How To Add Reviews To Shopify

Introduction

Customer reviews are one of the most powerful signals you can add to a Shopify store. They increase trust, drive conversions, and feed search engines with fresh, relevant content that can earn you rich snippets in search results. At the same time, many merchants struggle with "platform fatigue"—too many separate tools doing one job each—so collecting, moderating, and displaying reviews can quickly become fragmented.

Short answer: You can add reviews to Shopify by installing a reviews solution, configuring how and where reviews are collected and displayed, and making sure those reviews are indexed with proper schema. For many merchants, using a single retention suite that combines review collection, social proof, loyalty incentives, and UGC capabilities simplifies the process and delivers better results with less overhead.

In this article we’ll walk through every practical method for how to add reviews to Shopify—from the simplest free setups to more advanced, conversion-focused configurations. We’ll explain the technical steps for adding review widgets to product pages and other store pages, how to collect more reviews with automated flows, how to optimize reviews for SEO and rich snippets, and how to connect reviews with loyalty and referral programs to increase lifetime value. Along the way we’ll show where Growave fits into this process and how our retention suite can replace multiple single-purpose solutions to reduce complexity and drive more growth.

Our main message: reviews are essential, and you don’t need a dozen separate platforms to do them well. With the right approach and a unified retention solution, you can collect higher-quality review content, display it where it matters, and use it to retain customers and increase LTV—more growth, less stack.

Why Adding Reviews To Shopify Matters

The direct benefits of review content

Reviews do more than decorate product pages. They serve multiple business functions at once:

• Build trust by presenting unbiased opinions from real customers.
• Increase conversion by answering common buying objections and surfacing product-specific details.
• Improve SEO by adding searchable, keyword-rich content and enabling review rich results in search engines.
• Generate social proof that can be repurposed across emails, social ads, and landing pages.

These outcomes are what make reviews a retention and acquisition lever at once: they reduce acquisition friction and increase the value of each customer over time.

The operational challenge: avoiding tool sprawl

Many merchants find themselves using separate solutions for reviews, UGC, loyalty, referrals, and shoppable social. Each one has its own dashboard, settings, and data silos. That’s where our "More Growth, Less Stack" philosophy matters—the fewer integrations and dashboards you manage, the more time you can spend improving customer experience and retention.

We design Growave as a unified retention suite so teams can capture reviews, display them across their store, and connect them with loyalty incentives without juggling five or more platforms. If you want to see how a single platform can replace multiple tools, you can install Growave on your store or view plans and pricing to compare options.

Overview: Options For Adding Reviews To Shopify

Before diving into implementation, it helps to map the main approaches merchants take. Each option balances ease, customization, and features differently.

• Native Shopify review block: Quick to add, limited features and customization.
• Third-party review solution: Full-featured capture, moderation, social proof widgets, sometimes expensive and siloed.
• Unified retention platform: Collect reviews plus loyalty, referrals, and shoppable UGC in one system for better ROI and fewer integrations.
• Manual embedding / custom development: Full control, higher cost and maintenance.

We recommend choosing an approach based on your priorities: speed to market, customization, or integration with retention tools like loyalty and referral programs. For merchants who want both depth and simplicity, a retention suite that includes social reviews (such as Growave’s Social Reviews) is often the most effective long-term solution.

Preparing To Add Reviews: Requirements And Best Practices

What you’ll need before you start

• Shopify admin access with permissions to edit themes and install solutions.
• A clear idea where reviews should appear (product pages, collections, homepage, landing pages).
• A review capture plan (post-purchase email, on-site prompts, incentives).
• Brand guidelines for review moderation and display.

UX and placement best practices

Reviews are most impactful when placed where buying decisions happen. Consider these placements:

• Above the fold on product pages near price or product title.
• Near the add-to-cart button or directly under product descriptions.
• On collection pages as star ratings on product cards to help browsing decisions.
• On the homepage and landing pages as highlighted testimonials that link to product pages.

Design and placement should respect mobile first. Compact star ratings on product lists and expandable review sections on product pages reduce cognitive load on small screens.

Data and privacy compliance

When collecting reviews, make sure you handle customer data according to privacy regulations and Shopify’s terms. Always:

• Use consent-based prompts for any SMS or non-essential email capture.
• Avoid collecting more personal data than you need.
• Be transparent about how reviews will be displayed and used.

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

We’ll cover two practical paths: a quick setup using Shopify theme editor and a fuller setup using a retention suite that includes Social Reviews. Both approaches will include steps to display reviews and enable schema for SEO.

A. Quick Setup Using Shopify Theme Editor

This method is useful if you want fast results with minimal configuration.

