How do you feel about customer reviews? Do you dread reading them when you are notified you’ve received them? Or do you know you’ve done everything possible to earn that 5 star review! Buyers can leave reviews for 100 days after the order’s estimated delivery date. For digital items, this window begins once you download your file(s). Buyers using the Buy on Etsy app for iOS can give a star rating for the Item Quality, Shipping, and Seller Customer Service, in addition to the overall rating. At this time, the ratings for Item Quality, Shipping, and Seller Customer Service do not appear publicly and do not affect either the review’s overall star rating or the shop’s review score. 

After almost 1,000 reviews in my Etsy shop I’ve learned a thing or two about how to achieve that 5 star status! I use this 4 step process to try to ensure I have a customer who is excited to receive their Etsy package in the mailbox, they open it, see the value and are excited to give feedback. The buyers feedback help others buyers decide that they too should purchase! 

Step 1: Show your item in a way that your customer already feels like they have picked up the item.

When you are shopping online you lose some of your senses that you would have in a brick and mortar shop. You can’t pick up an item and feel it’s texture, you can’t smell it, you can’t feel how heavy it is or see it in comparison to other items in a store. This is where photography and your description are so important. Get up close and personal with your item, take a detail shot, get close enough that you can see the item’s texture, remember natural light will help with this! Rotate your image and show the sides and even the back. I always show the back of my canvases, it really helps people feel like they’re picking up the item and turning it around in a shop. This reminds me of when I’m shopping for a candle I wanted in target, you better believe I picked it up, rotated it and even flipped it upside down to see the bottom. Do the same for your customers shopping online with photography. Do you sell something that you need your sense of smell for? Use that description to your advantage! Describe exactly how the item smells and how you FEEL when you smell it. When your customer receives their purchase they will feel like they’ve held it in their hands, there’s no surprises! You have one happy customer.

Step. 2: Give yourself a buffer in your processing time, because life happens.

Yes, customers can filter in search items that are ready in 1 business day or 1-3 business days but I give myself more time than this! I used to think if I had a greater than 5 day processing time then people wouldn’t purchase. I’ve been proven wrong so many times, I have a 5-7 day processing time on my orders and I almost always get the item in the mail faster than expected. This has lead to hundreds of reviews stating I have a “fast delivery or quick shipping time.” 

Step 3: Quality Packaging.

This is something that pained me to spend money on when I first opened my shop. I would roll my prints and put them in tubes without the proper packaging to try and save money on each order. I would always be nervous I would damage the item trying to ship it! After a few customer reviews talking about the packaging and damaged goods I knew it would be worth the investment. I have never regretted spending more on packaging, now all my items ship flat are protected in a plastic sleeve to prevent water damage and I am now never worried about damaged goods. 

Step 4: Communication

Communicate as much as possible throughout the sale of your item, especially on customized and custom orders! Send proofs whenever you can. When possible send tracking information, most of the time the shipment portion of the sale is out of our hands and with a tracking number the customer feels comfortable depending on the carrier. When I notify the customer that their order has shipped I ask that they message me with any questions and to leave a review! 

Some communication goals I have for myself… 

1. Respond to messages within 24hours
2. If there’s going to be a delay or you even suspect a delay tell the customer right away. 
3. If someone messages you having an issue with their order, correct it and don’t dwell on it.  If you go above and beyond to correct an issue for a customer these customers become your raving customers because they know if there’s ever an issue you will make it perfect for them! 
4. Always send tracking information on packages. I pay a little extra and always ship priority so this enables me to provide a tracking number to my customers. 

Did you know when buyers look at your reviews they can filter by reviews that mention quality, shipping and customer service? Think of these areas when you are looking at perfecting your shop processes. Reviews can help you make sales, think of reviews in a positive light! If someone does leave a negative review, you have the opportunity to respond to their review on their review. Once you respond to their review the review stays as is. I would encourage you to message the customer first and let them know you want them to be 100% satisfied and proceed accordingly. I always ask the customer to modify their review once the situation is remedied. Customers will likely do this! A one star review can quickly turn in to a 5 star review. Your score is an average of the star ratings received in the last 12 months and is based on the date the review has been left. Like with anything in life you will improve with time within your Etsy store and if you follow these 4 steps above you will be getting consistent 5 stars! If you want to dig in deeper I suggest downloading the ideal etsy listing guide to look at even more elements of etsy listings that can get your items found and help you use your photographs in the most optimal way. Let’s crush those reviews!