Why online customer reviews can make or break e-commerce brands

In October 1995, about three months after Amazon went live as an online bookstore, customer reviews displayed alongside a product were such a strange notion that the company endeavored to explain what they were in a press release: “Amazon.com allows readers to share their thoughts on particular books and exchange ideas with other readers around the world on its users’ reviews page.”
Today, those reviews are not just ubiquitous for retailers and retail brands, they’re an obsession. How can stores get more reviews, especially ones with four- or five-star ratings? When a product gets one-star reviews, should brands try to bury them or post chirpy responses? When products have an abundance of reviews, including bad ones, can that actually help reduce the likelihood that they’ll be returned?