Today’s Economic Times: This is No Time to Joke
Let me first start off by saying that most of the time I enjoy reading the Bazaarvoice Blog – it’s well written and certainly at times a viable source for our ecommerce industry. But the most recent post by Sam Decker, their CMO, really caught my eye and made me do a double a take.
The gist of his posting “The CFO’s Favorite Marketing Program in Tough Times” is to justify paying $100K for a customer review solution that is available elsewhere in the marketplace for, well, let’s just say at a price which is normally 95% less than that.
And at the end of what has to be one of the longest posts I have ever read there, Sam summarizes the options facing online merchants today in these tough economic times:
“There are two responses to tough times – retreat and cut costs or be intelligently aggressive. When you’re intelligently aggressive, you choose effective marketing investments that hit the ‘market bulls-eye.’ driving long-term, sustainable P&L impact.”
Upon reading this, two things immediately jumped to mind:
- There is of course a THIRD OPTION – cut costs AND be intelligently aggressive. Why not seek out and then switch to a highly comparable (if not superior, due to our tag-based review functionality) review solution and save yourself $100K to your bottom line (or $500K in incremental sales to support the tool assuming a 20% average margin)
Now that is what I I would think is a truly sustainable P&L impact.
Some of the folks we’ve talked to as their contracts are up for renewal, share with us that on average they are shelling out close to $20 for each review generated. So what do we tell them? That importing content is not a difficult a task for us. If they switch over to PowerReviews, we will ensure all existing reviews remain and they do not have to start over from scratch – we do this all the time with legacy reviews.
- An old phrase my daddy used to say about selling ice cubes to Eskimos
More on the Shop.org Annual Summit in Vegas
I don’t think I have ever been busier than last week’s BIG show in Vegas!
So besides all the schmoozing that one must do there (and that’s a fun thing!) I had three different assignments while there. The first is the subject of today’s posting.
I had the distinct honor of introducing one of the first tracks of the show which was on Natural Search Efforts and Techniques – yes the ultimate desire of all online merchants. The timing could not have been more ideal as we here at PowerReviews had just completed an exciting and informative new case study with our client Brookstone and our mutual technology partner YourAmigo.
Working with John Lucey and Gary Smith we tested the power of user generated content in today’s online search behavior and the results were outstanding! By leveraging the content that was generated during the review submission process, Brookstone was able to capture an additional 33% increase in search traffic and corresponding revenue through the use of more socially based search terms!
Just think of it…we are asking today’s online shoppers to read and write UGC in terms of reviews and blogs and beyond, so of course this behavior is trickling into their online search behavior across the major search engines.
To read and learn more about these incredible and inspiring findings, download your own copy of our Case Study.
ShopSmart Shout Out for Buzzillions
Taking pride in a job well done is reward enough. Embracing that philosophy is core to our success at PowerReviews and is at the heart of our organization. We are rewarded with each and every client launch and watch in awe at times in the incredible way our clients are using customer reviews to enrich their shopping experiences and helping their customers make better purchase decisions.
We are just as prideful to have brought our vision to build a better online shopping experience through the powerful voice of the customer to life. And while all of us here think buzzillions.com, our reviews and recommendations site is just the greatest new way to shop for products, it is always nice when someone else thinks so too!
So with that said, I am pleased the share with you that ShopSmart magazine (www.shopsmart.org), from the publisher of Consumer Reports, just names Buzzillions of the the 7 sites that can save you thousands and find the right deals fast. We were chosen for our expertise in user reviews and here is what they had to say:
“This up-and-comer has user reviews on everything from cars and electronics to lower-ticket items like cosmetics, clothing and shoes to help you find the best products and avoid the worst. Unlike rival Epinions.com, this site offers a broad and ever-changing list of keywords to click on, based on user reviews, for searching.”
You can read the entire article and see the rest of their recommended sites in their November 2008 issue here Sites that can save you thousands
Again, and with much pride – thanks for the shout out ShopSmart!
What Happens in Vegas…
At least this time, what happens in Vegas won’t stay in Vegas as the ideas and topics presented at this year’s Shop.org Annual Summit will certainly be carried back by the attending ecommerce merchants to their respective companies.
And given the current economic conditions we certainly hope so as merchants will need a full box of tools to capitalize on the upcoming holiday season. And according to recent survey findings presented in the Internet Retailer magazine and summarized by eMarketer in a recent article, THE TOP WEB 2.0 PRIORITY is customer ratings and reviews!
