Quick answer: WooCommerce has product reviews built in. Turn them on under WooCommerce > Settings > Products, decide whether only verified buyers can review, and require star ratings. Reviews are stored as comments, so you moderate them from the Comments screen. The hard part is not the setting, it is getting customers to leave reviews, which usually means a polite email a week or two after delivery with a direct link to the product’s review form. Display reviews prominently on product pages, reply to negative ones, and keep the built-in structured data intact so ratings can appear in search results.
Why product reviews matter for a store
Shoppers cannot touch your products. Reviews from other buyers fill that gap. They answer questions your product description did not, such as how a size fits, how long a battery lasts, or whether the colour matches the photo. They also add fresh, specific text to product pages, which helps with long-tail searches.
Reviews help most on products with a higher price, a real choice between options, or a risk of disappointment. A store with no reviews at all can look inactive, even if sales are steady.
Turning on reviews in WooCommerce
Go to WooCommerce > Settings > Products > General and find the Reviews section. The options are:
- Enable product reviews. The master switch. If this is off, the Reviews tab disappears from product pages.
- Show “verified owner” label on customer reviews. Adds a label when the reviewer’s email matches a completed order for that product. This is worth turning on, because it adds credibility.
- Reviews can only be left by “verified owners”. Restricts reviews to buyers. This cuts spam and fake reviews, but it also blocks reviews from people who received the product as a gift or bought through another channel.
- Enable star rating on reviews. Lets reviewers pick one to five stars.
- Star ratings should be required, not optional. Recommended. A review with no rating does not contribute to the average.
You can also switch reviews on or off for individual products. Edit the product, open Product data > Advanced, and tick or untick Enable reviews. This is useful for products where reviews make little sense, such as gift cards or custom quotes.
Because reviews use the WordPress comment system, your general discussion settings under Settings > Discussion also apply. Check whether comments require manual approval and whether commenters must be logged in.
Getting customers to leave reviews
Most happy customers never think to leave a review. You have to ask, and timing matters.
Send a review request after delivery
The most effective approach is an email sent after the customer has had time to use the product. For physical goods, that is often one to two weeks after the order is marked complete. For consumables, it may be longer.
WooCommerce does not send review requests on its own. Options include:
- A review reminder plugin that sends an email a set number of days after the order completes
- Your email marketing platform, triggered by a purchase event from your store
- An automation tool that connects your store to your email service
We cover the general setup in our guide to automated review requests. The principles are the same for products: one clear ask, one follow-up at most, and an easy path.
Make the request easy to act on
- Link directly to the review form on the product page (the
#reviewsanchor works on most themes) - Name the product and include its image so the customer remembers which one
- Keep the email short. One sentence of thanks, one sentence asking for feedback, one button
- Mention that honest reviews, good or bad, help other shoppers
If a customer bought several items, list each one with its own link rather than asking for a general review.
Do not pay for positive reviews
Offering a discount in exchange for a review is risky, and offering it only for positive reviews is misleading to shoppers and against the rules of most review platforms and Google. If you offer an incentive at all, offer it for any honest review and disclose it. Many stores simply skip incentives and rely on a well timed ask.
Moderating reviews
Product reviews appear under Comments in the WordPress admin, alongside blog comments, with the product name shown for each. From there you can approve, reply, edit, mark as spam or delete.
Good moderation habits:
- Approve genuine reviews, including critical ones. A page with only five-star reviews looks curated. A few honest three and four star reviews make the positive ones believable.
- Remove spam and abuse. Links to unrelated sites, offensive language and reviews about a different product can go.
- Do not edit the reviewer’s words, other than to remove personal data such as a phone number.
- Use an anti-spam plugin if you allow reviews from non-buyers. Spam bots target comment forms heavily.
Responding to negative reviews
A thoughtful reply to a bad review often does more for trust than the review costs you. Other shoppers see that problems get handled.
A simple pattern:
- Thank the customer for the feedback
- Acknowledge the specific problem without arguing
- Explain what you have done or offer to fix it, and give a way to reach you
- Keep it short and polite
If the review reveals a real product issue, such as inaccurate sizing, update the product description too. That reduces returns and future complaints. It also pairs well with a clear return policy page.
Displaying reviews on product pages
By default, WooCommerce shows reviews in a Reviews tab below the product, with the average star rating near the product title. That works, but you can make reviews more visible:
- Show the rating near the price. Most themes do this. Make sure the star rating links down to the reviews.
- Consider showing reviews without a tab. Some shoppers never click tabs. Many themes let you display the reviews section open, or you can adjust the template.
- Show the review count. “4.6 (38 reviews)” is more convincing than stars alone.
- Show ratings on category pages. Stars on product listings help shoppers compare. Enable this in your theme options or the Customizer if available.
- Encourage photos. Customer photos are persuasive. Core WooCommerce does not support review images, but several plugins add photo uploads to the review form.
Be careful about adding too many review widgets and carousels from third-party services. Each script slows the page, which hurts mobile shoppers most. Our WooCommerce speed guide covers how to keep product pages light.
Star ratings in Google search results
WooCommerce outputs Product structured data on single product pages, including the aggregate rating and review count when reviews exist. When Google chooses to use it, your listings can show star ratings, which makes them stand out.
To keep that working:
- Do not remove the structured data output with theme edits or plugins unless you replace it with equally complete markup
- Make sure the reviews shown in the markup are visible on the page. Google’s guidelines require that
- Avoid importing reviews from other sites into your rating markup
- Check product pages with Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool after theme changes
Google’s September 2019 change to review snippets limited star ratings for businesses reviewing themselves on LocalBusiness and Organization markup. Product reviews from your customers are a different case and remain eligible. Ratings are one piece of a wider ecommerce SEO plan, alongside good product copy and clean category pages.
Should you use a third-party review service?
Some stores use external review platforms that collect reviews independently and display them via widgets. Benefits can include stronger independent credibility, seller ratings and syndication. Downsides include monthly cost, extra scripts and less control over how reviews appear.
For most small and mid-sized stores, built-in WooCommerce reviews plus a good review request email cover the essentials. Consider an outside service when you sell across several channels or need verified third-party reviews for advertising.
FAQ
Can I import reviews from another platform into WooCommerce?
Yes, with an import plugin or a custom script, since reviews are comments with rating metadata. Only import reviews of the same product from real customers, and be cautious about including them in structured data.
Why do some products not show the Reviews tab?
Either reviews are disabled globally, disabled on that product under Product data > Advanced, or the theme hides the tab. Check those three places in that order.
Should I allow reviews from people who did not buy?
For most stores, limiting reviews to verified owners is safer. If you sell through other channels, you may allow open reviews but keep moderation on.
How many reviews does a product need?
There is no magic number. Even a handful of detailed, honest reviews is far better than none. Focus on your best sellers first.
Make reviews part of the routine
Reviews build up slowly, one order at a time. Turn on the right settings, automate a friendly request after delivery, reply to the critical ones and keep them visible on product pages. If you want help setting up review collection or improving your product pages so more visitors buy, see our Turn visitors into customers service.
