How to Add Product Reviews to Shopify

Introduction

Customer reviews are one of the highest-impact elements on an e-commerce product page. Research shows that a large majority of shoppers trust online reviews nearly as much as personal recommendations, and review-rich pages often outperform others in conversion and organic visibility. At the same time, many merchants suffer from "platform fatigue"—the headache of stitching together multiple single-purpose tools that don't talk to each other. We built Growave to solve that exact problem: More Growth, Less Stack.

Short answer: You can add product reviews to Shopify by using your theme’s built-in review block or by installing a reviews-enabled retention platform that embeds review widgets, captures ratings and photos, and outputs structured review markup for search engines. The quickest path is to install a solution designed for Shopify stores, connect it to your product pages, activate review collection flows, and enable schema so reviews show up in search results. If you prefer custom control, you can also embed reviews via Liquid templates and JSON‑LD markup.

In this article we’ll cover everything merchants need to implement, optimize, and scale product reviews on Shopify (and comparable platforms) — from quick installs and theme edits to data structure, review collection flows, moderation workflows, SEO tactics, display patterns, and how an integrated retention platform like Growave can reduce complexity while increasing revenue. Our main message: reviews should be easy to collect, simple to display, and tightly integrated with loyalty, UGC, and retention flows so they drive long-term value.

We’re trusted by 15,000+ brands and carry a 4.8-star rating on Shopify — we’ll use that experience to walk you through practical, proven steps.

Why Product Reviews Matter For Your Store

Conversion and Trust

Reviews provide social proof, which helps shoppers overcome uncertainty. A product with visible, recent reviews signals that others buy and use the product — that alone lowers the perceived risk of purchase. Reviews also answer real questions about fit, durability, and performance in the words of customers, which often converts better than marketing copy.

• Reviews increase buyer confidence and reduce friction at checkout.
• Pages with multiple reviews typically see higher conversion rates than those without reviews.
• Allowing photos and videos in reviews multiplies trust because visual proof is harder to fake.

SEO and Visibility

User-generated content adds unique, long-tail phrases to your product pages — the phrases real buyers use to describe a product. Search engines favor fresh, relevant content; reviews keep pages updated and target niche queries you may not have covered in product descriptions.

• Properly formatted review schema increases the chance of star ratings and review snippets appearing in search results.
• More reviews generally lead to improved organic visibility for product pages.

Product Improvement and Customer Feedback Loop

Reviews are a direct line to customer sentiment. Patterns in reviews reveal issues with sizing, packaging, or feature expectations that you can fix to reduce returns and boost repeat purchases. A continuous feedback loop helps product teams iterate quickly.

Lifetime Value and Retention

Reviews are only part of the story. When you pair review collection with rewards for leaving feedback, or with referral incentives for customers who recommend your products, reviews become a retention lever. Integrating reviews with loyalty and referral programs increases repeat purchase probability and lifetime value.

• Reward customers for leaving a review with points that feed into a loyalty program.
• Encourage customers to refer friends after a review to turn feedback into acquisition.

Growave lets merchants combine reviews with loyalty and UGC in one platform so review collection becomes an engine for retention, not a standalone task. See how you can add loyalty incentives while you collect reviews for better results by integrating a loyalty flow into reviews collection.

add loyalty points for reviews

Ways To Add Product Reviews To Shopify: Pros and Cons

There are several approaches to adding reviews. Each has trade-offs in speed, customization, features, and long-term maintenance.

Use a Reviews-Enabled Platform (Recommended for Most Merchants)

Overview: Install a single solution that embeds review widgets, automated email requests, photo/video submissions, and generates structured data for SEO.

Pros:

• Fast to launch with pre-built templates and flows.
• Scales well: automations collect more reviews without manual effort.
• Typically includes moderation, photo/video support, and analytics.
• Integrates reviews into rewards and referral flows for retention lift.

Cons:

• Slight learning curve to configure.
• You must trust the vendor, so pick a merchant-first partner with strong reviews.

Growave offers reviews as a core feature in a retention platform that also includes loyalty, referrals, wishlists, and shoppable UGC—reducing the number of platforms you manage. If you want to install quickly, you can install Growave on your store and start collecting reviews right away.

install Growave on your store

Use Shopify Theme Blocks and Manual Setup

Overview: Use the theme editor to add a reviews section (if supported), or edit Liquid templates to embed reviews. This is suitable for merchants who want tight design control or have restricted budgets.

