Here's why user reviews on sites like Amazon are such a big deal

Reuters/Mike Segar

One of the great benefits of online shopping - other than not having to put on pants and/or leave the house - is that you can find user reviews for just about every possible product.

These reviews are helpful for comparing similar products, as well as allowing you to get a feel for and impression of a product you've only seen in photos and videos. But according to a report in USA Today, it seems that reviews might impact your purchasing decisions more than you even realized.

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User reviews, particularly on sites like Amazon, mean a great deal to shoppers. A product that has just one review is 65% more likely to be purchased than a product that has none, according to Power Reviews CEO Matt Moog. He added that one-third of online shoppers refuse to purchase products that have not received positive feedback from customers.

Power Reviews also found that positive reviews increase sales by 20% on sites that implement them into the shopping experience well. And with online sales around the world hitting $2 trillion per year, the impact of reviews is immense.

BloomReach, a marketing research firm, found that Amazon product reviews are the most popular and trusted, and that customers will go to Amazon for reviews even if they intend to purchase the product elsewhere.

Next time Amazon asks you to leave a product review, keep in mind that your words have a larger impact than you may think.