Why your best customers aren't selling for you (yet)

How brands around the world leverage social proof to increase online sales and how wineries can copy them.

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REVIEWS are everywhere, except for wine brand websites. As a (millennial) consumer, I've become so accustomed to reviews that this was jarring to encounter. Since I haven't met a wine brand that has incorporated reviews and tested the lift on sales, I decided to dig deeper. 

Spoiler: Wine brands have a potential first-mover advantage hiding in plain sight.

The Power of Reviews

The data is clear: 94% of consumers say ratings and reviews impact their purchase decisions, and 45% won't buy a product without reviews. Even more striking, shoppers who interact with negative reviews show a 67% higher conversion rate. Why? Because seeing both positive and negative feedback builds trust.

This analysis draws from two major studies in 2023: PowerReviews' survey of 8,153 U.S. consumers across generations and income levels, and Northwestern University's comprehensive study of online review impact across multiple retail categories.

Survey: The Ever-Growing Power of Reviews (2023 Edition)

How Online Reviews Influence Sales (2017)

Why Reviews Matter More Than You Think

Picture your most enthusiastic customers, the ones who rave about your wines in the tasting room. These might be your most powerful sales force, but they don't scale. According to recent research, 82% of consumers (higher for Gen Z and Millennials) trust customer reviews as much as, or more than, personal recommendations.

Ratings & Reviews rank highest of all surveyed factors on its impact on a purchase decision:

Figure 1: Consumer purchasing factors comparison showing reviews (94%) outweighing price (93%) and traditional factors like brand reputation (43%)

The impact? Products with just five reviews are 270% more likely to be purchased, and conversion rates increase by 120.3% when shoppers interact with reviews.

Figure 2: Purchase likelihood increases dramatically with just 5 reviews 

The Cost of Waiting

Assumptions:

• Average DTC order value: $50
• Average wine club member value: $1,200/year
• Conversion impact: 120.3% lift with review interaction

ROI Example:

• 1,000 monthly website visitors
• Current 2% conversion = 20 purchases
• With reviews (4.4% conversion) = 44 purchases
• Monthly revenue gap: $1,200
• Annual impact: $14,400 in bottle sales + $28,800 potential club revenue

Three Critical Types of Social Proof for Wineries

While most industries focus solely on product reviews, wineries have a unique advantage: multiple touchpoints that generate different types of valuable social proof. Each serves a distinct purpose in your customer's journey, from discovery to purchase to long-term engagement.

Let's explore how to leverage each type effectively:

Tasting Room Experience Reviews

• Leverage existing Google and Yelp reviews
• Aggregate and display across your digital presence
• 63% of shoppers look to Google search results for new products

These experience reviews are your first impression online. They validate not just your wines, but your entire brand experience. While most wineries already have these reviews, they often leave them siloed on third-party platforms instead of leveraging them across their digital presence.

Product-Level Wine Reviews

• Focus on SKU-level feedback
• Higher-priced items see 380% higher conversion with 5+ reviews
• Aggregate across vintages for consistent social proof

Product reviews are your secret weapon for online sales. They bridge the gap between the tasting room experience and the digital purchase decision, helping customers feel confident buying wines they haven't tried. This is especially crucial for higher-priced bottles where purchase hesitation is strongest.

Wine Club Testimonials

• Essential for subscription decisions
• Regular member feedback collection
• Display across signup touchpoints and onboarding

Think of club testimonials as your long-term relationship builders. They're not just reviews; they're stories from your community that help potential members envision themselves as part of your wine club. These testimonials should focus on the ongoing benefits and experiences that make membership special.

Action Plan

Week 1:

• Set up free Senja account (easy to use, minimal setup)
• Import existing reviews from Google and Yelp (TripAdvisor doesn’t let you export)
  • Ensure auto sync is on for Google
• Design your first review asset inside the Senja Studio
• Place "Review Us" QR codes in tasting room linking to your Google listing

Month 1:

• Implement wine club feedback collection via Senja forms
  • Focus on: rating, favorite benefit, and uploaded pictures
  • Consider incentives (gift card raffle entries work well)
• Add tasting room review displays to your website
  • Home page: Feature aggregate rating and recent highlights
  • Visit page: Show experience-focused reviews
  • Embed using provided code snippets or basic image upload
• Set up automated review requests
  • Post-visit: Focus on Google reviews
  • Wine club: Post shipment or quarterly satisfaction

90 Days:

• Outline a review collection process for your wines 
  • Focus on: when a customer should get a review request, how they provide feedback on all products ordered, where the reviews go once submitted
• Scope technical lift 
  • Likely requirements: a place to store reviews, a way to categorize them, a way to roll them up to the right wine across vintages, a display on your product page
  • Bonus points: customer interaction (search, filter), a verified buyer badge, customer photo uploads
• Create social proof asset library for marketing and sales teams

Bottom Line

74% of consumers use reviews to learn about new products. Social proof isn't just another marketing tactic - it's become a fundamental expectation of the modern consumer journey.

For wineries willing to act now, this represents a significant competitive advantage in an industry that has been slow to adapt to this shift in consumer behavior.

Questions? Drop them in the comments.

Cheers, 

Stephen