Land of Nod, a subsidiary of Crate and Barrel, offers unique, whimsical children’s furniture, toys, and accessories. These are high-consideration purchases, and they knew customer reviews could help shoppers make more confident decisions. After going live in March 2008, we sat down with Michelle Kohanzo, Marketing Manager, to see how Ratings & Reviews impacts their business.

Q: After about 75 days since going live, how things are going?

A: Ratings and Reviews have far exceeded our expectations. Overall, our customers are ecstatic about our products and are letting us know – we have generated over 10,000 reviews with an average rating of 4.7 stars since launch.

Q: Have you seen any cultural change within Land of Nod since launching Ratings & Reviews?

A: We were apprehensive about opening ourselves up to customer feedback and our ability to quickly respond to issues that might arise through the review process. Once we went live with reviews, our organization very quickly embraced the feedback we were receiving, both positive and negative. From my perspective, launching Ratings and Reviews has helped us to more clearly focus on our customers and what they value.

Q: Can you provide your perspective on the value of negative and rejected reviews?

A: The value in these types of reviews is two-fold for us. First, it allows us the opportunity to take a negative customer experience and make it positive. Second, we are using Negative and Rejected reviews (actually all reviews) to improve our products.

Negative reviews were the one thing that caused us to hesitate in launching Ratings and Reviews. We have very quickly come to understand that negative reviews enable us to become a better company, to solve customers’ problems, and to improve our products and services. We have also had an overwhelmingly positive customer response, so the negative reviews are a small subset of the overall positive experience and nowhere near as frightening as we had imagined.

Q: Have you altered any internal processes as a result of this paradigm shift?

A: Absolutely; so far we have seen changes in our marketing, merchandising, and customer service areas. A few exciting changes we’ve made so far include:

• We developed a process to reach out to reviewers with a negative experience. This process has been overwhelmingly positive for us; customers are absolutely astounded that we are monitoring the reviews and reaching out to them. This is giving us the ability to turn poor experiences into great ones.
• We are utilizing review data to improve low-rated products. Already in only a couple of months we have made improvements to several products due to reviewer feedback. Our merchants are taking reviews to our suppliers and together they are using the information to resolve the issues we are seeing.
• We are utilizing rating to drive website and marketing product placement. We are utilizing ratings in determining sort order and featured placement on our website, as well as in our marketing materials. We have also started to incorporate ratings in email and will begin using them in our affiliate promotions shortly. From a marketing perspective the possibilities appear endless.
• We have an overall heightened awareness of customer feedback. In general, there a lot of people in our organization looking at customer reviews every day – we are doing our best to read every review that comes through – positive or negative.

Q: What kind of analysis do you conduct to make sure you have all the bases covered when it comes to rejected or negative content?

We are looking at every negative and rejected review (coded for CS, SI, LI, PD). We created a sort of “ratings and reviews committee” at launch and that group is charged with making sure this is happening and also in deciding to escalate issues. The committee includes our merchandising director, our customer service manager and me (marketing).

Q: How have other team members at the Land of Nod responded to having Ratings & Reviews on their site?

A: The experience has been universally positive. As I mentioned, there was apprehension prior to launch, but that changed very quickly for us. As a company, our goal is to make our customers happy and ratings and reviews have just made it that much easier for us to do that.

Q: What advice would you give to our other clients in terms of responding appropriately, proactively and methodologically to negative or rejected reviews?

• Respect the anonymity of the review process. We try to be sensitive to the fact that a customer is not attempting to contact us directly when writing a review and therefore may not want to hear from us. Overall our customers have been thrilled that we are reaching out to them, but there have been a few individuals that have not wanted to open a dialogue.
• Tailor resolutions to the individual customer circumstance. Once a customer agrees to speak with us regarding their review we then work one-on-one with them to resolve their issue. I believe this is critical.
• Look at every low rated review (1 and 2 stars, and 3 stars would not recommend) as well as every rejected review, both from a Customer Service, as well as a Merchandising perspective. We are treating reviews like we would a customer calling us on the phone – we don’t have the option of not reaching out when necessary; it’s the kind of service we as a company want to provide.

President’s Choice recently launched with Ask & Answer and they got great participation from their customers right off the bat. They did something new and innovative with Ask & Answer by selecting a particular group of customers, the "green thumbs," to get engaged in their community. They called the initiative "Green Thumbs Unite!"… and unite they did!

Now, any "green thumb" can ask questions to their fellow plant-lovers and get the answers they need, with the products they love, to get the results they want. There really is a vast knowledge out there on gardening, and President’s Choice is capturing it on their site.