• Install a review solution that integrates with Shopify’s theme blocks. If you prefer to trial a unified retention suite, you can install Growave on your store.
• Open Shopify admin and go to Online Store > Themes. Choose the theme you want to edit and click Customize.
• From the theme editor, open the product page template. Use the dropdown at the top to select Products and then the default product template.
• Click Add section or Add block and look for the reviews block under Apps. Add the Reviews block and/or the Star rating block depending on available options.
• Position the review block where it makes the most sense—under product title, near the add-to-cart area, or in the product description.
• Save and preview on both desktop and mobile to ensure layout and spacing are correct.

Notes:

• Shopify’s built-in review blocks are straightforward but often limited in customization and collection automation.
• If you plan to scale review collection, connect the review solution to your post-purchase flows or choose a solution with automated review requests.

B. Installing and Using a Retention Suite To Collect and Display Reviews

A unified retention suite gives you more control and powerful automation for collecting high-quality reviews.

• Install the retention suite from the Shopify App Store. To get started quickly, you can install Growave on your store.
• In the suite dashboard, enable the Social Reviews product. This centralizes review capture, moderation, and display alongside loyalty and referral features for a synergistic effect (learn more about social reviews).
• Configure your review capture settings:
  • Enable automated post-purchase review requests to send emails at a specified delay (for example, 7–14 days after delivery).
  • Set moderation rules (auto-approve or manual review).
  • Enable photo and video uploads to increase credibility.
• Use the suite’s widgets to place review displays across your store:
  • Add star rating badges to product cards and collection pages.
  • Embed full review lists in product pages.
  • Create highlight blocks for the homepage and landing pages.
• Connect review display widgets to your theme with the provided code snippet or via the theme editor. Most retention suites provide a simple copy-paste snippet and an in-app visual editor for placement.
• Verify schema markup is generated for each product so search engines can show review-rich snippets.

If you prefer guided help or a demo before implementing, you can book a demo to see how reviews, loyalty, and UGC work together in a single platform.

Embedding Reviews Via Liquid Snippets (Developer-Friendly)

For merchants with developer resources or custom themes, direct Liquid integration offers flexibility.

• Locate the product template files in Online Store > Themes > Actions > Edit code.
• Identify the correct template: product.json or product.liquid depending on theme.
• Insert the review widget snippet where you want reviews to appear. The retention suite will typically provide a snippet, for example:
  • [widget code]
• Add a star rating partial to product cards by editing product-card.liquid and inserting the aggregate rating snippet.
• To output structured data (JSON-LD) for rich snippets, add a script tag that outputs product name, SKU, price, and aggregate rating. Example logic:
  • Build a JSON object with keys: @context, @type, name, sku, offers, aggregateRating.
  • Ensure review counts and average ratings are pulled from the review API or product metafields to show accurate data.
• Test structured data with Google’s Rich Results Test to confirm eligibility for review snippets.

Developer tips:

• Use caching for API-powered widgets to avoid performance penalties.
• Keep snippet code small and asynchronous where possible.
• Use product metafields or the retention suite API to store aggregated review data for quicker access.

Collecting More Reviews: Tactics That Work

Collecting reviews requires both timing and incentive. Here are proven tactics that move the needle.

Post-purchase email flows

Automated emails after order fulfillment are the most reliable source of reviews. Best practices:

• Wait for the product to be delivered or experienced (typical delay: 7–21 days depending on product type).
• Keep the email short and personal. Include a direct CTA to leave a review and a visible star rating CTA.
• Offer the ability to upload photos or videos directly when leaving a review to increase trust.
• Send a single reminder if needed, but avoid spamming.

Sample subject lines and CTAs:

• Subject: "How’s your new [product]? Share a quick review"
• CTA button: "Leave a Review" or "Rate Your Purchase"

Using a retention suite like Growave allows you to automate these flows and tie them to loyalty rewards for higher response rates.

On-site micro-interactions

Prompt reviews from active customers on the site:

• Add “Write a review” links on product pages and order status pages.
• Use on-site notifications or slide-ins targeted to customers who viewed the product multiple times or returned it.
• Offer inline star rating prompts without opening a full form to make it frictionless.

Incentives and loyalty nudges

Incentivizing reviews can increase volume and quality, but it must be done carefully to avoid bias:

• Reward reviewers with loyalty points for submitting a review, regardless of sentiment. This encourages honest feedback.
• Provide higher rewards for reviews with photos or longer, detailed feedback.
• Use loyalty points redemption as a thank-you after publishing the review to avoid incentivizing only positive reviews.

Because Growave combines social reviews with loyalty, you can configure rewards alongside review capture to increase participation while maintaining authenticity (learn how our Social Reviews work).

