There was a time when buying a swimsuit meant braving a fitting room mirror, and choosing sunscreen meant deciphering the ingredients on the back of the bottle or sampling a product in store.
Today, those decisions happen somewhere else entirely.
Before someone clicks “add to cart,” they’re scrolling to see if the swimsuit runs true to size. They’re looking for someone with a similar skin tone to ask whether the sunscreen leaves residue. They’re reading replies about sensitive skin, ingredient lists, shipping times, and whether the product actually lives up to the video they just watched.
The comment section has become part of the shopping experience.
Respondology’s latest Social Comments Benchmark Report found that nearly 8% of comments on retail brand social accounts are customers asking questions or looking for support, while 7.4% mention specific products. A meaningful share of the conversation is happening after someone watches the video or sees the ad, when they’re looking for reassurance before they buy.
The work doesn’t end when you hit publish.
That’s when the highest-value conversations begin.
All Comments Are Not Equal
One of the easiest mistakes brands can make is treating every comment as another engagement metric when they can be so much more.
Respondology’s H1 2026 Social Comments Benchmark Report found that nearly 8% of comments on retail social accounts are customers asking questions or looking for support, while 7.4% mention specific products.
Every product question has two audiences: the person asking it and everyone quietly reading along.
A thoughtful answer builds confidence for both. It helps one customer move closer to checkout while giving countless others the information they came for.
Summer Products Have A Different Challenge
Every industry has difficult conversations online, but swimwear, beauty, and personal care brands feel more personal.
Products in these categories are tied to confidence, identity, health, and self-expression. It’s natural that the conversations around them are more emotional too.
Customers ask about body types, inclusivity, ingredient safety, skin tone, accessibility, and performance in ways they simply don’t for most other products. Those conversations are valuable because they’re honest. They help future customers make informed decisions, and they give companies an unfiltered view of what people actually care about.
These conversations often happen alongside behaviour that adds nothing for customers, though.
Beauty and apparel brands invest heavily in TikTok, particularly during the summer months, where products spread quickly through creators, trends, and paid campaigns. According to Respondology’s benchmark report, TikTok ads have the highest toxic comment hide rate of any platform at 27.3%. Some of the most valuable customer conversations are happening in one of the hardest environments to manage.
Healthy communities make room for honest feedback, product questions, and differing opinions. They also protect those conversations from harassment, abuse, and spam that discourage people from participating.
Consumers now expect brands to recognize that difference. Edelman found that 47% of consumers hold brands responsible for toxicity in their comment sections, making community health part of the overall customer experience.
The Comments You Answer Today Can Shape What You Build Tomorrow
The strongest brands do more than respond to compliments. They use their comment sections to answer questions, build trust, gather feedback, and turn curiosity into confident purchases.
Scroll through the comments on almost any popular swimwear or skincare post and patterns start to emerge. The same sizing questions appear again and again. Customers ask whether products work for different skin tones, different body types, or different routines. They suggest colors they’d love to see next season or explain why something didn’t quite meet their expectations.
For example, Vacation uses comments to recommend products, acknowledge customer ideas, and inject a little personality into everyday conversations. Black Girl Sunscreen answers product questions with tailored recommendations, while Monday Swimwear publicly acknowledges customer service issues and follows up directly. Different brands, different approaches, but the same outcome: customers feel heard.
Those conversations deserve the same attention as the campaign itself. Every answer builds confidence for the customer asking the question and everyone following along.
The questions asked today often become tomorrow’s FAQ, product page update, campaign message, or even the next product release.
Some Of Your Highest-Value Customers Are Already In The Comments
The good news is, there’s lots of opportunities to improve. Retail brands don’t respond to 83.5% of purchase-intent comments, leaving meaningful opportunities unanswered. This also means nearly one in six customers asking buying-related questions doesn’t receive a response.
At scale, those missed moments add up.
Sometimes the question is simple. Sometimes it’s the last question standing between curiosity and checkout.
For companies investing heavily in social, those conversations deserve the same attention as the campaign itself. They’re happening when purchase intent is already high, and every thoughtful response builds confidence for the person asking and everyone reading along.
Standing Out ≠ Being The Loudest
Healthy comment sections don’t happen by accident.
They happen when brands answer questions, listen closely, and protect genuine conversations from abuse and spam. Those small interactions build trust long after a campaign ends, while giving marketing teams a constant stream of customer insight they can use to improve the next one.
Somewhere along the way, the comment section stopped being a place where people reacted to marketing and became an integral part of the shopping experience.
Download Respondology’s H1 2026 Social Comments Benchmark Report to explore the latest retail benchmarks, platform trends, and insights into how brands are managing customer conversations at scale.