On top of featuring Green Thumbs Unite on their home page, President’s Choice highlighted Green Thumbs Unite in their email newsletter, their Summer Insider Report print brochure and their in-store flyers. By doing this, they were able to reach a wide audience of customers to bring them online and join the "Green Thumbs Unite!" movement. 

I am constantly amazed at the innovation and creativity that comes from the team at President’s Choice – they never cease to break the barriers and go all out to make sure that user-generated content plays an important role with their branding – and they truly take advantage of Bazaarvoice's platform strategy!

We recently launched a new client, Mighty Leaf Tea, a specialty tea company “born for the sole purpose of infusing life into an ancient indulgence by creating tea products that reach new heights of quality and innovation.” They are truly passionate about finding the best handcrafted teas in the world – just try some and you’ll see.

While not a huge company, they are very hands-on when it comes to maximizing their Ratings & Reviews solution. They’re already very engaged with their Community Manager, who is helping them create campaigns to build review volume, setting up analytical reporting to track ROI, and talking about using customer feedback in their marketing campaigns.

This innovative company is also adopting several  Ratings & Reviews features, including…

TagShare, where their customers can summarize their opinions with searchable  tags
QuickTake, so their customers can quickly scan tags, pros and cons for a more cursory view of reviews
SearchVoice Reviews creates a single portal where all product  reviews can be found and maximizes SEO value. See theirs here.
ShoutIt! allows their customers to share their reviews, products and profiles on social networking sites like Facebook, Digg, and Del.icio.us
Ratings snapshot – allows customers to visualize the distribution of ratings across products

Brett, our CEO, has long been a big fan of Mighty Leaf Tea and we’re proud to welcome them into the Bazaarvoice family….and to serve their teas in our kitchen. They’ve been a big hit both in our Austin and London offices and their positive word of mouth is spreading fast. They even create fun green tea leaves to denote their ratings, instead of stars…

Overall Rating:

Rugs Direct is a great example of an online company that uses Ratings & Reviews to drive all types of business results. This company was founded in 1997, and has a mission of being the nation’s most trusted and esteemed retailer for all types of area rugs and other flooring products. I recently sat down with Rex Creekmur, the Director of Marketing at Rugs Direct, to ask him about his experience with Bazaarvoice.  

1. What made you decide to introduce Ratings & Reviews on your site?
   We've always received lots of unsolicited compliments from our customers, but never had a good way to share these with others. On top of that, most all of the experts in online commerce are saying that customer ratings and reviews are on the verge of becoming mandatory for Internet retailers. From our own online shopping experiences we knew that we were far more likely to buy something if other customers recommended it. It was pretty much a no-brainer that we should make this service available to Rugs Direct customers.
2. What is your favorite thing about working with Bazaarvoice? How do they compare to your other vendors?
   One of the things that impressed us from the start was Bazaarvoice's credibility and professionalism. The company came through on everything it promised and never attempted to mislead us with outlandish projections or predictions. Our IT Department was skeptical when they were told how simple the implementation would be, but again, Bazaarvoice was absolutely correct in what they told us. I find Bazaarvoice is very responsive to everything we request and seems to understand the problems an online seller faces on a daily basis. By and large we work with a great group of outside suppliers, but Bazaarvoice is certainly at the top of the list.
3. What did you do to build volume? Any results you’d like to share?
   We give a customer approximately 30 days with a product and then send an e-mail to request a review. A great many respond and it has allowed us to quickly go from no reviews to well over 5,000. It has helped that Bazaarvoice gets the reviews into and out of moderation very quickly, so we can post them on our website with very little delay. We have some plans in the works that we think will increase our average daily volume of reviews even higher than it is today. People seem to genuinely like to be asked their opinion of the products they purchase, and we love giving them a forum with which to share their experience with others.
4. What value have you seen the Bazaarvoice functionality drive on your site?
   Our overall product returns have dropped dramatically since we added Ratings & Reviews to our site. We can only assume that people are reading reviews that are either confirming their product selection as being a good one, or are steering them away from products that haven't lived up to the expectations of others. Either way, it's great to see so many more customers happy with their purchases and not sending them back for a refund or exchange!
5. Have you been able to measure ROI from this solution?
   We’ve worked with Bazaarvoice to prove the ROI of this solution and the results showed that we had a 17% increase in conversion on products with reviews vs. products without reviews. That’s a huge jump for our company and surely proves that the investment in the user-generated content functionality was the right way to go.
   
