The holiday shopping season is officially upon us, which means shoppers are flocking to stores, their computers, and their mobile devices to browse and shop for holiday gifts. Think about all the rich data that you’ll be getting over the next several weeks and how it can help you after the holiday. If you’re using a post-purchase email (and you should be), reviews will continue to come in even after the holidays are over.
Make sure you’re taking advantage of that influx of content. Read on to learn four best practices that can help retailers maximize the impact of reviews generated during the holidays in order to drive more traffic and sales year-round.
Compile Review Data Into Shopping Guides
Highlight the review content you generate during and after the holidays on your website to make it easier for shoppers to find top rated items. For example, compile lists of:
- Top Products in a Category
- Most Loved Gifts
Enhance Advertising With the Voice of the Consumer
Consumers not only read reviews, they trust them. When compared to those over the age of 60, people under 45 are 61% more likely to trust consumer reviews more than the recommendations of family and friends. Positive reviews can give shoppers the boost of confidence they need to make a purchase, whether they’re buying for themselves or searching for a gift for a family member or friend. Use reporting to mine your review data and identify great reviews that can be used in advertising initiatives, including:
- Print advertisements
- Social media
- Email marketing
- Display advertising
3. Use Reviews In-Store
If Amazon’s new brick and mortar store has taught us anything, it’s that reviews aren’t just a tool for online purchases. Reviews are also powerful for in-store purchases. In fact, PowerReviews research found that 70% of shoppers want to access product ratings and reviews while shopping in store. In addition to having mobile-friendly reviews on your mobile apps and websites, a best practice is to display reviews in-store, either through print advertisements or digital displays. Again, reporting is a great way to pull great reviews that will resonate with in-store shoppers.
4. Identify Areas for Improvement
Reviews are chock full of powerful insights that can help you better serve your customers. Let’s say you’ve started selling a new purse on your website over the holiday season. Once the reviews start pouring in, you notice that several reviewers note that while they love the purse, the clasp doesn’t stay shut. You come to the manufacturer with this feedback and ask them to change the clasp. Once the clasp has been changed, make a note on the product page, and future reviews of the purse will likely improve. PowerReviews has lots of updates planned for our reporting system, which will make it even easier for clients to analyze and identify this powerful data.
Best of luck this holiday season!