Pros:

• Full control over the look and placement.
• No external dependency if using built-in features.

Cons:

• Requires development effort for advanced features (images, moderation, schema).
• Maintenance overhead with theme updates.
• Automated collection and incentives typically require separate systems.

If you prefer code control, you can loop through reviews in Liquid and create custom cards, including filtered views such as “positive” and “critical” review panels:

<div class="reviews-cards">
  <div class="reviews-card good-reviews">
    <h3>Positive Reviews</h3>
    {% for review in product.reviews %}
      {% if review.rating > 3 %}
        <article class="review">
          <strong>{{ review.title }}</strong>
          <div class="stars">{{ review.rating }} / 5</div>
          <p>{{ review.body }}</p>
        </article>
      {% endif %}
    {% endfor %}
  </div>

  <div class="reviews-card critical-reviews">
    <h3>Critical Reviews</h3>
    {% for review in product.reviews %}
      {% if review.rating <= 3 %}
        <article class="review">
          <strong>{{ review.title }}</strong>
          <div class="stars">{{ review.rating }} / 5</div>
          <p>{{ review.body }}</p>
        </article>
      {% endif %}
    {% endfor %}
  </div>
</div>

This approach is viable but requires careful handling of review data and schema markup.

Custom-Built Review System

Overview: Build a custom review backend, submission forms, moderation dashboard, and display logic.

Pros:

• Total control over features and data ownership.

Cons:

• High development cost and long build time.
• Ongoing maintenance and infrastructure responsibilities.
• Reinvents functionality many platforms already provide.

For most merchants, building from scratch is not cost-effective unless there are unique legal or integration requirements.

Step-By-Step: How To Add Product Reviews To Shopify (Practical Walkthroughs)

We’ll walk through three practical implementation paths: the fastest no-code/low-code install using a platform, the theme-editor approach, and the developer approach for custom Liquid and schema integration.

Path A — Quick Launch With a Retention Platform (Fastest)

This path is best when you want quick results plus integration with loyalty and UGC. It’s ideal for merchants who want to reduce platform sprawl.

• Choose a reviews-enabled retention solution that collects reviews, supports photos/videos, and outputs structured review markup for SEO.
• Install the solution on your store so widgets and scripts are available.
• Configure review display options for product pages (widget placement, star size, excerpt length).
• Set up automated post-purchase email requests to collect reviews after a realistic delivery and usage window.
• Offer a points-based incentive through your loyalty program for submitted verified reviews to increase response rate.
• Enable moderation rules and auto-publishing preferences to balance speed and quality.
• Verify structured data using Google’s Rich Results Test and ensure stars appear in search results.

You can install Growave on your store and have review widgets and collection flows live quickly; from there you can also combine reviews with loyalty and referrals to convert reviewers into repeat purchasers.

install Growave on your store

collect photo and video reviews

add loyalty points for reviews

Path B — Add Reviews Using the Shopify Theme Editor (No Code)

Many Shopify themes include a way to add a third-party reviews section.

• Open Shopify admin and go to Online Store > Themes > Customize.
• Select the product template you want to modify.
• Look for a block or section for third-party integrations or “Apps” and add the reviews block.
• Position the reviews section where it makes most sense — directly below product description or near the review summary at the top.
• Save and preview across different devices.

If your theme doesn’t include an easy reviews block, you can still paste the widget snippet (provided by your reviews platform) into an HTML block in the theme editor.

• For accurate SEO, also add JSON‑LD review schema to the product template. This sometimes requires editing the theme code; if so, make a backup before changes.

This path is suitable if you want a fast, low-effort way to show reviews using a widget from a retention platform.

Path C — Developer Approach: Liquid + Schema (Most Flexible)

If you want total control over layout, filters, or to combine review data with other product data, use this approach.

• Export or access review data via the platform’s API or via metafields.
• Create a new section in your theme, e.g., sections/product-reviews.liquid.
• In that section, render review lists and summary widgets using Liquid loops, conditional logic for badges (verified buyer), and lazy-loading for images.
• Add JSON‑LD structured data for aggregateRating and individual Review objects inside the product template.
• Ensure review data is updated server-side or via metafields whenever a review is published.