I couldn’t agree more with the article’s findings, of course, that regardless of the channel or the type, “Online merchants focused on user ratings and reviews have the right priorities.” As well as that, “Ratings and reviews were the most-useful e-commerce features according to 44% of online shoppers surveyed…”
So between the Customer Review Solution PowerReviews (www.powerreviews.com) we provide to hundreds of retailers, powering more review functionality to more than 2,300 of their websites, and our very successful reviews and recommendations site Buzzillions (www.buzzillions.com), working with us is the safest bet in town!
In closing, I’ll take last Friday’s publication of this data as a “lucky omen” heading into our annual summit – so don’t be surprised if you see me at the tables!
Come out of hiding Mr. or Mrs. No Comment
I assure all you product reviewers there is nothing to fear, it’s okay to leave a comment. In fact, we insist on it! And here’s why…
After processing a few million reviews we know a thing or two about customer reviews, one of which is that star ratings – when it comes right down to it – are really not as “valuable” as one might think. Why? Because the average rating given those two million plus product reviews is 4.2 out of 5 stars. And this high average is not unique to the PowerReviews (www.powerreviews.com) merchant network, as Bazaarvoice (www.bazaarvoice.com) has published nearly the exact same statistic about their merchants.
Quick sidebar: I think that in general, product ratings are so high because people like to talk about things they like, whether it is a good movie, restaurant, vacation spot, or a new product purchase.
So if the average rating is 4.2, then all those 4 star and higher products you see serve more as a general “thumbs up” rather than providing any real insight as to how good a product really is. In fact, providing just star ratings without any supporting comments – whether in the form of tags or free form content – can actually be misleading to the everyday consumer and offer no real comprehension to product’s performance. They see a 4 star rated product and think WOW that must be “tops” and in reality it may actually be less than the average product in the category (and that is why you will see category averages on Buzzillions (www.buzzillions.com), our reviews and recommendation engine.
So lets go back to the No Comment folks. What’s really behind them not leaving comments – well, the only thing I can think of is because “they” let them. Several of the Bazaarvoice implementations out there actually allow for “ratings only” reviews, which I would argue are not even a review at all. And given what’s mentioned above, one can only wonder why would anyone even build or offer such a service that really provides little or no insight. My best guess is that since they get paid to read/moderate on a per review basis, it would definitely be in their best interest to generate as many “ratings only” reviews as possible because what could be easier to moderate than this?
To you merchants who use such a system and allow such a “reviews” I ask you this: Are you really getting what you are paying for? Because this looks more like graffiti on the product page rather than a helpful customer review.
At PowerReviews we not only believe in but insist on product reviewers sharing some kind of insightful knowledge by sharing comments and/or choosing among tags like Easy to Assemble, Soft, Doesn’t Fade, Great for Three Year Olds, or just plain Comfy.
To illustrate my point, here’s that same product reviewed by the PowerReviews system:
In closing, let me be perfectly clear about a few things. “No Comment” reviews are not welcome at PowerReviews. Our review solution will slap you silly when you try to submit a review without any kind of supporting comments or tag selections. Nor will they find a home on Buzzillions.com either. And if you are thinking about slipping in through the backdoor via a feed from any of the Bazaarvoice clients we have already signed – think again. We painstakingly parse out the “ratings only reviews” and do not allow them on the site. And at last count, that was more than 20% of the time! OUCH!
Big News: We are the Best!
While I wouldn’t publicly make such a statement, I can certainly tell you when others think that. In fact, lots of folks have been saying so these days.
In their just released article “If You Build it, They Will Shop.” Inc Magazine, Sept. 2008. declares PowerReviews to be the Best Tool for Customer Reviews. We are both thrilled and honored to be recognized by such a prestigious periodical and will wear that moniker with pride and conviction for the great work our company does in the field of customer reviews and the incredible way we are helping our more than 300 merchants leverage valuable customer insights on more than 2300 websites today.
The reviews are in!
Not ones to sit on the sidelines, our clients wanted to add to their own reviews and share their thoughts on what it is like to work with us. If you have not already done so, please check out the new Client Testimonials page on PowerReviews.com and see what the buzz is all about! Thanks to the many merchants that asked to share their thoughts with us, and we welcome those many more of you out there who wish to add your voices too. Just give us a shout!
