What Greek online shoppers trust, and why reviews are only part of it

Sooner or later, every conversation about a small business's website turns to reviews. How do we get more? Should we show them on the site? Is five stars on Google what makes people buy?

Reviews matter. But when Greek consumers are asked directly what makes them trust an online shop, reviews are not at the top of the list.

What the survey says

The E-commerce Survey 2026 by the Greek eCommerce Association (GR.EC.A) and ELTRUN, the e-business lab at the Athens University of Economics and Business, was published at the end of May. Among its findings on trust, consumers said they trust more:

• Well-known shops, or shops connected to a large chain — 72.8%
• Customer service before and after the purchase — 67.1%
• Well-designed, easy-to-use websites — 67%
• Positive reviews on blogs and forums — 63.7%

The first item is bad news for a small shop: you cannot become a household name by next month. The next two are good news, because they are entirely in your hands.

Earning trust you did not inherit

A small shop or local business has to show, quickly, the things a big name gets for free:

1. That there are people behind it. A real address, a phone number that is answered, names and faces. "Who are we" pages written by a person, not a template.
2. That help is available before buying. Clear delivery times, return terms in plain words, and a way to ask a question that gets an answer the same day.
3. That the site works. A site that is fast, clear and easy on a phone is read as a sign of a business that takes care. Two thirds of respondents said so.
4. That other people have bought. This is where reviews come in — as confirmation, not as the whole argument.

When we rebuilt the Mykonos Diving Center website, the change that stood out was on mobile: conversion on phones went from 12% to 38%. The reviews did not change overnight. What changed was that the site finally looked and worked like the established business it already was.

Mykonos Diving CenterA dive centre website that takes its own bookings

Reviews, done properly

For reviews themselves, a few things are worth knowing:

• Ask at the right moment. Google Business Profile gives you a direct review link and a QR code. Put it in the confirmation email, on the receipt, at the counter — when the customer is happiest, not weeks later.
• Reply to reviews, including bad ones. A calm, specific reply to a complaint often does more for trust than a dozen five-star ratings. Google's own guidance lists reviews among the signals that make a business more prominent in local results.
• Never buy, write or incentivise fake reviews. Since the EU's Omnibus Directive, presenting fake consumer reviews as genuine is explicitly banned across the EU, and shops that show reviews have to say whether and how they check them come from real customers.

The honest version

If your shop has great reviews and still does not sell, the problem is almost never more reviews. It is usually something on the list above: the site, the delivery information, or the sense that nobody is there. Send us your link and we will tell you which one we would fix first.