Shop Local includes built-in review software. This helps your store.

A. Why ask customers for reviews?

1. Reviews are a great source of content for Google and other search engines to crawl. Having reviews on your site boosts your Google ranking.
2. You want a customer to write a review and have that content go on your site vs. has it be placed on a 3rd party review site. You therefore control it on your site. You are immediately notified of it, and can better respond. If the review is negative, you know immediately and if necessary, can delete it. If this same negative review were written on Yelp, for example, you could not easily remove it.  By allowing your site to take reviews, you allow customers to 'let off steam' and you can better help them with their situation.

B. How does the Shop Local review system work?

Your Shop Local store by default will email general public, registry customers, and brides emails asking them to review their shopping experience. These review requests are not product requests. They are requests regarding the online shopping experience.

To the customers that bought an item for themselves or for a registry, we send the email. The difference between these two is when we solicit them for a review.

We email the general public customer eight days after their purchase. If he or she has not written a review within 12 days, we email them a reminder. In total, they will get two emails asking for a review.

We email the customers that bought for a registry four days after their purchase. If he or she has not written a review within 8 days, we email them a reminder. In total, they will get two emails asking for a review.  The reason we send the registry customers a review request earlier is that most ofter a gift registry purchase will be given in the form of a credit; there is no item that the purchaser has to pick up or receive. Therefore, he or she can submit their review sooner.

We email brides a request to review a store two weeks after their wedding date. We ask them to review their experience with registering at the store.   If the bride has not submitted a review, we send a reminder request three weeks after.  In total, a bride receives two emails.