Displaying product questions and answers has become an important factor in Ecommerce conversions. Since 2019, Amazon has financed four advanced studies on Product Questions and Answers!
With so much information floating around the internet, giving your customers the ability to ask a product question and receive a clear answer is critically helpful.
We all know what it’s like to have 20 tabs open looking for a the perfect product. Help your leads cut through the fog!
What are product questions and answers for ecommerce sites?
Product questions and answers platforms allow your leads to ask public questions about your product. After the product question has been asked, the store’s operators and relevant customers are notified.
The store’s operators and customers then have the opportunity to provide clarity to the lead by answering the lead’s question(s).
Product questions and answers are especially helpful to leads with concerns that might prevent them from purchasing the product. Usually the information requested is not directly listed on your website.
If you’re operating a skincare ecommerce store, you might see product questions like:
- “Does this face lotion work for oily skin?”
- “Is this sunscreen safe for skin with eczema?”
- “Can this moisturizer help with acne?”
Why is it important for your ecommerce store to facilitate product questions and answers?
Your answers to leads’ product questions are an opportunity to provide product insight and excellent customer service.
When your leads take the time to ask product questions, they’re likely teetering between the consideration and purchase stages of “the buyer’s journey.”
The consideration stage is a pivotal time for many customers. This is when you want to do everything in your power to separate yourself from the crowd. Go the extra mile. Provide additional value.
Let’s visualize this situation for one moment. Pretend you’re a lead. You’re in a mall (we’re old school) looking for a pair of boots that are waterproof.
You walk into five different shoe stores and look at their shoe racks. None of the boots are advertised as waterproof, as that might not be the boot’s biggest selling point.
Finally, in the last shoe store, you find a boot you really like. You work up the courage to ask a salesperson, “is this boot waterproof?”
The salesperson responds, “Yes. The boots are made with water-repellent leather. You can wear these boots in rugged terrain. Thanks for asking!”
That’s a SALE!
Product questions and answers give ecommerce stores the opportunity to provide a personal sales touch.
In addition to answering the product question for the initial lead, value is created for additional leads who read the question and answer exchange.
To further our visual example, imagine five additional customers with the same question about waterproof boots. The additional customers overhear the salesperson tell you the boots are waterproof and now they’re ready to buy the boots too!
How should you answer product questions?
When responding to a lead’s question in a product question and answer platform like TrustSpot, the best rule is to send a friendly, email-like response.
- Get to the point right away
- No long paragraphs
- Use a friendly, polite tone
A good rule of thumb for answering your customers’ product questions is “How would a Chick-fil-A employee respond?“
If you have never been to a Chick-fil-A, their employees are know for exceptional customer service. Employees learn to embrace and appreciate the opportunity to help customers. This is customer service philosophy has a ROI!
In terms of timeliness, you want to answer your leads’ question ASAP. For example, whenever your leads ask product questions, TrustSpot sends an email with the question details to:
- 5 randomized customers who purchased the item in question
- Store Owner & employees with permission are also emailed the question
We limit the question automation to 5 customers to prevent spam, and require 30 days to have passed so the customer has enough time to evaluate the product to write a qualified answer. Don’t worry, we give you the opportunity to review your old customer’s answer!
Repurposing your product answers for Google’s Featured Snippets
If your leads constantly ask the same question, don’t get frustrated. Keep answering the questions with a smile.
And one more thing – you might have long-tail keyword gold! When leads are asking you the same question over and over again, it means that there might be a void of information on your ecommerce store and possibly your product category.
Brew a pot of coffee and get ready to write a blog post that answers the common question. If you are providing a clear, well thought out response to a commonly asked question, you are paving the way for your blog post to be displayed as a Google featured snippet.
Google’s featured snippets are the hottest new SEO targets on the market. The click-through-rates on first impressions are remarkable. In the video below, the creator shows that he’s getting a 40% CTR with Google’s featured snippets. For reference, your family text message chain probably doesn’t have a 40% CTR.
Google’s Featured Snippets “come from web search listings. Google’s automated systems determine whether a page would make a good featured snippet to highlight for a specific search request.”
In your case, answering a common question from your ecommerce store gives you an advantage. You know what question to answer.
How can I implement product questions and answers on my ecommerce website?
Implementation sounds like the most difficult portion of the process, right?
- “Will this service integrate with my ecommerce platform?”
- “Do I have to do a ton of maintenance to get the product questions and answers to appear on my product listing?”
- “How do I make my product question and answers look professional?
On the contrary, sit back and relax! Implementation is actually easy.
TrustSpot is an internationally known product question and answer tool that hundreds of ecommerce businesses know and trust.
TrustSpot offers a seamless integration of customer reviews, product questions and answers, and user generated content right into your ecommerce website.
Once you sign up with TrustSpot, we’ll handle your entire implementation.
