"RuffRuff 予約販売" helps reduce the opportunity losses that occur when an item is out of stock, before a new product launches, or while waiting for restock.
It lets you set up pre-orders on your own Shopify store with surprising ease, and you can register unlimited pre-order items and accept unlimited pre-orders. It can also restrict customers from ordering pre-order and regular items together in the same order, and can notify customers when a restock date is undetermined.
It also offers many unique features not found in other pre-order apps, such as a "deferred payment" feature that lets you collect payment before the item ships.
Have you added a review (word-of-mouth) feature to your Shopify store yet? A review feature offers many benefits, such as boosting trust in your shop and products and encouraging visitors to buy.
In this article, we cover the benefits and drawbacks of adding a review feature to Shopify, along with recommended review apps.
We also introduce review apps that support Japanese, as well as review apps that come with point and favorites features. Use this as a reference when choosing a review app.
Benefits of adding a review (word-of-mouth) feature to Shopify
The benefits of adding reviews to Shopify are as follows.
- Builds trust and makes purchases easier
- Helps improve product or service quality
- Helps build good relationships with customers
- Positive effects on SEO can be expected
We'll cover each in detail.
Builds trust and makes purchases easier
Buying from a store or product for the first time can make anyone feel a bit uneasy.
A store or product with multiple reviews from people who've already purchased builds more trust that it's "properly run" than one with no reviews at all, and if those are positive reviews, it becomes even easier to drive purchases.
Helps improve product or service quality
Reviews from customers who are actually using your products or services are valuable feedback.
You can use them to improve your products and services going forward.
Also, by showing customers that you've made improvements based on their reviews, you can encourage repeat purchases from the people who wrote them.
Helps build good relationships with customers
When a review is posted on your Shopify store, it's also important to reply to it.
Replying to reviews helps customers feel they're being treated with care as an individual, which helps build a trusting relationship with them.
When replying to reviews, key points are: reply as quickly as possible, thank the reviewer for writing it (for sharing their opinion) even if it's a low rating, and avoid including content unrelated to the review itself (such as promoting a different product).
This requires steady, ongoing effort, so it may be tough, but since it's an important activity for building relationships with customers, try to reply as much as you can.
Positive effects on SEO can be expected
Adding a review feature causes review content to appear in Google search results. Showing reviews can help improve CTR from search results.
Review posts can also boost the uniqueness of your content and keep your store's information feeling fresh.
When content appears in search results it gets clicked, and Google recognizes that the content itself has originality and freshness, so you can expect positive effects on SEO.
The article below covers the benefits and drawbacks of implementing SEO measures on a Shopify store, along with SEO measures and apps available on Shopify. Please use it as a reference.
Drawbacks of adding a review (word-of-mouth) feature to Shopify
The drawbacks of adding reviews to Shopify are as follows.
- Hard to control accuracy and quality of content
- You'll also get negative reviews
We'll cover each in detail.
Hard to control accuracy and quality of content
Since reviews are submitted voluntarily by customers, they may contain content that isn't intended by your company, or content that differs from the facts. Also, if inaccurate review information is published on your site, it doesn't just affect sales — it also delivers misinformation to customers, which in the worst case could turn into a serious problem.
For example, if a baseless review like "taking XX helped with symptom XXX" is published on your Shopify site, it could create false expectations for people with symptom XXX, and in the worst case, could even negatively affect their health.
To help ensure the accuracy and quality of review content as much as possible, take steps such as asking for reviews only from people who have actually used or purchased the product or service, checking reviews before publishing rather than auto-publishing them, and providing clear examples of what to write in a review.
You'll also get negative reviews
Adding a review feature will bring in reviews that praise your products, but it will also bring in negative reviews. Rather than overreacting to negative reviews, try to take them in stride — for example, thinking "if every review were glowing it would actually look unnatural and less credible, so I'm glad someone wrote something different" or "let's put this to use improving the product next time".
For reviews that genuinely share an honest opinion, it's important never to argue back or delete them — even if they're negative, keep them posted as-is.
8 recommended review apps for Shopify
Here are our recommended review apps for Shopify.
We'll cover each in detail.
Poing Pong
A domestically-made Shopify app that offers not just a review feature, but a points feature as well. Since it's developed in Japan, it supports Japanese. You can award points for review submissions, and use points as a way to encourage more reviews.It also integrates with the popular Japanese pre-order app "RuffRuff 予約販売", letting you award bonus points to customers who purchase pre-order items.
The blog article below covers the features, setup process, and pricing plans of "Poing Pong" in detail. Please use it as a reference.
