PowerReviews February 2008 Newsletter

Greetings!

Whenever we talk about PowerReviews and our social shopping portal Buzzillions.com, the discussion always comes back to a key question: why do people buy certain products but not others? While there is no single answer, what is clear is that people are more likely to make purchases if products are recommended by other shoppers. This may seem obvious, but until recently there really weren't a lot of tangible data to explain exactly how reviews impact online purchasing patterns.

That's no longer the case, thanks to a new research study that PowerReviews commissioned called "Merchant and Customer Perspectives on Customer Reviews and User-Generated Content". For the first time, we don't just know that reviews work – we know why they work and what the bottom-line benefits are for retailers that adopt an interactive tag-based approach to collecting and organizing reviews. I invite you to download a free copy of the whitepaper and see how reviews can help you drive sales.

- Andy Chen, Founder and CEO

eTail 2008: Getting "BUZZed"

eTail is one of the premier online retail industry events and, like the 1960s, if you can remember this month's show you probably weren't there. Not only did we meet with the "Who's Who" of the retail world, we also hosted a fantastic, music-filled party to celebrate the 1,000,000th review on Buzzillions.com. And with more than 250,000 products – all with customer reviews – our Social Shopping portal really is powered by product reviews. To see what you missed (or what you may not remember) we invite you to check out the event photos.
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"The Hidden Truths" About Online Reviews

On February 12th we released a whitepaper entitled "Merchant and Customer Perspectives on Customer Reviews and User-Generated Content." The whitepaper, commissioned by PowerReviews and written by the e-tailing group, is the follow-up to "Social Shopping Study 2007," which was released in November 2007. The document is available online for free download.

Findings of note include:

  • 59% of merchants interviewed cited the customer experience as the most important factor in the addition of customer reviews to their site.
  • 79% said the product page is very successful as a product review hub. In contrast, the home page had varying degrees of success with 37 percent reporting strong successes.
  • Merchants indicate that there is less reliance on customer service as the reviews answer some of the questions that otherwise must be handled on a one-off basis.
  • The unbiased nature of reviews (where they are more transparent and trustworthy) engenders customer trust and that trust translates into loyal, lifelong shoppers.
  • Merchants were generally surprised by the number of positive reviews, another hidden truth. Initial fears of heavily negative reviews never materialized for any of the merchants interviewed.
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Jay Shaffer’s Blog

If you know Jay Shaffer, our VP of Sales & Marketing at PowerReviews - or have heard him speak at trade shows or conferences - you know he always has something to say! Jay is one of the most dynamic and respected voices in the online retail industry, and if you want to read his insights and opinions please visit his personal blog at http://fromwherejaysits.wordpress.com
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