@CROguy_
@joshtCRO
@stoykovallex1Why reviews matter on the product page
The product page is where shoppers decide if the product is right for them. Reviews answer "did this work for someone like me?" But the space near the price and add-to-cart button is limited, and reviews compete with it.
The tests here are mostly about where reviews go and how much of them to show, not whether to have them.
Measured results
Star rating placement
Dave Diederen's stars moved above the title won +9.26% conversion rate, +8.89% revenue per visitor and an estimated +$855,804/year. A similar test, adding a star rating and review count above the title, won +8.14% conversion rate.
The same idea was flat on another store: a rating above the title did not change conversion rate, with +1.30% revenue per visitor. Dave Diederen's explanation: if trust is not the main objection, moving reviews up will not do much.
What the stars do when clicked also mattered. Making the stars static instead of anchor-scrolling to the reviews left conversion rate flat but won +1.36% revenue per visitor and +1.91% AOV.
Review sections and written reviews
- Review section moved directly below the above-the-fold area, swapped with the USPs: +11.76% conversion rate, +10.65% revenue per visitor (Dave Diederen).
- One written review above the fold: +6.40% conversion rate, +7.45% revenue per visitor, about +$47k/month (Dave Diederen).
- A review block below the mobile CTA, chosen to answer objections from post-purchase surveys: +$63,735/month, +$0.43 revenue per session (Oliver Kenyon).
- Hiding written reviews above the fold: +13.36% conversion rate, +23.05% revenue per visitor. Dave Diederen says this won in 8 out of 10 tests across brands.
These fit together. One chosen review near the buy box helped; a long block of reviews above the fold pulled attention from the price, variants and button.
Video reviews
Dave Diederen's customer video reviews won +5.80% conversion rate and +6.26% revenue per visitor. Kasper Dolk reports captioned UGC videos and ad videos in the product hero as winners, without figures.
@DaveDiederen@DaveDiederen@DaveDiederen@DaveDiederen@DaveDiederen@DaveDiederenBundled redesigns that included reviews
Milos reported +81% conversion rate from a redesign with testimonials and bundles and 2.1% to 2.8% conversion rate from a single-product redesign with a rating and press mention. Oliver Kenyon won +$38,846/month with a rating under the title plus a sticky ATC and thumbnails and +$27,000/month by moving reviews higher with trust icons. Dave Diederen's gallery images with testimonials and USPs won +7.17% conversion rate. The reviews' share of these is unknown.
Losing or flat tests
- Profile icons next to the star rating: -1.90% conversion rate, -3.84% revenue per visitor. Dave Diederen calls it one of the most repeated losers: faces of strangers add clutter, not credibility.
- Replacing written reviews with product videos only: -2.00% conversion rate, -1.60% revenue per visitor. Video added to reviews can win; video instead of reviews lost.
- Rating above the title: flat on conversion rate.
Untested ideas
59 ideas have no measured result. The common threads:
- Pick and order reviews by the most common objections (Kasper Dolk).
- Put one emotional review in the buy box or under the gallery (Kasper Dolk).
- Make the star rating open a review slider in place, instead of scrolling away (Dave Diederen).
- Show units sold instead of a low review count (Milos).
- Break ratings into product-specific attributes, such as flavor or ease of use (Kasper Dolk).
- Josh Thompson claims gains from photo reviews and replies to negative reviews, but shows no test data.
Placement and design patterns that won
- Stars and review count above the title.
- One written, objection-handling review near the CTA, not a wall of reviews.
- The full review section directly below the above-the-fold area.
- Keep written reviews when adding video.
- Do not let star clicks jump shoppers to the bottom of the page.
Related tests elsewhere on the store
See the full review collection, product page social proof tests, product page image tests and checkout review tests.