Example JSON‑LD for a product with reviews:

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Product",
  "name": "{{ product.title | escape }}",
  "sku": "{{ product.variants.first.sku }}",
  "image": ["{{ product.featured_image | img_url: 'master' | escape }}"],
  "aggregateRating": {
    "@type": "AggregateRating",
    "ratingValue": "{{ product.metafields.reviews.rating_average }}",
    "reviewCount": "{{ product.metafields.reviews.count }}"
  },
  "review": [
    {% for review in product.reviews %}
      {
        "@type": "Review",
        "author": "{{ review.author | escape }}",
        "datePublished": "{{ review.created_at | date: '%Y-%m-%d' }}",
        "reviewBody": "{{ review.body | escape }}",
        "reviewRating": {
          "@type": "Rating",
          "ratingValue": "{{ review.rating }}"
        }
      }{% unless forloop.last %},{% endunless %}
    {% endfor %}
  ]
}
</script>

• Test the page with Google’s Rich Results Test to see if rich snippets are detected.
• Monitor search results — rich snippets can take time to appear.

This method gives full customization but needs careful syncing and maintenance.

Review Display Best Practices (Design + UX)

How you show reviews matters as much as having them.

Layout Considerations

• Place a concise review summary (average rating + count) near the product title or price so shoppers see it early.
• Use a visually distinct review section below product details for full reviews and image/video submissions.
• Show a mix of short excerpts and long-form reviews for scannability and depth.
• Allow sorting and filtering by rating, date, or photos to help shoppers find relevant reviews.

Visual Elements

• Stars and a numeric average: both help clarity.
• Verified-buyer badge: increase credibility.
• Photo/video thumbnails with lightbox viewing: visual proof converts better than text alone.
• Highlighted Q&A: if you collect question-and-answer pairs, surface them with relevant reviews.

Handling Negative Reviews

• Do not hide negative reviews; moderating them is fine, but transparency builds trust.
• Reply publicly to negative reviews with calm, helpful responses and offer resolution steps.
• Use negative reviews to identify product issues; if a pattern emerges, treat it like product research.

Accessibility and Performance

• Ensure star ratings and review content are accessible to screen readers.
• Lazy-load images and paginate reviews to prevent slow page loads.
• Cache aggregated review scores to avoid performance hits from frequent database calls.

Collecting Reviews: Timing, Messaging, and Incentives

How you ask for reviews determines how many and how useful they are.

Timing and Triggers

• Send the first review request after a realistic "use" window — typically a few days to a few weeks after delivery depending on product type.
• Use multiple touchpoints: post-purchase email, SMS follow-ups, in-dashboard reminders for logged-in customers.
• Ask for feedback after customers have used the product a bit — immediate requests often produce lower-quality reviews.

Messaging and Templates

• Keep emails short, polite, and personal. Remind customers of the product name and why their feedback matters.
• Use subject lines referencing the product: “How’s your [product name]? Quick question.”
• Offer guidance on what to include: fit info, durability, photos, or how they used the product.

Incentives

• Incentives increase response rates. Common approaches:
  • Offer loyalty points redeemable for discounts when customers leave a verified review.
  • Enter reviewers into a monthly draw or offer small discounts.
• Avoid pay-for-positive-review schemes; offer rewards for honest reviews and make terms clear.

Growave makes incentive workflows simple by tying review collection to the loyalty program so every verified review can automatically award points.

add loyalty points for reviews

Photo and Video Reviews

• Prompt customers to add images or videos in the review form.
• Make image uploads simple: allow phone uploads directly from emails.
• Offer bonus points for photo/video submissions to encourage richer reviews.

collect photo and video reviews

Moderation, Compliance, and Trust Signals

Moderation Workflows

• Decide between manual moderation, automatic publishing, or a hybrid model.
• For manual moderation, set SLAs for review approvals to keep content fresh.
• Use automated spam detection and image checks to reduce abusive content.

Legal and Compliance Notes

• Don’t alter reviews to misrepresent customer sentiment.
• Disclose if a review was incentivized (e.g., “Received points for review”).
• Follow platform guidelines for review content and ensure privacy compliance when storing personal data.

Building Trust Signals

• Always display timestamps for reviews.
• Show reviewer location, size, or use-case when relevant (e.g., “Wore size M, 6ft tall”).
• Use verified purchase markers to differentiate credible reviews.

SEO: Structured Data and Rich Snippets

If you want search engines to show rating stars and review counts, structured data is essential.

AggregateRating and Review Schema

• Use AggregateRating for overall averages and reviewCount.
• Include individual Review objects for recent reviews if possible.
• JSON‑LD is the recommended format by search engines.

