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Back to School shopping is around the corner and your shopping list may include everything from pencils to a new computer. You may be outfitting a dorm room for a college student or buying a lunchbox for your child’s first day of kindergarten. You will have buying decisions aplenty soon and what better way to help you make intelligent choices than with online reviews?
Online reviews have provided consumers with the power of knowledge. Reading online reviews from others can give us important information about a product’s features, usefulness and reliability. Some reviews can even point us to a lower price for a product elsewhere.
A major benefit of having a smartphone is to be able to access reviews when you’re out shopping at stores. If you have no clue about a product or don’t have the benefit of advice from an expert sales clerk, a smartphone can give you instant information about your imminent purchase.
The Wonder of Tech wonders, do you use online reviews when you shop?
Amazon has a gold mine of reviews. Because Amazon carries so many products, reviews are available for a wide range of goods, giving you the inside scoop on what it’s really like to own the product. Amazon offers its users the option of leaving a video review as well as a text review. Reviews on Amazon are rated by site visitors, which has led many reviewers to take their reviews quite seriously. You can sort reviews by their helpfulness, make it easy to find the ones that will be the most useful. Site visitors can also comment on reviews, often leading to lively discussions as reviews are reviewed.
Reviews on sites such as OpenTable can help you discover new restaurants. Even when you visit a favorite restaurant, a Foursquare review might prompt you to discover a new dish. Movie reviews from viewers might help you realize that the money you were going to invest in the hottest Summer ticket could better be spent elsewhere.
Reviews aren’t always accurate. If you’ve ever read a book or seen a movie where you disagreed with the critics, you know that your opinion is really the only one that matters. But reviews can guide you to or steer you away from products based upon the experiences of others.
Reviews can also provide entertainment. Check out Funniest Amazon Product Reviews when you need comedic relief from shopping. This list will also show you products, such as a UFO Detector for $149 (batteries not included), that you probably had no clue you could obtain through Amazon.
When do you use online reviews? Do you find them mostly helpful or not? Let us know in the Comments section below?
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I am currently on vacation and away from the Internet. Contrary to popular belief, I am not busy with back-to-school shopping. i will return on Monday and respond to comments then.
Hey Carolyn,
I don’t buy that many items online (Except for games or blogging related items). But, when I do, I do check reviews online. And many times, those reviews have helped me to choose a better game/tool that is available for a lower price (so, it has helped me to save money, and I believe that it will, as long as we watch the sites from where we get our reviews; we don’t want to get the reviews from a scam site or a site that is biased towards a specific product).
Jeevan Jacob John
Hi Jeevan, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! You’re right, some especially helpful reviews can point us to better products or better deals. I think those are the most helpful ones if they aren’t biased. It’s difficult to tell which reviews you can trust sometimes.
Hi Carolyn,
I almost always read reviews before buying products and I heavily rely on Trip Advisor reviews before booking a room. Well, I take the reviews on Trip Advisor with a grain of salt because some people tend to spend a lot more time in their rooms when traveling than we do.
The reviews that I usually find to be the most valuable are on books, appliances and technology products.
Hi Sherry, Yes, Trip Advisor is a great site. I haven’t reviewed it yet, but I really should. Their in-depth information is incredibly helpful when traveling! :-bd
Hi Carolyn
I definitely find online reviews useful, particularly when I’m buying electronic items.
I’m sometimes concerned about how genuine some of the Amazon reviews are – Have they been written by someone paid to do it? I think mostly they can help me make my final decision though.
Thank you for sharing.
Tim
Hi Tim, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! You’re right, sometimes it’s difficult to discern which reviews are legitimate and which are planted. The more reviews a product has, the more it seems as if they are real. iTunes now requires that an app is purchased before a review can be left, but that doesn’t help with free apps. But at least you’re not losing money if you get a free app that isn’t any good!
Yes, usually I take help from online reviews while shopping. It aids a lot in making a particular decision when we want to purchase a particular product. The people already using the product add up data regarding the working and advantages and disadvantages of the product which further helps us make our mind.
Hi Thomas, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! Good point, reviews can let us know about useful features of a product that can help us make our buying decision. It amazes me sometimes how unhelpful product descriptions can be. When you’re buying online you need as much information as possible.
Ha Ha Ha 🙂 i thought ihe above poll is just a snapshot image but it is real i can vote and see the voting %.
Carolyn, i must say you bring your posts in a very interesting and interactive manner. 🙂
Getting reviews is always a good deal to know about a product before buying,one can know what the product is upto.And you can differentiate your choice of product from others in terms of service,performance etc etc. …
Mostly i found these reviews helpful as i get to know more about the product from the people who used it earlier.
Hi Aditya, Yes, you can really vote in Wonder of Tech polls. It’s fascinating to find out people’s opinions on these topics. I am usually surprised about the responses. I’m glad you enjoyed the poll, Aditya!
Hi Carolyn,
Using reviews before shopping is very good. Reading this article reminded me of my management lessons at College, like we learn rules in Management. This is very impressive and informative. Truly helpful and guiding info.
Thanks for attention. =D>
Hi Bhusan, Thank you, I’m very glad you enjoyed this article! 🙂
I don’t. Most online reviews are contrived. I have no way to know which are genuine.
Hi David, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! Yes, Apple used to have that issue with app reviews on iTunes. Now it requires that the reviewer have bought the app. You can’t even review an app on iTunes if you’ve received a promo code from the developer.