6. How does this functionality tie into your overall roadmap for your site?
   We try to be totally customer-driven in everything we do. We want our site to be easy to use and for products to be easy to find. Because it's so simple to comparison-shop on the Internet today, we think it's important to provide a research component to the process. That's one of the things Ratings & Reviews adds to our offering. People can see that other people bought and like this product, which gives them confidence that it will be right for them, too. So just like we want to offer a great selection, low prices and an easy search and navigation system, reviews fit in with our overall strategy perfectly.
7. What is the number one thing you would recommend new clients implement from the Bazaarvoice platform?
   Make it easy for customers to write reviews and offer them a reward for doing so. 
8. Any word of advice for prospects that are looking into the Bazaarvoice solution?
   Do it. (Sorry, that's two words.) Seriously, if you sell a product or service of any type, let your customers be your best salespeople. They will believe each other far more readily than they will believe you, so let them talk to each other. But make sure you don't inject yourself into the conversation. Don't censor (within reason) what your customers say and don't only publish the "good" reviews. It's got to be honest to be effective. Let Bazaarvoice be the impartial party that keeps you above reproach. To the best of my knowledge, there aren't any "competitors" who can offer this important credibility to your review program.

Read more about Rugs Direct in E-commerce Guide!
 

So why not take it a step further and utilize customer generated content in the form of product reviews in advertising?

Advertising has become so ubiquitous that it is mostly ignored and consumers don’t trust the messages that companies send them. But the customer’s voice is as powerful offline as it is online, so why not take advantage of it?

Best Buy recently featured their customers’ voices – actual snippets from online product reviews along with product ratings – in their nationwide Sunday newspaper circular. They utilized a clear call to action to drive consumers directly to their “Top Rated Cameras” page, giving shoppers quick and easy access to top rated cameras. This not only provides a great way for Best Buy to advertise their top cameras, but it allows them to easily measure the success of this advertisement by measuring traffic to this page and sales conversion of these products.

This is another example of a Bazaarvoice best practice developed by our team of Community Managers – use your customers’ words to fuel your entire marketing mix. We strongly encourage our clients to use their customer reviews (along with other valuable user generated content such as from our Ask & Answer, BrandVoice and Stories products) in all forms of advertising: email marketing, online ads, store signage, print ads, Facebook groups, etc.

There is no more effective way to get customers to listen than to let them hear from other customers just like them. This is the future of advertising or should I say “effective" advertising!
 

1. Tell us a little bit about Answer Depot.
The Answer Depot is something that we’re all very proud of at HomeDepot.ca. Our version of Ask & Answer allows HomeDepot.ca community members to ask questions and share answers about products, product categories and general home improvement topics. It lives on the category level which lets our community members discuss everything from the best charcoal grill to the newest faucet design.

2. What is your role with Answer Depot?
As Interactive Marketing Manager, I am responsible for overseeing all advertising and community initiatives for HomeDepot.ca including Answer Depot. However, I’m not the only one involved in Answer Depot because this community extends far beyond marketing for us. The information that we gather through Answer Depot is valuable to many members of our team including merchandizing, operations, user experience – just about everyone!

3. How has The Home Depot's community responded to the launch of Answer Depot?
Our community is in love with Answer Depot. Our volume of questions is growing very quickly and customers love the interaction that Answer Depot affords them. The thing that delights us the most is the expertise and depth of knowledge of those answering questions. We have community members who are retired plumbers, professional contractors, electrical experts – it runs the full gamut of experts. We also have The Home Depot suppliers weighing in and helping answer questions.

4. In general, how long does an "asker" wait before receiving an answer?
Generally, an answer is posted within one or two days of the question appearing on the site.

5. Does The Home Depot ever answer any questions?
For us, the Answer Depot is a tool for HomeDepot.ca community members to discuss amongst themselves about home improvement issues. We only participate when we feel that we can answer a question that community members cannot, things such as product availability or delivery, etc. But when we do weigh in to a conversation, we make sure to properly identify ourselves as members of The Home Depot team.

6. How do you think a Home Depot customer views this relative to asking their questions "the old-fashioned way" (i.e., sending you an email or calling you)?
I think a different kind of need is satisfied with Answer Depot. Customers are not using Answer Depot to resolve customer service issues; they are using it to ask questions and learn from each other. Many customers like to ask others about a product before making a purchase. They can look at all the specifications, warranties and packaging at our site, but ultimately many of us like to have the chance to ask someone else what they think of a product, such as, “Which of these table saws works better?” The Answer Depot is allowing our customers to have this type of rich interaction without ever having to leave our website. It’s like a community meeting place.

7. What was The Home Depot's experience with the technical implementation of Ask & Answer?
The implementation was very smooth without any major glitches. We have also launched in French so we’ve been through the process twice.

8. What's one of the more interesting questions or answers you've come across?
My favourite questions are the ones that generate a lot of discussion and differing opinions. For example, someone asked “Do you need to close off the chimney when you put an electric fireplace in a real fireplace?” It was amazing how many different answers the customer received – some really good advice.

