How to Allow Reviews on Shopify

Introduction

Customer reviews are one of the most powerful levers a merchant can pull. They increase trust, improve SEO, and directly influence conversions — products with several reviews convert far better than those without. At the same time, many stores struggle with "solution fatigue" — installing multiple point tools that don't talk to each other and create operational friction.

Short answer: You can allow reviews on Shopify by adding a review solution to your store and placing a review section on your product pages. The quickest approach is to enable a dedicated reviews solution that supports verified-purchase checks, photo and video uploads, and structured data for search engines. For full control — including moderation, verified purchaser-only submissions, and automated review requests — integrate a retention platform that centralizes reviews with loyalty, referrals, and UGC.

In this post we’ll walk through every step merchants need to allow reviews on Shopify, from basic theme edits to advanced workflows that protect review quality and amplify user-generated content. We’ll compare the practical trade-offs between options, explain how to require verified purchasers or registered customers to leave feedback, show how to display reviews for SEO and conversion impact, and give troubleshooting and measurement guidance. Along the way we’ll show how a single retention solution can replace multiple point tools to deliver "More Growth, Less Stack."

We’ll cover:

• Why reviews matter for conversion, SEO, and product improvement
• The ways to allow reviews (open, account-only, purchase-verified)
• Exact steps to add and display reviews on Shopify product pages
• Moderation, fraud prevention, and legal considerations
• How to use reviews as UGC across marketing channels
• Metrics to track and an implementation checklist
• How Growave’s Reviews & UGC tools can simplify and scale the entire process

We believe reviews should be an asset, not another technical headache. Throughout this article we’ll keep the focus on practical, merchant-first steps you can implement today.

Why Reviews Matter (And What “Allowing Reviews” Really Means)

The business outcomes of allowing reviews

Reviews are not just praise or criticism — they are data, content, and marketing signals all in one. Allowing reviews helps you:

• Increase conversion rates by providing social proof and reducing buyer uncertainty.
• Improve search visibility through fresh, user-generated content and review schema.
• Reduce return rates and improve products by surfacing real feedback.
• Build loyalty by turning reviewers into repeat customers through incentives.
• Create shareable UGC (photos, videos) that powers email, social, and paid channels.

When we talk about "allowing reviews," we mean enabling a flow that lets customers submit ratings and comments, deciding who can submit them (any visitor, only registered users, or only verified purchasers), displaying them in ways that boost conversion, and managing them at scale.

Common review models and why the choice matters

Merchants can choose different approaches. Each has pros and cons:

• Open reviews (anyone can leave feedback): Easiest to implement and fastest to populate, but higher risk of spam and non-genuine reviews.
• Account-only reviews (must be logged in): Encourages accountability and slightly reduces spam, but may reduce volume if account adoption is low.
• Verified-purchase reviews (post-purchase or order-verified): Highest credibility and conversion impact, but requires integration with order data and an automated solicitation flow.

Selecting the right model depends on your brand, average order value, and tolerance for moderation. For most merchants chasing sustainable growth, verified-purchase-first is the best balance between credibility and volume.

How Shopify Handles Reviews: Native Options vs. External Solutions

Shopify’s built-in capabilities

Shopify themes can include a reviews section, but the platform doesn’t provide a full-featured review workflow out of the box. You can add a review placeholder in the product template and display ratings, but collecting, moderating, verifying purchases, and adding rich snippet structured data usually requires a specialized review solution.

You can add a reviews section through the theme editor:

• Open Online Store > Themes > Customize.
• Navigate to the product page template and add the Reviews block (if supported by your theme).
• Configure placement and visibility, then save.

This approach works for basic display but will often leave gaps around verification, moderation, and automated emails.

Why a dedicated reviews solution improves outcomes

A dedicated solution provides:

• Verified purchase checks (tie reviews to orders).
• Automated review requests sent after fulfillment.
• Photo and video review collection.
• Moderation queues and filters for spam or inappropriate content.
• Rich snippets and structured data to show average ratings in search results.
• Integration with loyalty and referral programs to reward reviewers.

Rather than stringing together several disconnected tools, using a single retention platform that includes reviews alongside loyalty and referrals reduces integration work and turns reviews into a growth lever rather than a maintenance task. If you want to compare plan features and see how a unified retention suite can replace multiple point tools, take a look at our plan options and pricing to evaluate what fits your store’s scale (see plan details and pricing).

Step-By-Step: How To Allow Reviews On Shopify

Below are practical routes merchants can take, depending on their needs and technical comfort. We provide options from minimal touch to advanced.

Route A — Basic: Add a review section via your theme (low technical effort)

This option is for stores that want a visible reviews area quickly and are okay collecting reviews manually or via a simple third-party review solution.