We covered an example JSON‑LD snippet above. Key fields to include:

• @context and @type
• name (product name)
• image (product images)
• sku or identifier
• aggregateRating with ratingValue and reviewCount
• review array with author, datePublished, reviewBody, and reviewRating

Common Pitfalls

• Stale or inaccurate rating values in schema can lead to rich snippets being ignored.
• Schema that lists reviews but doesn’t show them on the page can be flagged. Make sure reviews in structured data are visible to users.
• Ensure that the reviewCount and ratingValue reflect the published reviews on the product page.

Testing and Monitoring

• Use Google’s Rich Results Test and URL Inspection tools to validate structured data.
• Monitor search snippets over weeks; changes can take time to reflect.

Integrating Reviews With Loyalty, Referrals, and UGC

Reviews generate value beyond conversion when combined with retention tactics.

Loyalty Integration

• Reward verified reviews with points to increase submission rates.
• Use tiered rewards: more points for photo/video reviews or long-form feedback.
• Offer exclusive benefits for top reviewers to encourage advocacy.

Growave makes it easy to link review submission events to loyalty rewards so you can automate points distribution and encourage higher-quality reviews.

add loyalty points for reviews

Referral and Advocacy

• After a positive review, prompt customers to refer friends with personalized referral codes.
• Give bonus points or discounts if a referred friend buys — this turns reviews into acquisition catalysts.

UGC and Shoppable Content

• Surface photo and video reviews across product pages and shoppable galleries.
• Use shoppable UGC to create discovery experiences that link user images to product pages and collections.

Growave’s Social Reviews lets merchants collect and display customer imagery and make it directly shoppable.

collect photo and video reviews

Common Implementation Scenarios and Solutions

We’ll cover common questions merchants face and practical solutions.

Scenario: Stars Don’t Show in Search Results

Possible causes:

• Missing or incorrect AggregateRating schema.
• Schema values don't reflect visible content on the page.
• Rich snippets are not guaranteed; Google may choose not to show them.

Solution:

• Add or fix JSON‑LD schema.
• Make sure review content is visible to users.
• Wait; changes can take multiple crawls.

Scenario: Reviews Not Showing on Product Page

Possible causes:

• Widget snippet not embedded properly.
• Theme caches or blocks overriding the reviews section.
• Permissions or API issues with the reviews platform.

Solution:

• Verify widget code is placed in the correct template and that scripts are loading.
• Check console for JavaScript errors.
• Confirm integration and API keys with your reviews provider.

Scenario: Duplicate or Inflated Review Count

Possible causes:

• Importing reviews multiple times without deduplication.
• Mismatch between reviews stored in platform and theme.

Solution:

• Use unique identifiers for imported reviews.
• Clean duplicates with a review export/import workflow.

Migration and Importing Reviews

If you’re moving platforms or consolidating multiple review sources, plan carefully.

• Export reviews as CSV or via APIs from old sources.
• Map fields: reviewer name, email, rating, title, body, created_at, images, verified_purchase flag, and product identifier (SKU or handle).
• Use the reviews platform’s import tool to ingest and de-duplicate.
• Validate sample products to ensure reviews appear correctly and structured data is generated.

If you need help mapping fields or validating imports, request a personalized walkthrough to see how import tools handle common edge cases.

request a personalized walkthrough

Measuring Impact: Metrics That Matter

Track the right metrics so reviews influence decisions:

• Review Volume: number of new reviews per time period.
• Review Quality: length, photos/videos, helpful votes.
• Conversion Rate: compare product page conversion before and after review activation.
• Average Order Value (AOV): track changes where UGC or loyalty incentives influence cross-sells.
• Repeat Purchase Rate: measure whether reviewers become repeat customers.
• SEO Visibility: organic traffic and impressions for product pages with reviews.

Connect review events to analytics so you can attribute revenue lift to review-driven changes.

Troubleshooting and Maintenance

Ongoing care keeps your review system healthy.

• Set SLAs for moderation and response time to reviews.
• Regularly audit schema to ensure counts and ratings are accurate.
• Keep review widgets and scripts updated with platform releases.
• Monitor for spam and abusive content with automated rules.