It’s hard to determine which reviews are authentic online, but if hundreds of negative reviews have been submitted, I would tend to think that the product wouldn’t be a good buy.
I think an app like RedLaser is awesome. I know it’s primary use is pricing but sometimes I use it only to access reviews while in the store. Did it the other day while buying a game. I had narrowed down to two. When I saw one had hundreds of reviews & averaged 4.5 stars and the other was under three stars, a quick read of some of the helpful comments and it was obvious which to take home!
Hi Janice, I’m so glad that RedLaser was helpful. I haven’t written about that app yet, but I know it’s a good one! Thanks for sharing your experience with us. 🙂
Hi Carolyn,
I do read reviews if I have any question in my mind about the product. It is interesting to read other’s opinions of something before you buy. Never sure how accurate they are, but it does help me make a decision. Enjoy the rest of your vacation!
Hi Cathy, Thanks, I had a great vacation! You’re right, reviews can help you make a decision. I don’t always agree with reviews, but they can help steer you away from unreliable products. You have a good point, reviews are opinions so they can vary greatly. But when they’re helpful they can be very valuable! 🙂
I use reviews all the time. Especially when I buy tech, books or if I’m going to watch a movie.
Hi Jens, Yes, reviews are very important for movies. If a movie has received bad reviews, chances are it won’t do well at the box office. I think the key with movie reviews is to know whose reviews you trust. I know some professional reviewers can have very different opinions than the general public. It’s what you like that matters most. If you can find a movie reviewer who has your taste, you’ve struck gold!
I’m always checking reviews, even for a relatively small in-store purchase. Since they are so readily available now, the ‘economist’ in me (if you can call it that) wants to collect as much information as possible before making a decision based on value. It’s so easy to pop on Amazon or Yelp, or one of the other apps from the myriad of choices available.
Hi App Design Geek, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! You’re right, people check online reviews for even small purchases, such as $0.99 apps. Good reviews can give you confidence that you’re making a smart purchase. 🙂
Carolyn, I stopped by to thank you in person for your tip about WP Optimizer on Dee Ann Rice’s blog. Tooling around and responding to the poll whether I rely on online reviews (most definitely), I see a familiar image. Thanks for the link! That crazy article got a huge percentage of my traffic for the year. Oh, re: WP Optimizer, it made differences on sites I thought I had optimized! A half second translates into greater reader satisfaction and Google likes it, too.
Hi Astro, I’m so glad that plugin helped you. WP Optimizer is a favorite one for me. You’re right, keeping a blog lean helps with quick loading. 🙂
I purchase quite a bit of items online, and almost always read reviews before purchasing. I also read reviews via my smartphone if I am in brick and mortar store, about to make a purchase. I’ll scan the bar code with either (or both) the ShopSavvy or Amazon apps, see whether or not that item has decent reviews, then make my decision. Just did this for a pair of shoes for my son last week – found the shoes he really wanted had a good review, so I decided it was an ok purchase. And bonus – found that the store had a decent price!
Hi Carol, Excellent point. Mobile apps can provide pricing information as well as reviews.
I’m glad these apps were so useful for you. Sounds as if you made a wise purchase!
I especially use online reviews when I am booking travel. I don’t think I’ve booked a hotel or resort for a good 3 or 4 years without reading online reviews. And more often than not, the reviews are pretty telling! I once booked a hotel in New York just because it impressed me that the hotel manager actually RESPONDED to every review posted on TripAdvisor. And sure enough – the customer service in that hotel was outstanding!
Hi Ruth, That is impressive, unless the reviews were all very negative and the manager was defensive. Trip Advisor is fantastic to give information about travel sites.
I read reviews of a Kindle book this weekend (not a short story) that were critical of the book and the author responded to the comments and got in an argument with the reviewers. It was pretty incredible to read. I had already read the book while I was on my vacation and wanted to read what others had thought. It was a good lesson what not to do as an author!
yes you are cent percent right that smart phones are best thing to check reviews about any new product launched in market so that we can know all positive and negative reviews of it. It’s very helpful to make right decision before buy a new product. again a wonderful informative post from you. YOU ROCK.
🙂
Hi Jessie, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! I’m glad you enjoyed this post. Smartphones have really helped us become educated consumers. I love that I can check reviews even when I’m out and about!
Online reviews are the only way to find out the real drawbacks of goods, ar least for me they are. So, I browse them every time I buy anything that worth more than 30$ just not to waste money.
Hi Kate, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! Yes, it’s important to research goods before you buy them, especially expensive products. But I find myself checking reviews even for minor purchases such as $0.99 apps. You’re right, online reviews can help us avoid wasting money.
When I am buying any software for business, I do check the reviews, as that helps me to pick a better product. But for things I know I want to buy, no matter what others think of it, I generally don’t read reviews :P.. I keep buying stuff online as it is easy and fun.
Hi Richa, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! You’re right, if you have your heart set on an item, reviews may not matter. But when you’re buying software for business, then reviews might let you know about features in the software you might not discover otherwise.
I use online reviews, but mostly only when shopping for shoes. I have a few fashion sites I love such as JustFab where you kind of have to look at the reviews to see if a particular style is going to fit. When it comes to anything else, I am usually skeptical of reviews though because companies can easily have people posting fake reviews about themselves.
Hi Jamie, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! I hadn’t heard about JustFab before, but it looks like a great site. Yes, you have to be careful of fake reviews and it can be difficult to tell which reviews are fake and which are real.