SMS and SMS+Email combos

If you use SMS marketing, a concise, timed SMS asking for a review with a short link can outperform email in open rates. Use SMS sparingly and always obtain explicit consent.

Ask at multiple touchpoints

Don’t rely on a single channel. Combine post-purchase email, SMS (if opted in), and on-site prompts to create a multi-channel cadence that feels natural and respectful.

Moderation, Quality, And Display Guidelines

Good moderation keeps review content useful and trustworthy.

Moderation best practices

• Decide on auto-publish vs manual moderation based on risk tolerance and volume.
• Use a triage approach: auto-approve reviews without flagged words, route reviews with attachments or unusual content for manual review.
• Keep moderation transparent—notify customers when their review is published or if edits are made.

Handling negative reviews

Negative reviews are inevitable and valuable. Best practices:

• Respond publicly and professionally to demonstrate good customer service.
• Use negative feedback internally to fix product or service issues.
• Avoid deleting negative reviews unless they violate your moderation policy.

Display design to maximize impact

• Use aggregated star ratings near product titles and on product cards to help shoppers scan quickly.
• Include a review summary that surfaces the most common pros and cons using tags or frequently mentioned phrases.
• Show visual content prominently—photos and videos increase conversions.
• Allow sorting and filtering by rating, date, and content type to help shoppers find relevant reviews.

Technical SEO: Schema, Rich Snippets, And Indexing

Reviews only help SEO if search engines can read them properly. That’s where schema and structured data come in.

Add Product and Review schema

• Use JSON-LD structured data to mark up product information, offers, and aggregateRating.
• Key fields to include: name, sku, offers.price, offers.priceCurrency, aggregateRating.ratingValue, aggregateRating.reviewCount.
• If you show individual reviews on product pages, include review objects with author, datePublished, reviewBody, and reviewRating.

If you use a unified retention suite, many of these tasks are automated or handled by the platform. For merchants who prefer manual control, add JSON-LD via theme files and keep values updated through metafields or API responses.

Eligibility and common pitfalls

• Ensure the reviewed product has at least a few reviews and a valid aggregateRating before showing rich snippets.
• Avoid displaying fake or incentivized reviews as that can lead to penalties from search engines.
• Confirm structured data is error-free using Google’s Rich Results Test.

Testing and continuous verification

• Run periodic checks in the Rich Results Test and Google Search Console.
• Keep an eye on structured data errors and warnings and fix them promptly.
• Use server-side or build-time generation of JSON-LD where possible to keep pages fast.

Using Reviews Across Your Marketing Stack

Reviews should power more than just product pages. Here’s how to make reviews work across channels.

Email marketing

• Pull top-rated reviews and visuals into product-focused email campaigns.
• Include a "review highlight" block in newsletters to keep your store fresh and social.
• Use UGC reviews in cart abandonment or post-purchase cross-sell emails to increase trust.

Ads and social

• Repurpose high-quality review photos as ad creative or social posts.
• Feature customer quotes in paid ads at scale to lower CPM and increase CTR.

Landing pages and conversion experiments

• Add themed review collections (for example, reviews highlighting durability) to landing pages for high-intent campaigns.
• A/B test different review placements and layouts to find the highest-converting combination.

A unified retention platform that handles reviews and shoppable UGC makes repurposing content easier and avoids manual exports.

Advanced Strategies: Reviews, Loyalty, Referrals, And UGC

Reviews are stronger when they’re part of a broader retention strategy.

Tie reviews to loyalty

• Offer loyalty points for leaving reviews, redeemable for discounts or free samples.
• Use loyalty tiers to encourage reviewers to submit richer content (photos, videos).
• Reward repeat reviewers with bonus points for long-form reviews or multi-product reviews.

This approach increases review volume and encourages repeat purchases—two retention goals at once.

Link reviews to referrals

• Feature reviewers who also refer friends via referral links, creating a loop where advocates both review and recruit new customers.
• Run referral campaigns that showcase top reviewers and reward both the referrer and the referee.

Make reviews shoppable

• Tag review photos with product SKUs so shoppers can click from a photo to the product page and buy directly.
• Use shoppable galleries on product pages or homepage highlights to surface curated customer content.

Growave’s suite bundles social reviews and shoppable UGC to make the process seamless and remove the need for multiple integrations.

Troubleshooting Common Problems

Even with a strong setup, issues may arise. Here’s how to handle frequent problems.

Reviews not appearing after installation

• Clear theme caches and ensure the widget script is included in the correct product template.
• Verify that the review solution is pointed at the correct product IDs or SKUs.
• Check moderation settings—some systems hold reviews for approval by default.

