Etsy Test Moves Reviews Above Seller Descriptions On App
The Etsy testing and tweaking continues as some users report seeing reviews moved above seller-provided descriptions in the mobile app.
Here's how it currently displays for me when looking at a random listing on the Android app, though there may be other version being tested - notice not only are the reviews above the description, the description itself is hidden behind a "read item description" link.
Interestingly, the test is getting very different reactions from buyers vs sellers.
On Reddit, some sellers expressed frustration with Etsy moving their descriptions further down the page, but some buyers who responded say they actually prefer to see the reviews first.
Etsy CHANGED product page layout. Reviews come before product info now?!
Check your listings! If you don’t know what I mean see this screenshot from my product page. Not sure why they decided to do this. Seeing reviews first looks stupid, they should be seeing the product info/specs before anything.
To play devil's advocate here... as a frequent online shopper of many different websites, I honestly believe I pretty much always start by jumping to the reviews. Then, if people seem to like the item, I will go back and read more specific details about it.
I imagine a lot of buyers shop just like this. Putting reviews first may actually help, because they are what most buyers are looking for first, anyway. Maybe after they read the reviews, they'll keep scrolling and actually find the description... instead of scrolling right past it to get to the reviews and never scrolling back up.
That kind of behavior is what Etsy is testing to look for when they do one of these tests. If it turns out this design is more beneficial to customers actually looking at listing descriptions, it may stick around.
I'm sure they either tested it or are testing it (if this is a current A/B test) and it's better for sales or something... but I don't like it lol
As a consumer it wasn't immediately obvious to me where to find product details, thought admittedly it is hard for me to separate myself since I am on Etsy constantly and maybe it's not a big deal like some comments here are saying?
As a seller, it's hard for my products to "speak for themselves" with just an image and it's important for someone to read the item details. Basically just have to add any "must know" info as a product photo at this point.
I always check reviews or pics first before looking at descriptions. Half the items I click on when browsing Etsy don’t even bother to fill out their description area except a wall of copy paste filler.
I wager a considerable number of shoppers operate similarly, hence the test. There’s also a back and forth between buyers not seeing or seeking out descriptions and sellers putting less priority into bothering to include them which conditions shoppers to ignore that section.
Sellers in the Etsy community are also discussing the test and concerns this design choose could increase returns and not as described claims.
Pretty strange if you ask me!! I was looking at something recently and couldn't find the description at all! Makes no sense to many of us.
So bizarre to me. Why the emphasis on reviews instead of the product itself (which would lead to a potential sale)? My guess is that etsy is concerned with its public image so is emphasizing reviews—our reviews—instead, hoping to rehabilitate or counterbalance public perceptions.
And how does a non-relevant review of the item shown ("this item has not been reviewed yet") that instead shows shop reviews make sense? What if it shows negative reviews? What does that accomplish in a positive experience resulting in a sale?
I was trying to research something earlier and looked at an item in Ebay and found pretty much the same thing. The item description was down below other listed items as well. What crazy idea is it to make a customer search for the description and even decide there must not be one.
why would they do that? most complaints to begin with are due to customers not reading the details of what they are buying and now they are going to place it in no where ville?
They tried this years ago. Lots of NAD cases waiting to happen.
Are reviews above the description an improvement or a recipe for disastrous returns? Let us know in the comments below!
