-market needing loyalty + reviews**: Yotpo (combined platform)
- **Enterprise needing syndication**: Bazaarvoice or PowerReviews (retail network) or Skeepers (UGC + influencer + reviews combined)
- **Service business (single location)**: Trustpilot (brand reputation focus)
- **Service business (multi-location)**: Birdeye (reviews + listings + messaging in one platform, healthcare/dental PMS integrations)
- **B2B SaaS**: G2 (buyer intent signals, Grid placement, category-specific credibility)

## Step 3 — Review collection strategy

### Post-purchase review request timing

| Scenario | Optimal delay | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Digital products | 1-3 days | Customer uses immediately |
| Fast-fashion / consumables | 7-10 days | Enough time to try |
| Furniture / appliances | 14-21 days | Needs time to evaluate |
| Subscription boxes | 5-7 days | Before next box arrives |

### Collection channels (by response rate)

1. **In-email review forms** (highest) — customer rates without clicking through. Judge.me, Skeepers, and Okendo support this.
2. **SMS review requests** — 3x higher open rate than email. Yotpo, Okendo, and Stamped support SMS.
3. **Post-purchase email** — standard approach. All platforms support this.
4. **On-site pop-up** — catch customers while browsing. Lower quality but captures impulse reviews.
5. **QR code in packaging** — physical prompt. Works well for unboxing-heavy products.

### Photo and video review incentives

- Offer loyalty points or discount codes for photo/video reviews (Yotpo, Okendo, Stamped integrate with loyalty)
- Use AI-suggested themes (Skeepers) to prompt more detailed, useful reviews
- Keep the upload process mobile-friendly — most customers review on phones
- Set expectations: "Show us how you use it" prompts better UGC than "Upload a photo"

## Step 4 — Review display and SEO

### Widget placement for maximum conversion

1. **Star ratings on product cards** (collection pages) — social proof before click-through
2. **Review summary above the fold** (product page) — star rating + count visible without scrolling
3. **Full review section** (product page) — filterable by rating, with photo/video, below product details
4. **Review carousel** (homepage) — featured reviews for brand trust
5. **Review rich snippets** (Google search) — JSON-LD structured data for star ratings in SERPs

### Google Rich Snippets setup

All major review platforms support JSON-LD structured data. Key requirements:
- Use `Product` schema with `aggregateRating` and `review` properties
- Reviews must be from verified purchases (Google's policy)
- Minimum 1 review to display; Google recommends 5+ for reliability
- Test with Google's Rich Results Test tool after implementation

### Review syndication

**What it is**: Pushing your reviews from your brand site to retail partner sites (Amazon, Target, Walmart, etc.)

**Who needs it**: Brands selling through multiple retailers who want consistent review coverage everywhere.

**Platform capabilities**:
- **Bazaarvoice** — largest retail syndication network (1,250+ retail sites, 325M+ reviews)
- **PowerReviews** — strong retail network, especially grocery/CPG
- **Skeepers** — syndication to Google Shopping, Meta, TikTok, plus retail partners
- **Yotpo** — growing syndication capabilities

**Key considerations**:
- Syndication requires retailer acceptance (business relationship, not just technical)
- Product identifiers must match across systems (GTIN/UPC is the universal key)
- Syndicated reviews are typically read-only on the retailer site
- Google Shopping reviews syndication is different from retail syndication

## Step 5 — Review moderation and response

### Moderation workflow

1. **Auto-approve** reviews ≥3 stars with no flagged content (most platforms support this)
2. **Queue for review** 1-2 star reviews and anything with flagged language
3. **AI moderation** (Skeepers, Yotpo) — catches spam, profanity, and competitor mentions automatically
4. **Respond to negative reviews within 24-48 hours** — shows future customers you care

### Response best practices

- **Thank positive reviewers** briefly — don't over-respond
- **Address negative reviews** with empathy + specific action: "I'm sorry about X. Here's what we're doing / please contact us at Y"
- **Never argue** — other customers are reading your response
- **Use AI reply suggestions** (Skeepers, Yotpo) as a starting point, then personalize

## Gotchas

> *Best-effort from research — review these, especially pricing and feature availability that may change.*

- **Shopify deprecated its native Product Reviews app in 2024** — if you're still using it, migrate to a third-party app. Export reviews before they're lost.
- **Google Rich Snippets are not guaranteed** — Google decides whether to show star ratings in search results. Having structured data is necessary but not sufficient.
- **Free plans have branding** — Judge.me and most free-tier review apps show their logo on widgets. Paid plans remove branding.
- **Review gating is against Google's policy** — don't filter review requests to only send to satisfied customers. Send to everyone.
- **Photo review quality varies** — expect ~5-15% of reviews to include photos without incentives. Incentivizing can increase this to 30%+.
- **Syndication ≠ automatic retail acceptance** — having syndication capability doesn't mean retailers will accept your reviews. It's a business negotiation.
- **Migration between platforms ri