Price: $20/month
※ 14-day free trial
※ All features are available free of charge on development stores
The blog article below covers the benefits and drawbacks of adding a points service to Shopify, along with Shopify apps that let you add a points service. Please use it as a reference.
Judge.me
A popular review app among Shopify apps. It's packed with features, offering everything from collecting reviews to displaying them and sharing to external channels — including "condition-based and scheduled review request settings", "review submissions with photos and videos", "automatic distribution of thank-you coupons to reviewers", "automatic sharing of reviews to social media", and an "A/B testing feature".
Price: Free~
※ Some features are only available on paid plans, so please check the Shopify App Store for details.
The blog article below covers Judge.me's main features, pricing plans, and setup process in detail. If you're considering adopting Judge.me, please use it as a reference.
Stamped.io
A popular review app among Shopify apps. Like Judge.me, it's packed with features — you can include photos and videos in reviews, and display your store's reviews in conjunction with social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Price: Free~
※ Some features are only available on paid plans, so please check the Shopify App Store for details.
Klaviyo Reviews
Klaviyo Reviews is a review app developed by Klaviyo, the company behind Shopify's popular email delivery app of the same name. Its biggest feature is seamless integration with the Klaviyo email delivery app, letting you easily collect reviews and put the collected review content to use.
The blog article below covers the features and setup process of Klaviyo Reviews. Please use it as a reference.
Price: Free~
※ The amount varies depending on order volume, so please check the Shopify App Store for details.
Prime Review
Prime Review is a Shopify app offered by a Japanese company. This single app lets you add review, favorites, and FAQ features. It also integrates with Shopify Flow, offering multiple triggers such as review submissions and adding to favorites, along with actions for adding/removing favorites and submitting reviews. Although not listed on the Shopify App Store, it also lets you add a "Save for later" feature.
The blog article below covers the features, pricing plans, and main functionality of "Prime Review". Please use it as a reference.
Price: from $9/month
※ Higher-tier plans are also available, so please check the Shopify App Store for details.
LEEEP
LEEEP is a service that makes use of diverse content — UGC (user-generated content), video, staff posts, reviews, and more — to bring out your brand's appeal and improve the purchasing experience on your ecommerce site.
With LEEEP's review feature, you can set custom fields per product in addition to attributes like gender and age, enabling flexible review collection.
The blog article below covers LEEEP's features, functionality, and setup process. Please use it as a reference.
Price: Free~
※ Higher-tier plans are also available, so please check the Shopify App Store for details.
Trustoo Reviews
Trustoo Reviews is a review app with a Japanese-language admin screen. You can customize the design to match your brand, and it also has a feature that automatically collects reviews and photos from customers.
It can also offer discounts to customers who submit a review or refer a friend, helping drive both new reviews and new customer acquisition.
Price: Free~
※ Higher-tier plans are also available, so please check the Shopify App Store for details.
Smart Review
Smart Review is a Japan-made review app that adds review functionality to your Shopify store. Beyond displaying reviews on product pages, it brings together everything you need to run reviews in one place, including automatically sending review-request emails after purchase and handling customer questions.
It avoids the pitfalls that often come with overseas-made apps — like text staying in English, or request emails arriving in English — by designing the admin screen, storefront display, and request emails in Japanese from the ground up. Initial setup takes as little as 10 minutes, so you can start collecting reviews the same day you install it.
The blog article below covers Smart Review's features, functionality, and setup process. Please use it as a reference.
Price: ¥980
Frequently asked questions about reviews
Are there products that can't carry reviews?
Yes, there are.
For pharmaceuticals, it's prohibited to post reviews or word-of-mouth content that guarantees efficacy or effects.
Evidence: On Internet Sales of Over-the-Counter Drugs｜Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
Finally
Adding a review feature to Shopify is a powerful way to build customer trust and encourage purchases. Reviews are valuable feedback from customers, and can be put to use improving your products and services. They also function as a factor that can boost SEO, helping improve your visibility in search results.
However, reviews can also include negative opinions, and managing their accuracy and quality isn't easy. To address these challenges, you can take steps such as checking reviews before publishing, and encouraging feedback specifically from customers who have actually used your product.
To get the most out of a review feature, it's important to value communication with your customers and respond sincerely not just to positive reviews, but to negative ones as well. Doing so helps you build a relationship of trust with your customers and can lead to long-term business success.
Beyond a review feature, combining other Shopify apps — such as points services or favorites features — can help you deliver an even richer customer experience. Try combining these tools to further enhance your shop's appeal.
Finally, in addition to review apps, the blog article below introduces various recommended apps by category, including "attracting customers", "growing sales", and "expanding blog features". Please use it as a reference.
