History

Our name

The voice of the customer comes to the marketplace

The word "bazaar" symbolizes the first marketplaces – the beginning of commerce. Bazaars were lively centers of town, buzzing with neighbors, friends, and merchants all sharing opinions and building a vibrant community.

Bazaarvoice, translated literally, is the "voice" of the "marketplace." We believe customers still want to share experiences and opinions, and learn from people like them when they make buying decisions. If companies listen carefully, they'll change the way they do business – focusing on what's most important to their customers.

It’s ironic that, while word of mouth drives the offline shopping experience, it’s hasn’t been present on branded websites. Today, advertising and marketing is so ubiquitous that it’s become invisible – consumers look right past it. In the end, customers want to have conversations, and hear about what people like them have experienced. To learn more about this, read The Cluetrain Manifesto, a bestseller back in 1999 (chapter four particularly inspired us).

We are providing solutions to enable customers to speak to one another and to their merchants. Our name is bizarre enough to symbolize a new, "democratized" shopping environment – one made possible by the Internet, that taps the customer voice to help build your business.

We are the messengers of the new marketplace.