When you’re shopping online, how often do you look at customer ratings on the products you’re interested in? If you’re like most people, you probably scan at least the first set of customer ratings to get an idea how other purchasers feel about the product.

Okay, now for another question. How often do you find a product you like and check sources outside the company’s ratings to see more unbiased opinions about it?

Shoppers with all shapes and sizes of pocketbooks are using these types of research tools. With online shopping becoming more prevalent, and relevant, people are also using the internet to explore facts and opinions about the products they want to by.

Company Customer Ratings

Of course, you’ve probably noticed the customer ratings on store sites, and have likely looked at some to see how other customers rate a product. While these company ratings are extremely helpful, you don’t always get pure unbiased opinions there. Many companies insert ratings about their own products for a number of reasons.

If a product gets a lot of bad ratings, sometimes the company will put in a few good ones to balance things out. And if ratings come with customer reviews, then the content can be found by search engines, which enables a little more visibility for the company.
Even though most companies aren’t trying to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes, the knowledge that not all ratings are legitimate makes them a little suspect, and not completely trustworthy. And to top it off, many people who give customer ratings are blindly loyal to certain companies.

Outside Customer Rating Sources
It makes sense that some consumer-conscious people have developed Web sites that are devoted entirely to customer ratings and reviews. These sites feature customer ratings on all sorts of products.

The advantage is that these sites aren’t connected to any one company, so the ratings that you research are much more unbiased, honest, and trustworthy.

One might expect to see some of those fervent loyalist ratings on these sites, too, and perhaps even some company-prompted ratings, but because it is consumer oriented and activated, these won’t be as common.

Customer Rating Truth
The simple fact is customer ratings help both the company and the consumer. Using customer ratings, along with reviews, can help you be a more informed consumer so your money is being used for worthy products. And if you’re a company and not using ratings and reviews, you’re going to want to add those soon. Take a look at these statistics.