Have you ever visited a store or bought something online without prior research? Usually, the outcome will be an unsatisfactory product or experience. And this is a regular occurrence in online shopping that can result in a significant loss on the customer’s side. For example, say you were looking for a reputable furniture brand online and are presented with the Online Home Shop and vidaXL. When researching, you might purchase from the Online Home Shop if they had better reviews. And how did you come to this decision? By reading previous customer store reviews, of course! Similarly, reading customer product reviews can save you much time, effort, and money.

How Product Reviews Can Save You Time and Effort

Let’s say you plan on trying out a new line of skincare products but are unsure whether they work well. In this scenario, a product review would significantly increase your knowledge of the skincare range and help you decide whether it is for you. The product reviews can include information ranging from the smell, texture, and consistency to whether it is safe, harmful to people with sensitive skin, or does not bore any results. This will save you the time of having to do your own research and will allow you to find something better suited to your needs. Likewise, reading these product reviews will also have you avoid the hassle of returns or exchanges. You would only need to return the products if the packaging is damaged or if there is another issue unrelated to whether it works.

How Product Reviews Can Save Money

Product reviews can help you avoid buying items from places that, for example, do not have good customer service or return policies. And this is only one of many ways to lose money to online shopping. Not to scare you, but there is a reason why caution is exercised where online shopping is concerned. In addition, you might end up with products that cannot be returned (think undergarments and other intimate items). Then there is the issue of being scammed. Sometimes, you are in luck when a sale or price seems too good to be true. Most times, you are walking into a scam and can have your important information hacked or stolen.

How to Avoid Misleading or Fake Product Reviews

While product reviews can be helpful, they can also be misleading or fake. And there are a few ways to tell whether this is the case. For one, look at the language used in the review. A lot of the time, the reviews will be written in bad English but speak very highly of the product. Furthermore, there will be few to no negative reviews on the website. If possible, check the date or time the reviews were made. If a suspicious amount of positive reviews were posted within a short time, chances are that someone is spamming the site.

Another way to spot a fake online product review is to look at the profiles of the people posting. If you are on social media, this may prove to be significantly easier. For example, if the review is on Facebook, the person’s profile might have a generic name and profile picture. However, they will have no friends and little interaction on their timelines. This same step can be applied to social media platforms and forums. And finally, many of the reviews will have the same tone and word usage, as there is a good chance it is the same person across different accounts.