How do you get all those reviews?
I get asked all the time what is the best way to generate customer reviews. And without a doubt the simple answer is…you ask for them. In fact, our industry is littered with supporting evidence that shows a post transactional email sent a few weeks after the original shipment date that specifically asks shoppers to write a review is certainly the best way to go!
Okay, then, beyond asking for them in an email, what is the next best way to generate customer reviews? Well, I ‘m glad you asked because the next best way is as simple as the first. Just show your shoppers how important reviews are to the shopping experience you provide and your customers will follow suit and will be eager to share their thoughts too!
Our friends at REI do a fantastic job at getting that message out – that reviews are an important part of their shopping experience. In their latest catalog that just hit the streets this past week, the inside cover gently boasts the following:
We can help you accomplish your summer dreams with expert advice and a huge selection of quality gear. REI.com customer gear reviews and articles.
It goes without saying that “customer gear reviews” is a stroke of brilliance by these leaders in their space. It sends a clear message that fellow recreation enthusiasts have lots of insightful information just waiting for the eager researcher.
Using their catalog is just one of the many ways these forward thinking guys have been promoting reviews to their shoppers. Earlier this year they embarked on a huge in-store campaign alerting their shoppers that they not only had product reviews online but encouraged them to go home, use their newly purchased product and then go on line to write a review of their own.
Other great examples can be found at Jockey.com where they teach shoppers how to shop smarter by using product reviews (click on “submit a product review” banner) in their buying decision, or at Ace Hardware where they prominently dedicate and display Top Rated items on their home page or at Danskin where write a review reminder pack-ins are inserted in every shipment, the earlier and more obvious in the shopping process merchants promote reviews the more reviews they will generate.
To sum it up, clearly communicate to your shoppers the importance you place on customer reviews early and often in the shopping process. If you do that, you set the expectation that after they should write a review too – right after they make that purchase!
Niche Merchandising
If you haven’t read it yet, make sure you check out Paul Demery’s article Mighty Merchandising in the May 2008 Internet Retailer magazine or online at http://www.internetretailer.com/article.asp?id=26255
Paul succinctly shares with us all one of the best know e-commerce secrets out there – niche merchandising can be a winning strategy! Without giving away any more of the story, let me just say that we here at PowerReviews fully understand this multi-site niche merchandising approach used so successfully by the four featured merchants in the article – CSN Stores (www.csnstores.com) ShoppersChoice, (www.shopperschoice.com), OutdoorPros.com (www.outdoorpros.com) and PlumberSurplus.com (www.plumbersurplus.com) – as we proudly count all three among our list of clients!
We not only understand the many benefits derived from a niche merchandising strategy, we fully support it in our review solution with our Master Merchant functionality. Multi-site Merchants often publish the same product to many different yet relevant storefronts. For example, a furniture retailer could publish a coffee table to their wooden furniture, living room furniture, living room tables and/or contemporary furniture sites – just to name a few. And if a product can be published across many sites then the product reviews should be too! Our Master Merchant functionality allows just that – merchants can share product reviews across their network of storefronts right along with the product itself!
Make sure to check out Paul’s article. It’s a very worthy read. And be sure to get a hold of me in you want to learn more about our Master Merchant functionality.
