Reviews

Some customers give 3 or 4 stars in their reviews, even though they write that everything is great, etc.

What’s your experience? Is every review important for future sales in the store? Do reviews have an impact on that? Should you (or is it okay to) follow up with customers who give a poor review (2, 3, or 4 stars) without an explanation (or is that automatically perceived as harassment)?

Best regards, Natalie

Well, I don’t really think four stars is that bad. I once politely asked for feedback on a three-star review (after all, I want to improve), but unfortunately didn’t get a response, which I think is a real shame. But ultimately, there’s nothing I can do about it.

Yes, I tried asking once, but I didn’t get a response.

People here often leave reviews without any comment—just the stars. I’ve never seen that on other platforms.

I’m not sure if I’d like it if someone asked me why I gave fewer than the full number of stars.
I can definitely understand that, as a shop owner, you’d want to know why that is. I’d usually mention it in the review if I had a reason to give fewer stars. But I wouldn’t think it’s a good idea to ask. That’s just my opinion, though—maybe other customers see giving fewer stars as an invitation to a conversation or as an opportunity for the shop owner to ask for clarification, if they’re interested. I can’t really say.

Since, as a shop owner, you always want to improve your shop, I think following up is a good idea and very important—after all, you don’t want to repeat mistakes.
But even I have never received a response so far. On Dawanda, these are usually newly registered customers who don’t intend to buy anything else.
If it’s just one in a crowd, that’s just how it is. If it happens frequently, you should definitely give it some serious thought.
One person might just be having a bad day, but when it happens to many people, that’s pretty unlikely.

Oh, I don’t think you should worry about it too much. At least not if the lower reviews are the exception. After all, the reasons can be quite—let’s say—strange, as you sometimes see when people comment on reviews. Three stars because the pattern is “too long.” At 12 pages. Just as an example.

I recently received a bad review because “there weren’t enough pictures.” I counted the pictures in the pattern in question—
48.
I would have thought that was too many...

I think one photo per row or round is too many, so I only take photos of important steps—that’s usually 25–35 photos per pattern.

Unfortunately, you can never have the ideal amount for everyone. One person thinks there are too many pictures, while another thinks there are too few. That’s just human nature: people are different. Natalija made, for example, 2 versions for the last one—that does mean more work, though. 

I’d also like to make two versions, but unfortunately I don’t have time for that. But I think anyone who likes my ideas will buy my patterns even if there’s only one version.