Goals and Outcomes
Yotpo allows reviews to be shared across related products in certain contexts, including on-site product groupings, reassigning reviews between products, and review syndication such as internal, retailer, and social.
Reviews should only be shared between products that provide the same core customer experience. Sharing reviews between products that deliver a meaningfully different customer experience can mislead shoppers and undermine the trust that reviews are meant to build.
These guidelines apply across all review-sharing contexts in Yotpo and are intended to help you make decisions that are accurate and transparent.
In this article, you’ll learn the core principle for sharing reviews between products, examples of when review sharing is and is not appropriate, and how these guidelines relate to different Yotpo review-sharing workflows.
The Core Principle
Reviews can be shared between products when a shopper who purchased one product would have the same experience purchasing the other.
If the difference between two products is likely to change how a shopper perceives, uses, or evaluates the product, reviews should not be shared between them.
Important
Review sharing should reflect the actual customer experience. Reviews should not be shared in a way that could create a misleading impression of a product’s review count, average rating, or customer feedback.
When Review Sharing Is Appropriate
Reviews can generally be shared between products in the following situations:
Scenario | Example |
|---|---|
Variants of the same product where the core customer experience does not change, such as different colors, patterns, or styles. | A blue cotton T-shirt and a red cotton T-shirt. The color difference does not affect how the product performs or feels. |
Different pack sizes or quantities of the same product, where the product itself is identical. | A 250 ml and a 500 ml bottle of the same shampoo. A 4-count and a 12-count pack of the same protein bar. |
Fitment or compatibility variations where the product serves the same purpose and delivers the same experience. | The same phone case model available for different phone models. |
Cosmetic packaging differences where the product inside is identical. | The same product in limited-edition or seasonal packaging versus the standard packaging. |
When Review Sharing Is Not Appropriate
Reviews should not be shared between products in the following situations:
Scenario | Example |
|---|---|
Products where a key attribute, such as material, formula, scent, or ingredients, is different in a way that affects the customer experience. | A lavender-scented lotion and an unscented version. The scent difference is meaningful to the shopper. |
Products where size or dimensions change how the product performs or is used. | A 2-waffle maker and a 4-waffle maker. Capacity affects cooking time and usage. Slim-fit and regular-fit versions of the same jeans. |
Products made for different platforms, systems, audiences, or use cases, even if they look similar. | Headphones designed for PC and headphones designed for Xbox. Compatibility differences affect the experience. |
A newer or reformulated product matched to an older, better-reviewed version with different materials, features, or performance. | An updated skincare product with a new formula should not inherit reviews from the original formulation. |
Products sold as a set and products sold individually, where the customer experience is different. | A 4-step face ritual set should not share reviews with the sun-protection cream (which is part of the set) sold individually because the set changes the product value and usage. However, reviews collected for the individual sun-protection cream can be shared to the set using Bundles, but reviews collected for the set should not be shared back to the individual product. |
Products sold in different conditions, such as new, used, or refurbished. | A new product should not share reviews with a refurbished version of the same product because the condition can affect the customer experience. |
Yotpo Review-Sharing Workflows
These guidelines apply to all contexts in which reviews are shared across products in Yotpo.
Product Groupings
When products are grouped together in Yotpo, reviews are aggregated and displayed across the group on your site.
Only group products that share the same core customer experience. Grouping unrelated or materially different products will surface reviews that do not accurately represent what the shopper is viewing.
Bundles
Reviews can be shared one-way from individual products to a product that represents a bundle, kit, or set. Reviews collected for the bundle itself should not be shared back to the individual products included in it.
Reassigning Reviews
Reassigning reviews allows reviews collected for one product to be associated with another.
This is appropriate when a product has been relisted, renamed, or restructured in a way that does not change the underlying product. It is not appropriate to reassign reviews from a different product in order to increase review volume.
Retail Syndication
When syndicating reviews to retailer catalogs, reviews may be shared across products within the retailer-defined product family structure. The scope of sharing depends on the retailer's rules. For example, Target limits sharing to a single product family, while Macy's allows reviews to be shared across more than one product family.
The merchant is responsible for defining the product families within the retailer's catalog and for ensuring that these families meet the guidelines outlined above.
Note
On-site product groupings in Yotpo and retailer-defined product families for syndication are separate mechanisms. Grouping products together in Yotpo does not automatically affect how they are matched or grouped in a retailer's catalog. In addition, reviews that originated through an on-site product grouping are not eligible for syndication.
Note
Retail syndication also depends on whether each individual review meets the retailer's eligibility and moderation requirements. Even when products can share reviews, some reviews may not be syndicated if they do not meet these requirements. For more information, see Review Eligibility for Retail Syndication.