If you want to offload the operational work, an integrated retention platform can manage moderation, automations, and data health while you focus on product and creative optimization.

request a personalized walkthrough

Launch Checklist: Getting Reviews Live and Effective

• Decide on the review collection method (platform vs. theme vs. custom).
• Install and configure review widgets on product templates.
• Add JSON‑LD schema for product reviews and validate.
• Set up automated post-purchase review requests (email and/or SMS).
• Create incentives through loyalty points for verified reviews.
• Enable photo/video uploads and configure moderation rules.
• Add verified-buyer badges and highlight recent reviews in the product summary.
• Monitor performance and iterate on messaging and timing.

How Growave Makes Reviews Work Harder For You

We believe retention should be the engine of growth, not an overhead item. That’s why we built Growave as a merchant-first retention suite that replaces 5–7 separate platforms with one ecosystem: Loyalty & Rewards, Reviews & UGC, Wishlists, Referrals, and Shoppable Social. That approach reduces integration overhead, unifies customer data, and makes it easier to turn reviews into repeat purchases.

• Centralized review collection and display with photo/video support.
• Built-in loyalty rewards for review submissions to boost response rates.
• Tools to moderate and display reviews without writing code.
• Structured data output so reviews work for SEO.
• One dashboard to measure review impact alongside loyalty and referrals.

If you want to see how this integrated approach cuts complexity and increases LTV, you can install Growave on your store right away or view our plans to see what fits your growth stage.

install Growave on your store

view our plans

collect photo and video reviews

add loyalty points for reviews

Implementation Examples (Actionable Snippets and Templates)

Below are practical templates and snippets that you can adapt.

Email Template: Post-Purchase Review Request

• Subject: How’s your new [Product Name]? Quick favor.
• Body (short): Hi [First Name], we hope you’re enjoying your [Product Name]. Would you share a quick review to help other shoppers? It takes a minute and you’ll earn [X] points on your account.

Link text example for the CTA in email: “Share your review for [Product Name]” — this link should go to the product review submission URL.

Liquid Snippet: Review Summary Block

<div class="product-review-summary">
  <div class="avg-rating">
    <span class="rating">{{ product.metafields.reviews.rating_average | default: 0 }}</span>
    <span class="stars">★★★★★</span>
  </div>
  <div class="review-count">
    {{ product.metafields.reviews.count | default: 0 }} reviews
  </div>
  <a href="#product-reviews" class="write-review">Write a review</a>
</div>

JSON‑LD Snippet: Minimal AggregateRating

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Product",
  "name": "{{ product.title | escape }}",
  "aggregateRating": {
    "@type": "AggregateRating",
    "ratingValue": "{{ product.metafields.reviews.rating_average | default: 0 }}",
    "reviewCount": "{{ product.metafields.reviews.count | default: 0 }}"
  }
}
</script>

These templates can be adapted to any theme or platform implementation.

Cost, Value, and Choosing a Partner

When evaluating solutions, weigh maintenance, integrations, and potential revenue lift rather than just short-term cost. A merchant-first retention platform that reduces the number of systems you manage and ties reviews to loyalty and referrals typically delivers better value for money.

We recommend validating three things when choosing a partner:

• Ease of install and setup.
• Ability to collect rich media (photos/videos) and verified reviews.
• Integrations with loyalty and referral flows.

If you’d like to explore how a unified approach works for stores at different stages, view our plans to compare capabilities and start a 14-day free trial to test the full stack.

view our plans

install Growave on your store

Conclusion

Product reviews are a multiplier for trust, conversion, SEO, and product improvement — but only if they’re easy to collect, show, and integrate into retention flows. Whether you choose a quick install with a retention platform, a theme-based widget, or a fully custom implementation, the goal is the same: make reviews a predictable, scalable source of revenue and learning.

Start your 14-day free trial of Growave and centralize reviews, loyalty, and UGC to turn feedback into long-term growth — view our plans.

FAQ

How long does it take for reviews to appear in search results with star ratings?

Rich snippets depend on search engine crawling and validation of structured data. After implementing valid JSON‑LD schema and ensuring review content is visible on the page, it can take days to weeks for star ratings to appear, and they are not guaranteed.

Can I import reviews from other platforms into Shopify?

Yes. Most review platforms and retention suites support CSV or API imports. Map fields carefully (product identifiers, dates, images) and deduplicate to avoid inflated counts.

Should I reward customers for reviews?

Rewarding customers for honest reviews with loyalty points or badges increases participation. Be transparent about incentives and avoid asking for positive-only reviews.

Will adding review widgets slow down my site?

Any external widget can affect performance if not optimized. Choose providers that lazy-load scripts, cache aggregate data, and allow image optimization. For best results, paginate reviews and lazy-load media.