the catch-22 of social proof
You need reviews to get sales, but you need sales to get reviews. Here's how to break the loop without buying fake reviews or violating platform terms.
legitimate early review strategies
- Offer the product for free or at cost to 3–5 people in your target audience in exchange for honest feedback (not reviews — let the review happen organically if they find value)
- Post in relevant communities (r/shopify, Shopify Partner Facebook groups) — if you provide real value, people will share and review naturally
- Use it in a project yourself and document the outcome — the documented outcome becomes copy
proof without reviews
Before you have reviews, use specificity as a proxy for trust:
- "61 snippets" is more credible than "many snippets"
- "saves $362/month in app costs" is more credible than "saves money"
- "tested on Dawn, Debut, and Impulse" is more credible than "works with any theme"
featuring reviews in your gallery
Once you have even one strong review, screenshot it and include it as one of your gallery images. A product page photo showing a 5-star review with a specific, detailed comment converts significantly better than an empty review section.