Title: New store with zero sales — how do I get my first reviews when reviews are what drive sales?

Shopify Discussion
1

Hi everyone,

I recently launched my store selling digital PDF guides (~$9 CAD). I haven’t made my first sale yet, and everywhere I read (and people I talk to) says the same thing: make sure you have reviews on your store, because social proof is what convinces people to buy.

But that puts me in a loop I can’t figure out how to break: I need reviews to convince people to buy, but I need buyers to get reviews.

For those of you who’ve launched from zero:

  1. How did you get your first handful of reviews with no customer base?
  2. Is it acceptable/normal to give free copies of a product to people in exchange for honest reviews? Any issues doing that with review apps like Loox or Judge.me?
  3. Are there trust signals that work as a substitute for reviews in the early days (guarantees, badges, previews, etc.)?
  4. Did having zero reviews actually hurt your early conversion as much as people say, or is it overrated for low-priced products?

Any advice from people who’ve been through the cold-start phase would be really appreciated. Thanks!

2

HI @Ezioxxxx

Welcome to the community.

Yeah, it does sound like a loop, but reviews are not the only thing, and not required to get first sales. Yes, important to have, but let’s say you have 100 sales; it does not mean you will have 100 reviews. Even 10 reviews would be fine, so you have to prepare with some app or just follow-up emails, or mention after some support questions, so from the start you have a mechanism to get as many reviews without being pushy.

Now, how to get sales without reviews? Well, do everything you can to make your store send enough trust signals so customers feel safe to buy from you even without any reviews. Be active on social networks, niche forums, and so on to get visitors. If your store looks solid and has enough signals, you will turn some visitors into customers.

Also, the usual path is to sell first to friends and family and have honest reviews, but not sure about your digital PDF guides.

For your questions:

  • I feel like giving free copies is a bad way to get a review; it is just like buying them, and if customers figure that out, you will not get sales. And reviews might feel fake. I would try, maybe, to offer a good discount on a second order if they leave a review. Think it should not be any issues with apps.
  • Trust signals you mention are not substitutes but additions. And as I said, you have to have them if you want sales at the start. And I would add: full business details (no Gmail, iCloud emails), clear policies ( especially for PDF; I guess customers can not return them :slight_smile: ), preview yes, but maybe have a full video explanation of what the customer gets.
  • Even with all that, some people will still decide not to buy. And that is their right, but some will understand it is a new store and why there are no reviews yet.

Good luck, and hope you can share your store in Store Feedback so we can maybe share some feedback.

3

Hi @Ezioxxxx

Welcome to the Shopify Community! Please share your store URL and password (if it’s password-protected), so I can check and provide you with the exact solution.

Best regards,
Devcoder :laptop:

5

I’d use tools like reviewers or even use reviews apps like Judgeme or loox…

Reviewers is the only one that I know that allows you to get paid video reviews for your products. I think it’s $100 per campaign or something like that.

7

@Ezioxxxx
Everyone starts with zero reviews so dont let that stop you from launching. A common approach is to give your product to a small group of friends, existing contacts, or people in your niche in exchange for honest feedback just be transparent and follow the review apps guidelines.

In the meantime focus on building trust in other ways: offer a preview of your PDF clearly explain what buyers will get include an About page and have clear contact information and refund terms. For a low cost digital product those trust signals can make a bigger difference than having dozens of reviews.

8

It will take time to get reviews from real buyers, so you will need to build your social platforms to get free traffic and run ads to get paid traffic and get sales.

9

What might not be a bad solution is to contact some people out there who might be involved in whatever your .pdfs are and offer them some free samples in exchange for reviews. Should it be a blog, or influencer, etc, then they are pushing your product a bit for you, this gives you social proof and an advertising source.

Friends and family also tend to be a good support base for everything.

How are people discovering your store? What are they expecting when they arrive (and presumably aren’t seeing)?

10

Consider offering Feedback Rebates (instead of “Sale” discounts). Your banner might look something like this:

“Buy now and get 10% cashback for your honest review after purchase” (or whatever your % is)

  1. Customer buys the product (pays full price) and receives a special rebate/review link.
  2. Once they get the product, they click that link, leave a review (positive or negative), and immediately receive their 10% partial refund.

No need to verify the order or mail anything. The link is already encoded with all the necessary info.

This way, you break the loop and accomplish two things:

  1. Increase sales
  2. Get reviews

Feedback Rebates convert better than Discounts because they give people additional assurance. You’re literally betting money on their after-purchase experience. This immediately makes you look more trustworthy and increases sales.

Plus, you get reviews that people can actually trust.

  • You have proof that your reviews are real because no one can leave a review (redeem the rebate) without buying the product first.
  • You have proof that your reviews are honest because no one will leave a 5-star review for a product they didn’t like just because they got it “on sale”.

Rebates will also cost you less than discounts because not everyone will leave a review to redeem them, so you get to keep more of your profits.

We’ve seen sales increase almost immediately after switching from discounts to rebates. I honestly don’t know why anyone would offer discounts. I guess very few people know about this.

Just make sure you’re using a Feedback Rebates app, not a Reviews app, and not a Discounts app. You cannot be the one who moderates your own reviews or decides who gets the rebate (that’d be against FTC guidelines).

Certainly, never offer review incentives. This just makes no sense. By offering an incentive after (not before) the sale, the offer becomes a bribe and makes your reviews untrustworthy.

It doesn’t make any financial sense either. You’re practically hiding a discount from a potatnial customer right at the moment of purchase (before the sale), just to offer that money after the sale as a bribe for a biased review. You lose potential sales, reduce your profit margins, and get a biased review. Don’t do it.

Use Feedback Rebates instead. Those are sale incentives (offered before the sale), not review incentives (offered after the sale). They don’t bias reviews and won’t cost you more than discounts you’re already offering anyway.

11

One thing worth flipping: for a $9 digital guide, reviews are a lagging indicator, not the lever. Nobody buys a cheap PDF because of five stars — they buy because they’re already stuck on the exact problem it solves and you’ve shown you can solve it.

So instead of chasing the first reviews, I’d give a genuinely useful slice away for free — one chapter or a checklist pulled straight from the guide — and drop it where people are actively asking that question (niche communities, forums, groups). The ones it helps will buy the full thing at $9 with basically zero risk, and the reviews show up on their own once you have real buyers. Your first ~10 sales almost always come from you showing up and helping one person at a time, not from a clever mechanic.

12

Hello there @Ezioxxxx
If you’ve just started up a new digital product store, reviews will obviously help but they aren’t the only trust factor. You can provide free copies to a small group of corresponding users for real feedback, be sure to follow the guidelines of your review app and do not offer any incentives for positive reviews. Provide clear product previews, a detailed description, FAQs and a straightforward refund policy to instill confidence. Sales typically come from niche comunities and personal outreach before reviews grow organically for early titles. Focus on value first and let reviews happen naturally.

13

Hey @Ezioxxxx ,

hope you’re having a great day!

congratulation on launching your store, every new store faces this challenge at the beginning.

1. For your first question: Many merchants get their first reviews by reaching out to friends, Beta users or niche communities after genuine purchases.
2. Regarding free copies: Offering free copies for honest reviews is common, as long as you follow your review apps and local disclosure guidelines
3. As for trust signals: Strong product previews, clear benefits, FAQs, guarantees, and a professional store design can help build trust before reviews
4.On zero reviews: They can impact conversation, but for low-priced digital products, and compelling offer and clear value often matter just as much