How customer reviews went from novelty to necessity

In October 1995, about three months after Amazon went live as an online bookstore, customer reviews displayed alongside a product were such a strange notion that the company endeavored to explain what they were in a press release: “Amazon.com allows readers to share their thoughts on particular books and exchange ideas with other readers around the world on its users’ reviews page.”

Today, those reviews are not just ubiquitous for retailers and retail brands, they’re an obsession. How can stores get more reviews, especially ones with four- or five-star ratings? When a product gets one-star reviews, should brands try to bury them or post chirpy responses? When products have an abundance of reviews, including bad ones, can that actually help reduce the likelihood that they’ll be returned?

While consumers may not depend on the kindness of strangers as much as Blanche DuBois, they certainly depend on their opinions. When it comes to purchase decisions, 96% of consumers value ratings and reviews, significantly more than those who value recommendations from family and friends (72%) or TV commercials (11%), according to a 2025 survey by PowerReviews, a ratings and reviews technology company.

The survey also found that 95% of consumers regularly read reviews, and when products have no online reviews, 57% say, “Fuhgeddaboudit,” and don’t purchase them.

Star market

Consumers are drawn to good reviews, but not perfect ones. A five-star average rating strikes 46% of shoppers as suspicious, especially Gen Z shoppers, 53% of whom don’t trust five-star ratings, per PowerReviews.

A 2022 analysis by PowerReviews found that products with a perfect 5.0 rating had a purchase rate (aka conversion rate) of 3.1%, about the same as products rated 3.0–3.49. The optimal rating was 4.75–4.99, with a conversion rate of 4.9%, while products rated 4.25–4.49 had a conversion rate of 4.5%.

With good ratings carrying so much weight, it’s no wonder fake reviews have become a scourge. Yelp has been engaged in a protracted battle against the practice on many fronts. In its annual Trust & Safety report, Yelp reported that in 2025 it filtered out nearly 500,000 suspected AI-generated reviews. Yelp also has flagged business pages that it says it “caught” compensating reviewers with cash or free products for posting positive reviews.

Amazon reported that in 2025 its legal actions shut down more than 100 websites that provided fake reviews “scams targeting” its store. In all, it says it blocked “hundreds of millions” of reviews it suspected of being fake.

Under FTC rules, companies may offer incentives for reviews, but cannot condition them on a positive rating, and incentives generally must be disclosed.

When products do get bad reviews, some brands have found it useful to respond to them directly instead of just hoping they’re eclipsed by good ones.

Supercheap Auto, the Australia-based car-parts retailer, found that online shoppers who read one- or two-star product reviews were 32% more likely to purchase the products if the retailer posted a response, according to a case study from Bazaarvoice, a customer reviews and user-generated content platform.

Positively negative

Along with helping sell products, an ample number of detailed reviews may help retailers avoid costly returns.

More than 8 in 10 shoppers (84%) said more detailed reviews could have helped them avoid a return, according to a 2025 survey by Yotpo, an e-commerce reviews and loyalty platform.

“Review context is especially critical in high-return categories where touch, texture, and fit are key,” the report stated. “Without the sensory cues of an in-store experience, shoppers lean on the real-world insights of others to make informed decisions.”

Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, told an audience at Southern Methodist University in 2018 that one publisher wrote him a letter suggesting that Amazon only publish the positive book reviews, which would presumably increase sales.

“I don’t actually believe that,” Bezos told the audience. “I don’t think we make money when we sell something. We make money when we help someone make a purchase decision…If you think about it that way, you want the negative reviews too.”