| |
eSpares.co.uk, the UK’s largest electrical appliance spare parts retailer, has revealed that customer product reviews have increased conversion rates by up to 14.2%.
The online retailer, which sells over 400,000 products from 500 manufacturers implemented social commerce technology company Bazaarvoice’s Ratings & Reviews technology last October. eSpares conducted an A/B test to prove the impact customer reviews were having on its products and sales.
Three randomly selected products - which each had a significant amount of reviews and similar ratings - were used to conduct the trial. Over a period of five months, eSpares randomly served site visitors with either product information that contained review content or product information without review content. The test was run until there was a statistically accurate sample size for all products, and no promotions were run during the testing period.
Results showed that all of the products experienced higher conversion rates when there was customer review information available: one product saw conversion rates significantly increase by 14.2%, while the other two products saw a 6.6% and 6.2% increase respectively.
Ultimately, visitors who viewed product information containing review content converted from visitors to buyers between 6.2% and 14.2% more often than those who did not receive product information containing reviews.
“It’s clear that our customers really value the views of other customers,” said Matthew Henton, Marketing Director at eSpares. “We’ve been so impressed with all the helpful hints and tips that are left in product reviews. This is what’s giving so many visitors the confidence to fix their appliances themselves.”
Previous research conducted by Bazaarvoice and Jupiter Research found that reviews are a crucial part of the shopping experience: 97% of UK consumers are willing to trust online reviews, and over two thirds rated product ratings and reviews as the most helpful feature when researching products to buy online or on the high street.
About Bazaarvoice
Bazaarvoice (bazaarvoice.co.uk) is a social commerce technology company. It helps over 525 brands globally including Argos, Boots, Halfords, Wickes, Thomas Cook, QVC and Boden to harness and amplify customer online word of mouth.
Bazaarvoice’s products - Ratings & Reviews™, Ask & Answer™ and Stories™ - are social commerce applications that drive sales. They enable customers to review products, ask and answer questions and share stories online; enhancing the online shopping experience and allowing them to make more informed and rewarding purchase decisions. Benefits for the retailer include content ownership, seamless customisation, increased search engine optimisation impact, advanced analytics and syndication across the web. Retailers can also leverage the content generated across on and offline marketing channels.
Founded in 2005, Bazaarvoice has offices in the UK, US, France and Singapore. The company was named in 2007’s Red Herring Global 100. The blog is at bazaarblog.com.
|
claire.armitt[.]no-flannel.com 
