Faster, Easier, and More Flexible: Okendo Pioneers Next-Gen Review Displays
Mar 23, 2022 | 6 minute read
Lindsay Kolinsky
Director of Marketing
Break the mold with unique review displays that capture (and hold) customer attention.
Rhetorical question: Do you want your site to stand out among the competition?
We thought so.
If you’re stuck using the same stock-standard review displays that thousands of other stores are using, or if your customization options are limited to changing star or text color, you’re not getting the control and flexibility you need to fully integrate your displays into the look and feel of your site.
The good news?
To break you free from those basic display templates, Okendo has released new functionality for effortlessly building, branding, and customizing your displays, making it easier than ever to ensure an on-brand customer experience. And when 92% of shoppers are more likely to purchase after reading a review, you definitely want your reviews to catch their attention.
By using these new displays, swimwear provider Midori Bikinis was able to highlight user-generated content (UGC) to inspire more consumer confidence and connect shoppers with buyers that have similar characteristics. The result? A purchase conversion increase of more than 200%, and a 12% increase in average order value.
So What’s New?
Okendo’s review display overhaul includes features that are easy to implement, offer greater design flexibility, and eliminate the need to rely on costly, slow development resources for designing attractive review displays.
We’ve modernized existing display functionality to provide enhanced user-generated content (UGC) placements, adhere to accessibility regulations, and minimize the impact on page speed.
Whether it’s highlighting content with improved page placement, using advanced styling to unify your displays with your brand, or changing display layouts to find one that suits your site best, we’ve got you covered. Here’s a closer look at what’s in store with this enhancement.
Flexible & Clean Review Displays
We’ve given our displays a total overhaul in terms of look and feel. With 7 widgets,18 layouts, and endless design customizations to choose from, you can create a display that fits into your site without forcing you to use a template that doesn’t match your brand aesthetic.
Want a display that makes your user-submitted photos and videos the star of the show? You got it. How about one that focuses on collecting valuable zero-party data so you can show your shoppers relevant content and help them reach their buying decision? You bet! Need a mix of both? We think you get the idea…
With the new visual editor, you’ll see a live preview of your changes, making it super simple to customize and brand your displays. Instead of relying on out-of-the-box templates that offer minimal customization options, you’ll have total control over UGC size and placement, border, buttons, layouts, colors, and more.
Site Optimization
For faster site speeds, Okendo uses a process of on-demand loading with its review displays. Instead of loading an entire web page initially, on-demand loading (sometimes called lazy loading) loads the required section and delays the rest until it is needed by the user.
Okendo accomplishes this with a lightweight script that only loads what is necessary for the displays on that page. Ultimately, faster load times provide your shoppers with a better experience, leading to higher conversion rates and increased brand engagement.
No coding needed
Built with an extra emphasis on UX principles, the new-and-improved display editor caters to beginner and advanced customization levels alike.
Using auto-styling, customizable headers, improved UGC displays, layout shifting, live previews, and more, you can design branded review displays quickly and easily. And with an intuitive user interface, there’s no need to tie up your development resources. Simply enter color codes, toggle the settings you like, and make your picks from dropdown menus to create the perfect display.
Improved Accessibility and Availability
To increase accessibility, we used screen-readers throughout the development process of our new review displays, allowing a greater variety of consumers to obtain the information they seek.
With this release, Okendo’s displays:
INCLUDE ARIA SUPPORT
ARE ADA AND WCAG COMPLIANT
HAVE BEEN LOCALIZED FOR 15+ LANGUAGES
Online content that meets accessibility requirements is more user-friendly for everyone. By considering accessibility in our design, we’re enhancing usability and creating a more intuitive user experience.
Merchants can expect faster onboarding times, too, since all displays can be customized without doing any coding. You can get started with a new look in just a matter of minutes.
We’ve also taken extra measures to ensure Shopify theme compatibility. We know from first-hand experience how frustrating it can be to find the perfect theme, only to discover many apps won’t play nice with it.
With this release, all review displays are compatible with themes from both Vintage Shopify and Shopify 2.0, so all Shopify users can choose from a host of new options when creating displays.
“We love the customizations possible with Okendo. No other app gives as much freedom to brand review displays. We can create unique displays so much faster, and they can be built with the merchant’s needs in mind—whether it’s collecting zero-party data through attributes, displaying content, or both.”
Chelsea Jones & Rachel Saul, Co-CEOs
It’s no secret that standard, templated review displays fall short of helping you stand out among the noise. A well-designed store helps you make a lasting impression on your prospective customers, and it even helps you nurture your leads and increase conversions. In fact, reviews make customers 71% more comfortable purchasing a product.
With the latest release from Okendo, you can kick the same-old review templates to the curb and get started with highly customizable displays.
Make sure you’re doing everything in your power to create displays that capture attention, boost site speed, and deliver a better customer experience, all while saving you time and costly development resources. This update is available now for all Okendo plans. For more information on this functionality, be sure to check out our feature page.
Lindsay Kolinsky is the Director of Marketing at okendo.io. She is passionate about helping ecommerce brands succeed, relationship building, storytelling, and turning complex ideas into relatable concepts that everyone can understand.
