Press Release
Digital Marketing Strategies: Clicking vs. Clipping
New Digital Strategies: Online Product Reviews
Customer reviews have become all the rage on the Web, whether they're used by new parents looking to rate baby products or business travelers trying to discover the dish on a hotel or restaurant. Now reviews of grocery products are also surfacing as retailers and manufacturers become savvier with their Internet strategies.
Indianapolis-based supercenter operator Meijer, Inc. recently said it has selected PowerReviews, a solutions developer based in Millbrae, Calif., to tap information from its customer reviews to help boost sales and build stronger customer relationships on its Web site. Although food products are currently not sold via (www.meijer.com), the retailer is using the technology to let users rate nonfood products in categories including baby care, pet, and toys.
The review structure developed by PowerReviews is different from traditional review systems, in that it creates a dialogue with consumers, explains Jay Shaffer, v.p. of sales and marketing at PowerReviews. "As a consumer goes to write a review, we guide them with questions such as, 'Why did you like the product, or why not?' We work with the merchants to suggest specific words that might describe the product. And we also ask them to tell us about themselves so that readers can relate to them." Like traditional review systems, customers are asked to rate the product on a scale of one to five stars.
The company's clients work with PowerReviews on an affiliate basis, whereby instead of paying for the review service, they agree to let PowerReviews use their product reviews on a mega-site, Buzzillions.com. The Buzzillions site now features almost 300,000 unique products and 1.6 million reviews, according to Shaffer.
So far, companies have been highly pleased with the service, he notes. "At first our clients were just using the reviews to boost sales. But they've come to realize that the top-rated products in many cases end up outperforming their bestsellers. That's because bestsellers are usually the products that are on sale, but the top-rated products guarantee performance. In addition, our clients are telling us that they've seen a reduction in calls and e-mails in their call centers, as well as fewer returns."
Supermarket chains might find the technology particularly useful to provide more information about their private label products, suggests Shaffer. Natural and organic, as well as gourmet items, are also great categories to be reviewed, he says. "You can imagine with products like tea and chocolate, you would find customers who would identify themselves as environmentally friendly, or vegetarian. These affinities would attract people with similar concerns."
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