• Open Shopify admin and go to Online Store > Themes > Customize.
• Select the product page template you want to edit.
• Look for a block or section labeled Reviews, Product Reviews, or Third-Party Widget.
• Add that block and place it where it makes sense for conversions (near the product description or below the add-to-cart area).
• Save and preview on desktop and mobile.

If your theme doesn’t include a review block, you can insert a review widget provided by a reviews service through theme settings or by pasting their embed code into the product template. This is fast, but lacks purchase verification and advanced moderation.

Route B — Recommended: Use a reviews solution that supports verified purchasers (balanced approach)

This route provides credibility without heavy engineering. A solution that integrates with orders will send review invite emails and verify customers before they submit public feedback.

Implementation steps:

• Choose a reviews solution that supports:
  • Automated post-purchase review invitations.
  • Verified-purchase-only submission settings.
  • Photo/video uploads.
  • Moderation tools and structured data.
• Configure order-based invitation timing (for example, request reviews X days after fulfillment).
• Customize the review form: rating scale, required fields, and whether images are allowed.
• Add the reviews widget to product pages using the theme editor or an embed provided by your solution.
• Enable schema markup or ensure the solution automatically injects review structured data.

If you want a single retention solution that bundles reviews with loyalty and UGC management, look at how our Reviews & UGC tools collect verified reviews and display them for conversion while also integrating with loyalty incentives (learn about our social reviews and UGC tools).

Route C — Advanced: Full control, verification, and custom display (for merchants with dev resources)

This route is for brands that want total control over data, styling, and logic.

• Use a reviews solution that offers APIs or webhooks, or build a custom integration that:
  • Checks Shopify order data to verify purchase status.
  • Serves a dynamic review form that can only be accessed by verified customers (e.g., via a unique token in a post-purchase email).
  • Stores reviews in a central CMS or your reviews provider, then renders them via a component in the product template.
• Implement server-side verification for review submissions so public submissions are validated against order IDs or customer emails.
• Add JSON-LD review schema to product pages to produce rich snippets in search results. Ensure you follow Google’s guidelines to avoid penalties.

An advanced approach is powerful, but it increases maintenance. A combined retention platform reduces the need for custom development by providing mature verification, moderation, and schema support out of the box.

How to Require Reviews From Registered Users Or Verified Purchasers

Requiring customer accounts to leave reviews

If you want reviewers to be registered users:

• Go to Shopify admin > Settings > Checkout.
• Under Customer accounts, set accounts to "Accounts are required" (note this can raise friction on checkout).
• Use a review solution that checks for an authenticated customer session before allowing the review form to display.

Pros:

• Increased accountability.
• Higher-quality reviews.

Cons:

• Possible drop in conversion if forcing accounts at checkout; consider optional accounts with incentives to sign up.

Requiring verified purchasers

Verified purchaser workflows are preferred for trust and SEO. Ways to implement:

• Use a review solution that automatically sends email invitations to customers after order fulfillment and ties the review to the order.
• Configure the reviews solution to accept reviews only when submitted via a secure review link included in the email or via a verification token.
• Alternatively, allow public submissions but mark and highlight verified reviews distinctively.

This model delivers the best credibility while still allowing non-purchase mentions in other parts of your site (testimonials page, influencer mentions).

Best Practices For Review Collection, Display, and Moderation

Collection: How to maximize quality and quantity

• Send timed email review requests after fulfillment with a single-click review button.
• Keep the review form short and mobile-friendly to reduce friction.
• Allow photo and video uploads; visual reviews drive higher conversions.
• Offer optional incentives like loyalty points (not for positive-only reviews — incentive policies must not bias the content).
• Use smart reminders and follow-ups for non-responders, but avoid spamming.

Growave integrates reviews with loyalty so you can reward reviewers automatically and keep incentives transparent and compliant (learn how loyalty and rewards work).

Display: Where and how to show reviews for maximum impact

• Product pages: Place reviews near product descriptions and above the fold for high-consideration SKUs.
• Collection pages: Surface average ratings as a visual cue to filter and sort.
• Search and site filters: Allow customers to sort by rating or see only products with images.
• Home and landing pages: Highlight best-rated products or recent visual reviews as social proof.
• Marketing channels: Feature photo reviews in email campaigns and on social channels.

Styling and trust signals

• Show average rating and total review count prominently.
• Clearly label verified purchaser reviews versus unverified.
• Show reviewer names, dates, and location when possible (respecting privacy).
• Allow customers to filter reviews by rating or by attribute (size, color, use case).

