How a Danish platform conquered the e-commerce market – and why ignoring it is not a strategy
Remember eKomi?
In 2015, the world of online reviews was still manageable. Webshops relied on established providers: eKomi, Trusted Shops, ProvenExpert. If you needed a trust seal, you had options. If you wanted customer reviews, you integrated one of these widgets.
Then came Trustpilot.
Not with a bang, but gradually. First, the green stars appeared in Google search results. Then they became more frequent. Then they were everywhere. And at some point – most shop owners can't pinpoint the exact moment – Trustpilot was simply there.
Today, in early 2026, the reality is this: When a consumer googles "reviews of Your Shop", Trustpilot is the first organic result in most cases. Not eKomi. Not Trusted Shops. Not ProvenExpert.
Trustpilot.
Whether you like it or not.
The Numbers Nobody Wants to Hear
Abstract statements like "Trustpilot has become important" don't help anyone. So let's talk specifics.
Market Penetration
As of 2025, Trustpilot hosts over 330 million reviews worldwide. 61 million of those were written in 2024 alone – a 15% increase from the previous year. The platform has 67 million active users per month.
For comparison: eKomi doesn't publicly communicate comparable numbers. Trusted Shops speaks of "millions" of reviews without being specific. ProvenExpert operates in an entirely different league.
This is no longer competition. This is a takeover.
Traffic and Visibility
Trustpilot.com attracts over 110 million visitors monthly. Europe is one of the most important markets – right behind the UK and USA.
The crucial point: 42.5% of these visitors come through organic Google search.
Google loves Trustpilot. And what Google loves, your customers see.
What Buyers Say
According to a 2025 survey, 59% of consumers say a good Trustpilot score increases their likelihood to purchase. In 2021, it was 48%.
Even clearer: 55% of online shoppers consider reviews "important" or "very important" in their purchasing decision.
Every other potential customer checks before buying from you. The only question is what they find.
How This Happened
Trustpilot's dominance is no accident. It's the result of a strategy that competitors couldn't copy – or didn't understand.
The Open System
The fundamental difference: Trustpilot is an open platform. Anyone can review any company. Without invitation. Without proof of purchase. Without your consent.
eKomi and Trusted Shops work differently. There, you only review if the shop invites you. This sounds more serious at first – but there's a catch: These platforms remain closed systems. They don't generate their own traffic. They don't appear on Google when someone searches for "Your Shop reviews".
Trustpilot does.
And here's the uncomfortable part: Every company automatically has a profile on Trustpilot – whether it wants to or not. Your shop already exists there. The only question is who's telling the story that appears.
Google as Gatekeeper
Trustpilot understood early that Google is the gatekeeper. The platform was optimized for SEO from the start. Every company profile is its own indexable page. Every review generates fresh content. The technical infrastructure is solid.
The result: Trustpilot profiles now rank on Google page 1 for virtually every company name in e-commerce. Often in positions 1 to 3.
The competitors? They slept. eKomi profiles rarely rank prominently. Trusted Shops reviews are usually only visible in the shop itself, not as standalone Google results.
The train has left. The tracks now belong to someone else.
The Compulsion Nobody Talks About
This is where the real problem lies – and hardly anyone discusses it openly.
Trustpilot has created a system where non-participation is not a neutral option. It's an active disadvantage.
What Happens When You Do Nothing
Scenario: Your shop has existed for years. Satisfied customers, solid revenue, maybe a Trusted Shops seal. Trustpilot doesn't interest you.
The problem: Trustpilot is interested in you anyway.
Your profile already exists – created from public company data or by some user who wanted to review you. Now reviews land on this profile. But not from your satisfied regular customers. They don't even know this profile exists.
The reviews come from those who have a reason to take action: The dissatisfied ones. Those with the delayed delivery. Those with the return problem. Those who simply had a bad day.
The result: A profile with 2.1 stars from 17 reviews. And this profile ranks on page 1 when someone googles your shop name.
Congratulations. You didn't play – and still lost.
The Math Behind It
An analysis by Grizzly Research from December 2025 shows a pattern that should surprise no one:
In virtually every industry, companies with actively managed Trustpilot profiles have significantly better ratings than those without.
An example: In the UK telecommunications market, Vodafone UK has a rating of 4.2 stars. Competitors Sky, BT, Virgin Media, TalkTalk? All under 2 stars. On other review platforms, all providers are relatively close together.
Is Vodafone really three times as good as the competition? Of course not.
The difference: Vodafone actively invests in its Trustpilot profile. The others don't.
This isn't manipulation. It's statistics. Those who systematically ask satisfied customers for reviews get positive reviews. Those who don't only get the negative ones – from people who want to complain.
The system rewards activity. It punishes passivity. And it doesn't matter whether you think that's fair.
What This Means for You
The uncomfortable truth in three sentences:
First: You cannot ignore Trustpilot. Your profile already exists, and it ranks on Google.
Second: Passivity is not a neutral stance. It's an active competitive disadvantage against every competitor who maintains their profile.
Third: The effort for basic management is manageable – but it's not zero. And without this effort, no miracles happen.
The minimum? Claim your profile. Respond to reviews. Actively invite satisfied customers to leave a review. This costs time, but it costs you more not to do it.
Those who want more – consistent responses, strategic review management, handling problematic reviews – need to invest more. Time or money, pick one.
The Elephant in the Room
One more thing, because no one else says it:
Trustpilot didn't build this system to make life difficult for webshop owners. They built it to make money. With premium accounts. With widgets. With services.
The open review system is not a bug. It's the business model.
The more neglected profiles with bad scores exist, the more companies have a reason to pay for premium features. The more important Trustpilot becomes for Google rankings, the less shops can afford not to participate.
This is neither reprehensible nor surprising. It's capitalism. But you should understand what game you're playing before complaining about the rules.
Conclusion: The Market Has Decided
The time when online shops could choose between different review platforms is over. The market has decided. It didn't ask if you agree.
Trustpilot is now part of the basic online infrastructure, whether you like it or not. Like a functioning website. Like a reliable payment provider. Like SSL encryption.
The good news: You have options for action. The bad news: None of them is "ignore and hope it goes away".
It's not going away.
Facing similar questions about your online reputation? At beyondstars24.com you'll find approaches that might fit your situation.