Getting customers to share what they actually think.
Review volume was lower than expected across the catalog. We introduced loyalty points as an incentive, facilitated cross-functional alignment, and launched a controlled v1 that tripled daily review volume.
More reviews without making them meaningless.
Review volume was lower than expected across PDPs. Marketing and UX partnered to explore whether loyalty points could increase participation without turning the reviews section into a points farm.
The challenge wasn't technically complex. It was strategically complex. How do you incentivize behavior without distorting it? That question shaped every decision from scope to launch.
I partnered with another strategist to run a cross-functional workshop using MoSCoW prioritization, bringing marketing, engineering, legal, product, and UX into the same room before anyone wrote a spec.
My contributions
Strategic context
Problem & Solution
Incentivize participation without paying for sentiment
The core tension was real: introduce an incentive strong enough to change behavior, but not so transactional that it undermined the authenticity customers rely on when reading reviews.
Review volume too low to be useful
PDPs lacked review coverage. Merchandising teams had limited qualitative signal. Customers had less confidence buying without peer input. And the business had no low-friction way to change that.
50 loyalty points per approved review, integrated into existing flows
Awarded 50 loyalty points per approved review through the existing program. Integrated the earn into current review flows. Matched reviews to loyalty accounts via submitted email. Positioned points as appreciation, not payment.
Key tradeoffs I made
Research
Customers weren't disengaged. They just needed a reason.
I analyzed how other retailers incentivize reviews, focusing on whether incentives were transactional or loyalty-based, how they were communicated, and what guardrails were in place to protect quality.
The competitive finding was consistent: incentives increase participation, but guardrails and expectations heavily influence quality. Most retailers launched lean and iterated once they understood real behavior.
Motivated to help
Primary motivation
Customers leave reviews to help others or express strong feelings, not primarily for rewards
Framing matters
Incentive positioning
Incentives framed as appreciation drove better participation than those framed as payment
Launch lean
Competitor pattern
Launch with minimal controls, learn from real behavior, then tighten guardrails in later phases
"Incentives increase participation, but guardrails and expectations heavily influence review quality."
This shaped the Phase 1 strategy: launch with enough structure to be credible, accept known risks intentionally, and use real behavior to inform what to tighten in future phases.
