Frequently asked questions about Customer Reviews

Responses from Trusted Shops

What does the Trusted Shops customer review system offer me?

In short: authentic customer reviews for your online shop! Or even for your website offering services such as travel agencies or consultancies. Reviews consist of a maximum of 5 stars and a review text. For online shops, there are stars for the categories delivery, goods and customer service, whereas the stars for services are only in the category services. There is always a review text as personal words highlight the effect of the review stars. Customers can review your products, too, with Trusted Shops. You can display your product reviews in your shop as well as on Google. In this way, you not only get valuable feedback on your products but also reduce your returns rate. Do you have a retail outlet? Then ask your customers with the local reviews from Trusted Shops to submit a review there too.

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How do I collect reviews with Trusted Shops?

It’s very simple. Once you have integrated the Trustbadge®, automatically collect reviews without any further effort. The Trustbadge® technology ensures that your customers automatically gain the possibility in the order process to review your shop or the purchased products. To spare you from having to start from scratch with your reviews, we offer the review collector as a special service. With this web based tool, you ask your customer via e-mail to submit a review for purchases they have made recently. And this is done with a simple click: Upload a list of the order details, and the review collector will do the rest. Would you like customised integration? We’ll be happy to help you! Write to members@trustedshops.com.

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When do my reviews appear on Google?

The following applies to reviews in your shop:
Once you have collected over 100 reviews and your average grade is over 3.5, your reviews will automatically appear in the Google Shopping profile of your online shop. We transfer your reviews to Google daily, but it takes 3-6 weeks until these are published by Google.

The following applies to product reviews:
Even from the third review, Google publishes your reviews in the paid product advertisements and on Google Shopping.

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Where can I publish my reviews?

The most important place is your own website. You can display the reviews there with the Trustbadge® and the review widget. In each case, one click leads to your personal SEO-optimised customer review profile, which lists all of the reviews over the last 12 months in detail.
If you have booked the additional Google integration option, the reviews are also transferred to Google for automatic integration in Google Shopping and Google Ads. The review sticker offers you the possibility of publishing a selection of reviews on your page in the form of a banner.
You can use the Trusted Shops Facebook app to publish your customer review profile on your online shop’s Facebook page.
If you are not sure which options are included in your package, then please write to members@trustedshops.com.

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Can I file a complaint against a review?

If you are of the opinion that a review infringes upon our terms and conditions for use for submitting reviews or against an applicable law, you can report this to us in your Trusted Shops account.
You naturally do not have to accept it if a customer writes untruths in his or her review comment or uses swear words, or if someone has submitted a review without ever ordering anything from your shop. If you report such a review to us, this is immediately checked by a specialised team, who decide whether the review is to be removed while taking into consideration and observing current jurisprudence.
However, reported reviews cannot always be removed. Freedom of speech sometimes protects even strongly worded criticism, even if it is perceived to be unjustified or unfair.

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Can I individually alter the way the reviews are displayed?

You can integrate the Trustbadge® in various sizes and versions. In the trustcard that opens, if a customer hovers their mouse over the Trustbadge®, the customer review widget also appears.
The review sticker offers you the possibility of displaying reviews directly on your page. Select the shape and colour as well as the number of reviews displayed and thus adapt the way the reviews are displayed individually to suit your shop layout.

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Can I add a comment to a review?

Of course – this is a very important tool for you as here you can show how good your customer service is when it comes down to it. You can add a public response to a review in your Trusted Shops account.
Access the review under ‘Reviews - Manage reviews’ and go to ‘Edit’ in the review. Then click on ‘Add comment’ and write your response.
Would you like to always be up to date? Then have new reviews sent directly to your smartphone via the Trusted Shops mobile app. There, you can read and comment on reviews at any time.

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How does Trusted Shops protect me against false reviews?

An important topic, as only authentic reviews generate trust. This is why only customers who have submitted an order in your online shop can then rate this order. The Trusted Shops customer review system is based on a range of automated system-supported and manual processes in order to ensure the authenticity of the reviews.
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What should you do for a negative review?

Even negative reviews have their value as long as you respond properly to them. We would like to give you some tips on how to turn a negative review into a positive customer experience:

• People tend to read negative comments first. Most consumers expect positive feedback comments as a matter of course, which is why they tend also to read the negative reviews before making a purchase. Here you have the opportunity with your reply to show that you take the concerns of your customers seriously and offer good customer service even in the event of conflict.
• Respond promptly. You shouldn’t leave it too long before responding to negative comments, as you will otherwise give the impression that you, as an online retailer, are indifferent to criticism. You can ask Trusted Shops to automatically alert you by e-mail every time a new review arrives – or use our app!
• Remain objective. Even if the customer comment is rudely written, you should not respond in the same tone. You should show that you can deal confidently with criticism.
• Apologise if you have made a mistake. No customer expects perfection. It is more important that you offer a concrete solution if something has gone wrong.
• Do not blame your customers. Of course, your customers can also make mistakes, either because details were missed or because erroneous information was inadvertently submitted. However, you should refrain from criticising your customers and instead set out the facts in a completely neutral manner.

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How can my customers make a subsequent change to their reviews?

Every consumer can subsequently amend their review in their personal My Trusted Shops area. To do this, they only have to log in using the same e-mail address with which they submitted their review. In their account, they find their submitted reviews and can edit these.
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Who should I contact if I have further questions about customer reviews?

Our team will be happy to help you with questions and all details concerning customer reviews: call us on 0203 364 5906 or leave us a message.
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