Bazaarvoice enhances brand building capabilities

Real time retail is the best way to describe an intriguing new shopper engagement platform from Bazaarvoice that allows brands to respond to questions and reviews about their products directly on retail sites within the Bazaarvoice network.

Branded as Bazaarvoice Connections, the new capability is designed to benefit brands because they will be able to join in shopper conversations that are happening on retail sites within the expansive Bazaarvoice network. Meanwhile, retailers benefit because they are able to bring credible brand voices to their site and drive meaningful improvement in conversion by providing shoppers with relevant information at a critical point in the path to purchase.

For example, Bazaarvoice contends that online shoppers find answers from brand experts 85% more helpful than answers from consumers. Another key benefit is the ability to quickly identify customer issues and resolve complaints. According to Bazaarvoice, when shoppers see that a brand responded quickly to the complaints of another shopper it has a powerful impact. Roughly 95% of dissatisfied buyers will buy a brand again as long as the complaint which resulted in their dissatisfaction is resolved quickly. And, shopper purchase intent doubles when they see a brand’s response to a negative review vs. a negative review by itself.

From the retailers’ standpoint, having brands engage with shoppers on their sites is a way to eliminate what Bazaarvoice calls, “information gaps,” so that appropriate expectations are set or misperceptions are corrected. Doing so helps shoppers buy confidently and reduces the potential for returns.

“Retailers get a digital sales rep in every single aisle, creating a digital shopping experience,” says Lisa Pearson, Bazaarvoice CMO.

The way Bazaarvoice Connections works is simple from the consumers’ perspective, despite the powerful technology running behind the scenes to deliver the capability. For example, a shopper on a retailer’s Web site submits a question about a product they may be thinking about purchasing or writes a review. Brands are able to see the shopper generated information, and when desirable, provide authoritative responses to questions or reviews by accessing a Bazaarvoice interface. The shopper is alerted to the response, and then the interaction with the shopper is displayed where it provides the added benefit of serving as informative content that is of value to other shoppers.



Click here to learn more about the service and view a demonstration.