Schema errors in Rich Results Test

• Ensure numeric values for rating and count are proper numbers, not strings.
• Confirm the structured data is present in the rendered HTML (not added via client-side JS without server-side fallback).
• Check for duplicates or conflicting structured data on the same page.

Low review response rates

• Optimize timing of review requests to match product experience time.
• Offer small, non-biased incentives like loyalty points for every review.
• Make the review flow short, mobile-friendly, and capable of accepting images.

Photo or video upload failures

• Confirm the file size limits and accepted formats.
• Use asynchronous upload handling to prevent timeouts on mobile networks.
• Provide fallback instructions if upload fails (e.g., email the photo).

For merchants who want extra help implementing or troubleshooting, our team is available to walk through setups—book a demo to get hands-on guidance.

Measuring Success: KPIs And How To Track Them

Track the right metrics so your review strategy contributes to measurable growth.

• Review volume: number of reviews submitted in a period.
• Review coverage: percentage of products with at least one review.
• Average rating: monitor for sudden drops or spikes and respond.
• Conversion lift: A/B test product pages with vs without reviews to measure direct impact.
• SEO impressions and click-throughs: track organic traffic changes after implementing structured data.
• UGC engagement: views, clicks, and conversions from galleries that include review photos.

Use your analytics and retention suite dashboards to combine these metrics with loyalty and referral performance to see the aggregated impact on LTV.

Implementation Checklist (Scannable)

• Decide which review capture strategy you’ll use (native block vs retention suite).
• Install the solution and place review widgets on product pages and collection pages.
• Configure automated post-purchase review requests (email and/or SMS).
• Enable photo/video uploads and map moderation rules.
• Add structured data for aggregate ratings and reviews.
• Connect reviews to loyalty or referral programs for incentives.
• Repurpose reviews across email, social, landing pages, and ads.
• Monitor KPIs and iterate on placement and capture timing.

Why A Unified Retention Suite Often Wins

Managing reviews alongside loyalty, referrals, and shoppable UGC in one platform reduces admin overhead and creates compounding benefits:

• Coordinated incentives: reward reviews with loyalty points without syncing multiple systems.
• Better content flow: automatically surface high-quality review photos across marketing channels.
• Fewer integrations: fewer points of failure, less developer time, and a cleaner analytics picture.

We built Growave with merchant-first thinking to be that unified solution—trusted by 15,000+ brands and rated 4.8 stars on the Shopify App Store—so teams can focus on growth, not tool maintenance. If you’re evaluating whether to add a dedicated review tool or choose a retention suite, compare the total value: with a single solution you get review capture plus the loyalty and referral features that turn reviews into long-term revenue.

If you want to compare plan features and see which option fits your needs, you can view plans and pricing or install Growave on your store for a hands-on trial.

Conclusion

Adding reviews to Shopify is both a tactical and strategic move. Tactically, it involves installing a review solution, placing widgets in your theme, and ensuring structured data is in place so search engines can show rich snippets. Strategically, reviews become far more powerful when they are connected to loyalty, referrals, and shoppable UGC—turning one-off feedback into a scalable retention channel.

If your priority is more growth with less stack, a unified retention suite that includes social reviews, loyalty rewards, and shoppable UGC will give you the best balance of capabilities and simplicity. If you’re ready to collect higher-quality reviews, show them where they influence buying decisions, and link them to incentives that increase lifetime value, start your 14-day free trial to explore our plans and see the difference.

Start your 14-day free trial and see how our retention suite helps you collect, display, and leverage reviews to grow faster with fewer tools: view plans and pricing.

FAQ

How quickly can I have reviews appearing on my product pages?

You can have basic reviews appearing within minutes by installing a solution and adding the widget through the theme editor. Automated capture and richer features (photo uploads, loyalty rewards) usually take a few hours to configure. If you want guidance, you can book a demo for a walkthrough.

Can I import existing reviews from another platform?

Yes—many review solutions and retention suites support CSV imports or API-based migrations so you can import legacy reviews and preserve SEO and social proof. Check the migration options in your selected platform’s settings.

Will reviews help my SEO automatically?

Reviews help SEO by adding unique, keyword-rich content and enabling structured data. Ensure you implement proper JSON-LD markup and verify in tools like Google’s Rich Results Test. A unified retention suite often automates much of this work and reduces the chance of errors.

How do I encourage customers to upload photos and videos with their reviews?

Make it easy to upload multimedia in the review form, offer loyalty points as a neutral reward for multimedia submissions, and highlight great UGC across product pages and social to show reviewers their content can be featured. Combining these tactics increases the share of reviews with visual content.