Replying to customer reviews: a practical guide

Why reply at all

A reply shows that someone reads the reviews and cares about them. The customer who wrote the review feels heard, and future customers see how you deal with problems. A calm reply to a bad review can say more about your shop than many good reviews. A reply is also a chance to correct a misunderstanding, for example about delivery times or how a product is used.

Replying to positive reviews

• Thank the customer, briefly and in your own words.
• Pick up one detail from the review, for example the product or the quick delivery. This shows that you have really read it.
• Do not put the same sentence under every review. Readers notice it, and it looks automatic.

Example: 'Thank you for the kind words about the linen napkins. We are glad they arrived in time for your party, and we hope you enjoy them for a long time.'

Replying to negative reviews

1. 1Read the review twice and wait until you are calm. Do not reply in anger.
2. 2Thank the customer for the feedback, also when it is harsh.
3. 3Be specific: name the problem in your own words and say what you know about it. Do not argue about the details in public.
4. 4Invite the customer to contact you directly, through the e-mail address or phone number your shop normally uses. Clarify order details there, not in the review thread.
5. 5Say only what you will really do. If you have already changed something, such as the packaging, you can say so.

Some reviews are unfair or simply wrong. Stay factual anyway, for example: 'We could not find this order in our system. Please contact us so that we can look into it.' If a review breaks the rules of the platform, for example with insults, report it there instead of fighting in the replies.

What does not belong in a public reply

• Personal data of the customer: no full name, address, order number, phone number or details of the order. Do not repeat them, even if the customer wrote them.
• Promises you cannot keep: no refund, voucher or date unless it has been decided. Everyone can read a public promise.
• Blame and sarcasm: do not accuse the customer and do not comment on the person. Stick to the matter.
• Admissions you have not checked: say you are sorry about the experience, but do not take the blame for something you have not looked into yet.

Fake reviews and rewards: what the rules say

Germany and Poland have specific rules on consumer reviews in their laws on unfair commercial practices. Both laws go back to the EU directive on unfair commercial practices (Directive 2005/29/EC). In Poland, the act was amended by the act of 1 December 2022, which implements Directive (EU) 2019/2161 and entered into force on 1 January 2023.

• Germany: the annex to § 3(3) UWG lists practices towards consumers that are always unlawful. No. 23c names submitting or commissioning fake consumer reviews or recommendations, and misrepresenting consumer reviews or recommendations in social media, to promote sales. No. 23b names claiming that reviews come from consumers who actually bought or used the product without reasonable and proportionate steps to check this.
• Poland: art. 7 of the act of 23 August 2007 on counteracting unfair market practices lists practices that are misleading in all circumstances. Point 26 names posting fake consumer reviews or recommendations, or having someone else post them, and distorting consumer reviews or recommendations to promote products. Point 25 names the same unchecked claim as No. 23b in Germany.
• Information about checks: if you show consumer reviews, information on whether and how you make sure that they come from people who used or bought the product counts as material information (§ 5b(3) UWG; art. 6(4) point 7 of the Polish act). Say on your site where your reviews come from and how you check them.

Rewards are a question of their own. If you reward only positive reviews, or ask only happy customers, your reviews no longer show an honest picture. Ask all customers in the same way, and read the rules of your platform: some do not allow any reward for a review. Never write reviews yourself, and do not let staff, family or agencies write them for you.

The same applies to structured data on your pages: Google says that reviews or ratings not by actual users may result in a manual action.

Learning from many reviews

A single review is one voice. Many reviews show patterns: what customers keep praising, what keeps going wrong and which questions come up again and again.

• Collect the reviews from all channels in one list, for example as a CSV export, and look at them every few months.
• Sort them by theme, such as delivery, packaging, size or customer service, and count how often each theme comes up.
• Turn the results into changes: a clearer size chart, a sentence in the product description, a new question in the FAQ. Afterwards, compare the reviews from before and after the change.

Work with Do4U

Replies to reviews writes two or three reply suggestions for one review, in the tone you choose and in the language of the review. The code counts the length for the platform, warns about phone numbers, e-mail addresses and links that are not in your input, and marks promises such as refunds or vouchers. Review analysis reads many reviews at once and shows the themes with their mood and number, what customers praise and criticise most, and ideas for your website and FAQ. Before the analysis, the code removes common personal data such as e-mail addresses and phone numbers.

Do4U builds a draft. You read every reply before you post it, compare the analysis with what you know about your shop and decide what to do.