Moderation and fraud prevention

• Use automated spam detection (keyword filters, IP checks, rate limits).
• Implement a moderation queue for new reviews to catch policy-violating content.
• Require verification tokens for high-trust submission flows.
• Periodically audit for suspicious patterns (multiple reviews from same IP or email).
• Maintain a transparent review policy and make it accessible on-site.

Technical SEO: Structured Data, Rich Snippets, And Crawling

Why review schema matters

Structured review data (JSON-LD) helps search engines understand ratings and display rich snippets, which can increase click-through rates. Product pages with visible star ratings in SERPs tend to get higher organic CTR.

What to include in schema

• Product name, SKU, and product image.
• AggregateRating with averageRating and reviewCount.
• Individual Review entries with author, datePublished, reviewBody, and reviewRating.

A reviews solution should automatically inject schema. If you add reviews manually, ensure you add valid JSON-LD to the product template and validate it in Rich Results testing tools.

Example schema (for illustration; adapt fields to your store):

• Ensure only published, vetted reviews are included in AggregateRating.
• Avoid duplicating schema across multiple scripts.

Common pitfalls

• Duplicate schema from multiple solutions can trigger errors; ensure your chosen reviews provider manages schema output or remove redundant schema.
• Including reviews that aren’t genuine or incentivized-only ratings can risk being marked as misleading.
• Heavy widgets that load synchronously can slow page speed; prefer asynchronous loading and lazy-loading images.

Using Reviews As UGC Across Marketing Channels

Turn reviews into social content

• Create templates to repurpose photo reviews into social posts and ads.
• Use customer-generated videos for product demonstrations and unboxing content.

Include reviews in email flows

• Post-purchase: feature similar product reviews to encourage add-on purchases.
• Cart recovery: include high-quality reviews to reduce cart abandonment.
• Welcome series: use social proof to educate new subscribers about bestsellers.

Shoppable UGC and visual galleries

Link reviews to shoppable galleries so customers can click from a photo to the product page. A unified retention platform that combines reviews with shoppable social galleries reduces manual tagging and improves conversion paths.

Amplify reviews with loyalty and referrals

• Offer loyalty points to reviewers (transparent and not tied to review positivity).
• Use positive reviewers as advocates by inviting them to referral programs.

Growave’s platform connects reviews with loyalty and referral mechanics so you can reward and amplify genuine customer voices while keeping everything manageable from one dashboard (see how Growave ties reviews to retention).

Advanced Controls: Importing, Exporting, And Managing Large Review Volumes

Importing reviews

If you’re migrating stores or bringing in legacy reviews:

• Import reviews in bulk using CSVs or via your reviews provider’s import feature.
• Map fields carefully: rating, title, body, author, date, order verification status, media links.
• Validate that imported reviews are accurate and that verified-purchase flags are preserved when possible.

Exporting reviews

• Export reviews to analyze sentiment, build product improvement lists, or feed into BI tools.
• Use exports to track reviewer repeat frequency and spot product quality trends.

Bulk moderation workflows

• Use bulk approve/reject functions for high-volume moderation.
• Train filters with common spam keywords and allow automated approvals for verified purchasers.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Reviews don’t appear on product pages

• Check that the review widget or block is added to the correct product template and has not been hidden by theme CSS.
• Confirm the reviews provider is active and connected to your store.
• Clear any script caches and re-publish the theme if you made template edits.

Ratings not showing in search results

• Verify that aggregateRating schema is present and correctly formatted on the product pages.
• Avoid duplicate schema from multiple sources; use one provider to manage structured data.
• Use search engine testing tools to validate structured data.

Duplicate or missing reviewer data

• Ensure order verification tokens are unique and that your provider is referencing the correct order fields (order ID, customer email).
• If reviews are missing after a migration, confirm that review IDs and product handles were mapped correctly.

Review submission errors on mobile

• Test the review form across devices and network conditions.
• Confirm images are resized client-side before upload and that server upload limits are not exceeded.

If you ever need hands-on help, we offer demos and migration assistance so you can move to a unified solution without losing existing content or reviews (book a demo).

Measuring Success: Metrics That Matter

Track these KPIs to evaluate whether allowing reviews is improving business outcomes:

• Review volume and review submission rate (per orders).
• Percentage of reviews with photos/videos (visual UGC).
• Average product rating and rating distribution.
• Conversion rate lift on product pages with reviews vs. without.
• Change in organic impressions and CTR attributed to review snippets.
• Repeat purchase rate and LTV for reviewers vs. non-reviewers.
• Time-to-first-response for negative reviews (customer service metric).

Set realistic benchmarks and measure over rolling 30- to 90-day windows. Reviews take time to accumulate; prioritize consistent solicitation and friction reduction for long-term improvement.

