How to get more reviews without breaking the EU review rules
The EU Omnibus rules on consumer reviews in plain language, and five ways to collect more reviews from real buyers that stay within them.
Reviews from real buyers help the next buyer decide. Since 28 May 2022, EU consumer law has clear rules on how shops collect and show them. They come from the Omnibus Directive (EU) 2019/2161, which updated the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. The rules are easy to follow if you build them into the way you ask for reviews.
What the rules say
- If you show consumer reviews, you have to tell visitors whether and how you check that they come from people who actually bought or used the product.
- You may not claim that reviews come from real buyers unless you take reasonable and proportionate steps to check that.
- You may not write, buy or commission fake reviews, and you may not misrepresent reviews, for example by showing only the positive ones as if they were the full picture.
National consumer authorities enforce these rules in every EU country. This post is practical advice, not legal advice. For your own situation, ask a lawyer or your trade association.
1. Ask every buyer, at the right moment
The most reliable way to more reviews is to ask everyone who ordered, a few days after delivery, with one short e-mail and one link. Asking everyone also keeps your reviews representative. Inviting only the customers you expect to be happy gives a distorted picture, and that can make your reviews misleading.
2. Link every review to an order
A review written through a personal invitation after an order can be shown as a verified purchase, and you can explain how you check. On CheckShop, reviews from an invitation are marked as verified purchases. Our review policy explains how we check the others.
3. Do not pay for positive reviews
A discount or gift that depends on a good rating is not allowed. If you offer anything in return for a review, it must not depend on the rating, and readers should be able to see it. The simplest rule is not to reward reviews at all.
4. Keep critical reviews online
Deleting or hiding negative reviews makes the rest less credible, and it can count as misrepresenting reviews. Reply politely instead and say what you did about the problem. Buyers read the replies too. CheckShop does not take reviews offline because they are negative; see our moderation numbers.
5. Make it easy
One click from the e-mail to the review form, short questions and a form that works on a phone. If there is no answer, send one reminder, not more.
How CheckShop helps
Every plan, the free one included, sends review invitations: 10 a month on Free, 25 on Starter and no limit from Pro. With the WooCommerce plugin or the Lightspeed connection the invitation goes out after an order. On other systems you send them from your dashboard. See prices, or read how to add the free trust mark to your shop.
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