Between a labor shortage in the U.S. and unpredictable supply chain issues overseas, American companies are bringing jobs back home. In 2022, almost 350,000 positions will be “reshored,” according to the Wall Street Journal. That’s a massive jump from 6,000 reshorings in 2010.

Offshoring, in contrast, has become politically toxic on both sides of the aisle. Seventy percent of Americans say that buying domestically-made products is very or somewhat important.

But will U.S. consumers walk the walk? In 2016, MIT calculated that a made-in-America iPhone would cost $100 more … or $123.44 today adjusted for, y’know, inflation.

Fake reviews: Can anybody tell the difference anymore?

The Review Cycle: Get more stars from more (real) customers.

Purina: Helping domestic violence survivors and their pets.

(Source: Shutterstock)

Customer reviews are a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. On the one hand, 98% of shoppers read them and 92% are hesitant to buy a product without any customer reviews. Younger shoppers expect to see hundreds of reviews while older shoppers still expect to see dozens.

On the other hand, nearly two-thirds of shoppers are convinced they’ve seen a fake customer review recently. More than 90% partially or fully distrust Facebook reviews. A Harvard Business Review investigation found that “as many as 4.5 million sellers sourced fake reviews via [private] Facebook groups in the past year … with these products experiencing an average 12.5% bump in their sales ranks.”

So, why not just buy a bunch of fake reviews? Because they’ll destroy trust and can expose your business to a high amount of risk. Last year, Amazon banned 600 brands for fake reviews and filed a lawsuit in July. Earlier this year, a California fashion brand was fined $4.2 million by the FTC for blocking negative reviews. 

Consumers, who obviously don't appreciate the deception, are getting better at identifying review fraud with tools like Fakespot and ReviewMeta. HBR found that real customers fooled by fake reviews will ultimately post their own (extremely) negative feedback. So, customer reviews are vital — but they’ve got to be legit. Read ahead for tips on generating them from Matt R. Vance’s The Review Cycle: The Four-Step Model to Mastering Your Online Reviews. 

3%

Customers willing to shop from a business rated lower than 3-out-of-5 stars

[Source: BrightLocal]

Matt R. Vance is the author of The Review Cycle and a veteran in the consumer and employee experience space. He lives in Logan, Utah.

In 1997, Amazon became the first company to collect and display product reviews. Today, reviews are inseparably connected to sales. I have personally seen sales double with a mere increase from 4.2 stars to 4.3 stars. Reviews precede dollars. So, why aren’t more customers helping you out after the sale?

Hold up for a second. You’re a consumer too. Do you review every purchase you make? Consumers don’t have time or motivation to leave reviews for every transaction.

Review fatigue is real. Only 3% to 10% of shoppers will typically write a review. (I’ve witnessed review rates as low as 1.5% on some products, and that’s across millions of orders.) Every time a consumer does so, it’s due to three factors:

• A motive: I may want to give back to an online community with a review, positive or negative. (After all, other reviews helped me.) Or I may want to receive likes for my review.
• A method: The most popular rating method is “innocent until proven guilty” — customers want to give your product five stars, but the rating goes lower as it fails to impress.
• A trigger: You can prompt customers to leave reviews, but they’ll feel most inspired by an extremely positive or negative experience. After all, if it’s not too bad and not too good, why take the time? You wouldn’t remark on something unremarkable, would you?

Start thinking like your own customers. Be mindful of their experiences and build a convenient and simple review request strategy that reaches as many of your customers as possible. 

Realize that no matter what you do, you will get some negative reviews. That’s OK. Some negatives actually help validate the positive: A perfect five-star average rating will sell less than four-and-a-half stars because it’s viewed as being faked or too good to be true.

Be consistent asking all customers for reviews. The best way to overcome negatives is with a higher volume of reviews. Just make sure to respond to your negative reviews as well. The sales increase will be worth the effort.

Adapted from The Review Cycle by Matt R. Vance, available now.

(Source: Pepsi)

Most domestic violence shelters allow survivors to bring their children. Unfortunately, only 3% accept pets, which can cause survivors to stay in an abusive situation. For many, a pet is their sole source of support and love, and leaving would endanger the animal.

Purina and RedRover’s Purple Leash Project aims to change that. (Purple is the designated color for domestic violence awareness.) The goal is to make a quarter of all domestic violence shelters pet-friendly by 2025 or to find a foster home when that’s not possible. To date, the project has awarded grants to 25 shelters nationwide.

Kudos to Purina for helping people — and pets — go on to new, better lives.

(Source: Instagram)

“Repeat business or behavior can be bribed. Loyalty has to be earned.”

— Janet Robinson, former CEO of the New York Times Company

Written by Matt R. Vance and Jane Meggitt.

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