Compliance And Legal Considerations

• Be transparent about incentives: Do not require a positive review in exchange for a reward.
• Respect privacy and data protection rules: Ensure you have consent to publish customers’ names or photos.
• Maintain a published review policy that outlines moderation rules and expectations.
• Avoid ghostwriting or fabricating reviews — authenticity is key for trust and long-term growth.

Implementation Checklist (Quick Reference)

• Decide on preferred model: open, account-only, or verified-purchase.
• Choose a reviews solution that integrates with orders and supports media uploads.
• Add the review section to product pages and collection/product list snippets.
• Enable schema output or confirm your solution generates valid JSON-LD.
• Create automated review request emails and reminder cadence.
• Configure moderation rules and spam filters.
• Offer transparent incentives via loyalty points if desired.
• Repurpose visual reviews across email, social, and paid channels.
• Monitor key metrics and iterate on the solicitation cadence and display.

How Growave Simplifies Allowing Reviews On Shopify

We designed Growave as a merchant-first retention platform aimed at turning retention into growth while reducing stack complexity. Rather than stitching together multiple point tools, Growave unifies reviews, loyalty, wishlists, referrals, and shoppable UGC in one solution — saving merchants time, reducing integration overhead, and delivering stronger outcomes.

Key benefits of using a unified retention platform:

• Consolidated data: Reviews, loyalty points, and referral activities live in one place so you can build richer customer profiles.
• Verified review flows: Automate post-purchase review requests tied directly to orders.
• Seamless UGC: Collect photos and videos and push them automatically into galleries and marketing flows.
• Rewards integration: Incentivize participation responsibly with loyalty points and transparent rewards.
• Less maintenance: One dashboard, one billing cycle, fewer update conflicts, and a merchant-first support team trusted by 15,000+ brands.

If you want to explore how this looks for your store, you can view our plan options and start a 14-day free trial to test features with live traffic (review plan features and pricing). If you prefer hands-on walkthroughs, we’ll show how to connect your store and preserve existing reviews during onboarding — just book a demo and we’ll guide you through the setup.

You can also install Growave directly on Shopify to start collecting verified reviews and integrating them with loyalty and referrals right away — install Growave on your store to get started (install Growave on Shopify).

For inspiration on how other merchants use reviews and UGC to improve conversion and retention, browse our collection of customer stories and examples (browse customer stories and examples).

Common Questions Merchants Ask (And Straightforward Answers)

• How long does it take to start getting meaningful review volume?
  • Meaningful volume depends on order velocity. With a simple automated review request workflow, many merchants see regular daily reviews within weeks. Pair requests with loyalty incentives and visual upload options to accelerate collection.
• Can we allow only verified purchasers to leave reviews?
  • Yes. Choose a reviews solution that ties submissions to order verification or uses unique post-purchase tokens, and set the submission policy to accept only verified customers.
• Will reviews affect SEO immediately?
  • Reviews add fresh, relevant content, and structured review schema can generate rich snippets, which typically help CTR over time. Expect to see impacts over weeks to months as pages accumulate review content.
• How do we handle negative reviews?
  • Respond promptly and constructively, offer remediation offline when needed, and use negative feedback as product improvement input. Publicly responding shows other shoppers you care.

Conclusion

Allowing reviews on Shopify is no longer a simple “add and forget” task — it’s a strategic, customer-driven function that directly impacts conversions, SEO, product quality, and retention. By choosing a reviews model that fits your brand (open, account-only, or verified-purchase) and using a unified retention solution, you turn reviews from a maintenance burden into a growth engine.

We built Growave to help merchants reduce tool overload while improving results — integrating reviews with loyalty, referrals, and shoppable UGC so you can focus on customers instead of integrations. If you’re ready to simplify your stack and start collecting verified reviews that boost trust and conversion, explore our plans and start a 14-day free trial today (see plan details and pricing).

FAQ

Can I let only logged-in customers leave reviews?

Yes. Require customer accounts in Shopify settings and use a reviews solution that checks for authenticated sessions before showing the review form. Keep in mind forcing accounts can add checkout friction, so weigh the trade-offs.

How do I make sure review content shows in Google search results?

Ensure your reviews provider outputs valid AggregateRating and Review JSON-LD schema on product pages. Avoid duplicate schema and include accurate rating counts and averages. Use Google’s rich result testing tools to validate.

Is it okay to reward reviewers?

Yes, but be transparent. Rewards should not condition on positive feedback. Reward reviewers for participation (points, discounts applied regardless of sentiment) and publish clear guidelines in your review policy.

What if my theme doesn’t support a review block?

You can embed reviews using the provider’s widget or paste their snippet into your product template. A unified platform often provides easy-to-add widgets and helper code to minimize theme edits. If you need help, we can assist with integration and ensure reviews display and index properly (book a demo).