To get your first product reviews on Shopify, install a review app, then ask every real buyer once they've had time to use the product, with one direct link to that product's review form. At low volume, a personal WhatsApp message beats an automated email. Answer every reply, especially complaints. And don't fake it: in the US, fake reviews are now explicitly banned.
Why your first reviews matter more than the next hundred
A product page with zero reviews makes shoppers hesitate. A page with three honest, specific reviews ("runs a size small, ordered an M and it fits like an S") answers questions your product copy didn't. You don't need many to get past the empty-page problem. You need a few real ones.
So don't wait until you have volume to set this up. Do it with your first 20 orders, when you can still read every reply yourself.
Don't fill the gap with fake reviews
I'll say it once, plainly. Don't write reviews yourself, don't ask friends who haven't bought to post them, and don't copy reviews from a supplier's listing for a product that isn't identical.
Beyond the ethics, the FTC's 2024 final rule on fake reviews and testimonials bans fake or false reviews, buying positive reviews, incentives conditioned on a review being positive, and undisclosed reviews from insiders like employees. If you sell to US customers, it applies to you. Other countries have similar consumer protection rules.
If you import reviews you legitimately have from another channel (your Etsy shop, say), keep the source label. Most review apps mark spreadsheet imports as unverified, and that's the honest way to show them.
Step 1: Install a review app and check the form
You need somewhere for reviews to live. Judge.me is common on Shopify; there are others. Install one, add its product review widget to your product template, and then do the thing most people skip: open the review form on your phone and submit a test review.
Check how many taps it takes, whether the photo upload is optional, and that the review lands on the right product. If you can't get through it in under a minute, your customers won't either.
