Customer reviews: how to use them, and the UK rules on collecting them
Proof written by somebody who isn't you, and research you're probably not reading. The UK now has firm rules on how you collect them and what you're allowed to hide.
- 116Reviews
- Feedback provided by customers about their experience with a product or service, crucial for building trust and credibility.
- Two kinds
- Product reviews on your own site, company reviews on sites like Trustpilot or Google
- Collected by
- A review request email, sent once the order's been used
- UK rules
- Fake reviews and hidden incentives are banned outright
- Best use
- Answering the doubt that stops people buying
Product reviews and company reviews answer different questions
| Product reviews | Company reviews | |
|---|---|---|
| Where they live | Your own product pages | Trustpilot, Google and sites like them |
| The question they answer | Is this any good for me? | Is this shop safe to buy from? |
| Who they help most | Shoppers comparing products | Shoppers who've never heard of you |
| Where they go in email | Abandoned cart and browse emails | The welcome series, before a first order |
Start with product reviews, from an app that sends its events to Klaviyo, so a new review can trigger a thank you and a good quote can drop straight into an email. The ask itself is the review request flow's job: when to send it, who to leave out and when to stop.
What UK law now says about review incentives and bad reviews
Under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act, fake reviews and reviews that hide an incentive are banned practices in the UK. The CMA's fake reviews guidance is the one to read. In plain terms:
- You can offer something for a review, as long as it's disclosed and the review stays honest
- You can't make the reward depend on the review being positive
- You can't edit, hold back or delete genuine negative reviews
- Inviting only your happy customers to review can count as cherry-picking
- If you publish reviews, you need a published policy against fakes, and reasonable steps to keep them off your pages
None of this is legal advice. It's the reading to do before anyone wires a reward into a review email.
Read the three star reviews before the five star ones
Five star reviews give you quotes. The three star ones give you the truth. They tell you what nearly stopped someone, and what they expected and didn't get. That's your next email, your next product page fix and your next FAQ.
Then go looking for patterns, not verdicts. One review about sizing is an opinion. A dozen is a product page that needs a better size guide, and a testimonial email waiting to be written from the customers who got it right.
Related terms
FAQs
Can I delete a negative review from my product page?
If it's fake, yes: taking fakes down is part of your job as a publisher. If it's genuine, it stays, because the CMA's guidance says genuine negative reviews shouldn't be removed just because you disagree with them. Reply to it instead, briefly and politely, and fix whatever it's about.
Should I reply to every customer review?
Every critical one, yes, without arguing, because the reply is really for the next shopper who reads it. The good ones don't all need an answer, and a thank you that mentions something specific beats a pasted line. Never offer a code in a public reply. It tells every reader that complaining pays.
Are fake reviews illegal in the UK?
Yes. Writing, buying or commissioning fake reviews is a banned practice under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act, and so is hiding that a review was incentivised. Publishing reviews in a misleading way is covered too, which includes cherry-picking the good ones. The CMA's guidance spells out what it expects from shops.
Rather we explained it on your own account?
Bring your Klaviyo account to a growth consultation. We'll walk through what this means for your numbers, in plain English, and what we'd fix first.
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