How To Get More 5 Star Reviews in Your Etsy Shop

Everyone wants good reviews for their business. It's the holy grail of customer feedback in e-commerce.

So how can you entice your customers to leave you more 5 star reviews, more of the time?

In this episode, Taylor breaks down the myth of not being allowed to ask for reviews on Etsy, and then shares 6 easy ways to encourage your customers to leave you great reviews.

You can listen to the podcast episode here, or keep reading below:

Everyone wants good reviews for their shops. 

Why good reviews help you:

• Customers DO read reviews prior to purchase
• The can help you become a Star Seller on Etsy

Before we get into how to get more 5 star reviews in your Etsy shop...

here's a few things to know about Etsy reviews:

A normal review rate is about 20% of sales. That might seem pretty low, but it’s average for Etsy sellers. About 1 in 5 customers will review a product they purchase from you. 

It’s also normal to get negative reviews once in a while. We do not have a perfect 5 star review record in our own shop, and you will not find an established shop that does. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, or even if your product and customer service is flawless, sometimes people will still be unhappy and it’s totally out of your control. 

Side note: if you want to learn more about how to respond to negative reviews, we have an excellent 2 part episode on negative reviews here!

Sometimes customers leave you a less-than-5-star-review by accident. sometimes people who are not the most tech savvy might love your product but not quite understand how reviews work and leave you a 3 or 4 star review. This is not ideal, but it’s not something you can control, so don't worry about it too much.

So, having said all that, let’s talk about how you can entice customers to leave more 5 star reviews for you.

I have heard people say you are not allowed to ask for reviews on Etsy. This isn’t actually true, but I have heard this rumor quite often actually. 

What’s not allowed:

• asking for a review in exchange for free product
• compensation for reviews
• or extra services in exchange for reviews

Places you can ask customers for reviews:

• Order confirmation email (including digital products)
• Order shipped email
• Thank you coupon post-order 

Wondering what you would even say? Feel free to steal this template!

“Hey ___ thank you so much for your purchase. I hope that you enjoy your X, which I handmade with you specifically in mind. If you wouldn’t mind, would you please take 2 minutes and leave me a review for this item if you loved it? This would greatly benefit my shop. Thank you!”

Okay now...

Here are 6 ways to get more 5 star reviews!

1. Make your packaging (for physical products) delightful. Match your packaging to your aesthetic, whether that’s bright and colorful, or calming and natural. 
2. Include something special. This could be a freebie item, a product sample, or even a handwritten thank you note. This can cost nothing to include a handwritten note and it can really show your customers that you care about them.
3. Send them a thank you coupon for a future order. You can do this automatically on Etsy under the marketing tab in your shop manager. We get a few extra hundred dollars a year in revenue with repeat customers who leave 5 star reviews and go on to complete repeat orders using these thank you coupons.
4. Make sure to include your social media handles or a hashtag in your order. Tell customers where to find you on social media! And this goes for you too - if you’re selling digital products and you don’t have a physical product to ship. In their order confirmation and in your digital file, be sure to include your social media handle.
5. One of the best ways you can really make your customers happy is fast order  processing times. Under promise and over deliver. So, if you typically get a package out in the mail in let’s say 3 days, set your processing time to 3-5 days. They’re expecting 5 days, but if you get the order out in 2-3, your customer is going to be like, “wow that was so fast.”
6.  If you do make a mistake, fix it quickly. We all mess up. We have sent the wrong stickers all over the world once in awhile. We’ve also sent someone half their order before. If you make a mistake, or the product’s quality wasn’t quite perfect, send them a replacement and make it right. This is a way you can hopefully get a good review from a customer and show them that you care about their experience.

Which of these strategies are you already using, and which can you implement today? We'd love to know! 

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