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DIY retailer Wickes has hailed a customer generated content trial a success following the addition of ratings and reviews to its website earlier this year.
To date, over 1,500 reviews have been posted, covering almost 800 different products in the past four months. Wickes wants to create customer conversation about products to enhance sales and harness word of mouth online.
Wickes, which is part of the Travis Perkins Group, sells high quality own-brand DIY and trade materials, tools, accessories, bathrooms and kitchens. It implemented the reviews service from Bazaarvoice just before the traditional Easter holidays’ DIY rush, in order to help shoppers make more informed buying decisions.
“Wickes is a major brand in the repair, maintenance and improvement sector, but many people are surprised when they discover the fantastic quality of our Wickes brand products,” said Keith Hamilton, General Manager of E-commerce at Wickes. “We are so confident in our products that we feel comfortable introducing ratings and reviews to create interaction and enable customers to influence one another.”
Wickes initially persuaded customers to contribute reviews by offering incentives – either discounts on future purchases or the opportunity to win gift vouchers.
"Adding authentic reviews to its site will continue to allow Wickes’ customers to make better purchase decisions and merchandisers to make customer-centric business decisions," said Sam Decker, Chief Marketing Officer of Bazaarvoice. "Through Bazaarvoice reports and alerts, the Wickes team can read comments about the quality of products, add different ranges and drive standards across the whole of the Wickes brand."
Bazaarvoice helps brands to incorporate ratings and reviews into the e-commerce experience through the industry’s most customisable technology, human content moderation and dedicated client services.
Retailers can use customer generated content to improve merchandising, increase multichannel sales and conversion, attract new customers and improve customer satisfaction and loyalty.
About Bazaarvoice
Bazaarvoice offers outsourced technology, services, analytics, and expertise to help companies enhance the online shopping experience with social commerce applications that drive sales. Bazaarvoice Ratings & Reviews™, Ask & Answer™ deliver immediate success by minimizing implementation risk and maximizing the strategic impact of user-generated review content through complete customization, deep integration, and community management, advanced analytics, search engine optimization, and syndication across the Web and to offline channels.
Bazaarvoice was named in the 2007 Red Herring Global 100 and 2006 Red Herring Top 100 lists and received the 2006 ClickZ Marketing Innovation of the Year award. Bazaarvoice currently serves over 200 eCommerce leaders including Dell, Macy’s, Office Depot, PETCO, QVC, Screwfix and Timberland. The company is headquartered in Austin and has offices in London, Paris, and Singapore.
About Wickes
Wickes (part of Travis Perkins plc) currently has 193 stores nationwide, and is an established brand within the UK DIY Market. Wickes stores are designed to appeal to serious DIY customers who carry out more complex projects, tradesmen who undertake general repairs, maintenance/improvement projects for households and customers looking for a design service for showroom products (kitchens, bathrooms, conservatories).
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claire.armitt[.]no-flannel.com 
