Ecommerce Hint #7: Show number of product reviews

Shopping for a coffee grinder recently, I visited my favorite coffee site, www.greenbeanery.ca. After finding a model I liked and navigating to its product page, I noted a link to reviews at the bottom:

Naturally, I wanted to see the product reviews. So I clicked the link and was frustrated. Instead of reviews, I got a page telling me there weren’t any:

Couldn’t they have told me this beforehand rather than wasting my time?

Now consider how reviews are handled on www.petwellbeing.com. Customer ratings are clearly indicated on product pages, as are the number of product reviews:

Nineteen reviews and a four-star rating? Pretty impressive. I’d definitely take a look at those reviews.

Where a product has not yet been rated and reviewed, they indicate this fact. And of course they offer me a chance to be the first to express my opinion:

Sure, it’s a bit disappointing that there are no reviews, but at least they don’t try to hide it. And they were considerate enough to let me know in advance so I don’t waste my time checking. The result? I feel better about dealing with this company.

Showing the number of product reviews upfront is just another small way of demonstrating to customers that you value their time.