This holiday season, if you want to sway women to buy your brand vs. another, make sure that you have online product reviews. 80% of women say that the deciding factor in buying one brand vs. another was online review.

Whether they are shopping for electronics, cosmetics, clothing, or something else, more and more women are turning to product reviews to help in their purchasing decisions. Some are looking up reviews before heading to the store, while others are looking up reviews while already in the store!

We recently conducted a survey where we asked our members to share their thoughts on product reviews and how they influence their purchases.  Let’s take a look at the key takeaways and infographic below.

1. ~90% say that online product review has impacted their decision to buy a product.
2. Almost 80% of women say that a product’s reviews were the final deciding factor when they bought a product.
3. 96% (almost all) have looked at product reviews before shopping for a particular product.
4. Beauty (73%) is the #1 category where women consult online product reviews before purchasing followed by a tie for 2nd Appliances (67%) and Electronics (67%). Lowest on the list? Shoppers looking for auto care products (23%) consult reviews before buying; Season items (30%), Cars (30%) and Toys (33%)
5. Just 14% of women would NOT pay more for a product with good reviews is really interesting. So, the rest may/would pay more for a product that has better reviews than a lower priced product.  How much more would they pay? 30% would be 10% more; 16% would bay 11-20% more; 11% would pay 21%+ more for a product with better reviews. 27% are not sure how much more they would pay- but they would pay more.  Just 14% wouldn’t pay more.
6. More than half (51%) have searched for product reviews while in a store aisle.
7. By far text with a photo (48% say most influential) is the most influential type of review. It is 140% more influential than reviews that are text alone (20% say most influential) and 41% more influential than video reviews.

Interested in learning more? Feel free to reach out to missy.tiller@shespeaks.com