9. What's next for Answer Depot?
So many things! You’ll have to keep coming back to HomeDepot.ca to see; I’m not giving away all our secrets.

10. What advice would you give to other retailers on how to best leverage Ask & Answer?
Think hard about your objective for Ask & Answer and make sure to commit resources to it. You cannot just launch a program like this and walk away. Any online community needs to be nurtured and engaged.

By Anna Skaya, Community Manager

In the world of word of mouth communication, an underground movement of experts and enthusiasts is quickly becoming your loudest voice online. They connect, make suggestions, trade secrets, share best buys and stories, and come together as brand advocates – virtual spokespeople for your product. They are your biggest fans.

As a Community Manager, I am the face of Bazaarvoice to my clients, and help them increase their review volume by taking word of mouth full circle. I am their primary point of contact for marketing strategies, data analysis and reporting training, new product features, and of course, maximizing ROI with our solutions. I am personally responsible for the satisfaction of my clients, and we closely track our satisfaction levels each quarter. I am proud to say that the Client Services Team is relentless about client satisfaction and achieved a 4.6 out of 5 rating in our latest survey.

Our recent UK Case Study is a great example of how a retailer strengthened its online community with reviews. Figleaves.co.uk is a large online retailer of intimate apparel. Ratings and reviews allow this retailer to capture customers’ insights and opinions, and aids other shoppers in their purchasing decisions.

Six months after launch, we analyzed conversion and look-to-book rates by taking a closer look at specific products broken down by review volume and date. Overall, we found that products with reviews converted higher than those without, and review volume had a positive correlation to conversion. Additionally, look-to-book (product views/items sold) was down on items with reviews, meaning customers were finding more relevant information and buying sooner.

During a successful email campaign, Figleaves quoted one of their top reviewers in an email, calling attention to all the reviews she wrote and making her shine like a celebrity. The power of the individual has never been so great or so influential! Take it to the next level and solicit your best customers for positive word of mouth that spreads far and wide online. The more links you create between the reviewer and the company, the stronger the relationship becomes. That is why features like Ratings & Reviews and Ask & Answer are so powerful – they help create loyal advocates. By rewarding top reviewers with incentives and special recognition – like special coupons, free shipping, or even celebrity status – create brand ambassadors.

At Bazaarvoice, we help your customers build your business. Figleaves.co.uk took word of mouth full circle, allowing their customer’s voice to grow their business. We love that!

You can help your best customers become your biggest fans. 

Bazaarvoice recently released Ask & Answer, a new product that allows consumers to ask questions and get answers directly from other consumers (or from the company itself) on the product detail and product category pages. It’s an innovative idea intended to address a significant problem: 67% of online consumers leave a website due to a lack of product information. Giving consumers the information they need to make an informed purchasing decision makes it more likely they will buy on your site rather than look, and perhaps buy, elsewhere.

Imagine being able to quickly find the answer to a critical question you want to know before buying a new digital camera. “Does the Canon EOS 400D Digital Rebel XTi camera perform better in low-light conditions than the Nikon D80?"

With Ask & Answer, consumers who have experience using these cameras can share their opinions by answering questions and helping the purchaser make a more informed decision about which camera best meets their needs. Think of it as a new way to create an online “community knowledgebase” containing rich consumer-generated content, augmented by detailed product reviews. It has significant benefits over forums or online chat because all questions and answers are fully moderated for appropriateness by Bazaarvoice before being posted to your site and archived at the point of purchase.

We recently conducted a client case study for Shoes.com to measure the business impact of Ask & Answer on their site and found that in just the first two months after launching…

Products with just one question and one answer had an 18.26% higher browse-to-buy conversion than they did previously

and…

Products with at least two questions and answers had a 22.00% higher browse-to-buy conversion rate.

In addition to these strong sales conversion results, there are other key benefits that drive ROI for Ask & Answer:

1. SEO benefits –
   Ask & Answer provides a new way to capture user-generated content that can then be leveraged for better SEO. Bazaarvoice helps clients maximize their SEO benefits by providing SearchVoice landing pages with dedicated Ask & Answer content fully optimized for search engine spiders. We also provide promotional best practices to help increase participation from your online community and integrate it with product reviews promotions. Better yet, your customers use terms that other customers are more likely to use in their own searches, further increasing potential SEO results.
2. New online audience –
   In our case study for Shoes.com, we also found that only 4% of the Shoes.com online community that uses Ask & Answer have previously written reviews and that 29% of contributors answer more than one question. This is a strong indication that Ask & Answer attracts an entirely new audience of consumers, in addition to people who write reviews that come back to the site to participate.
3. Reduced customer support costs –
   Customers generate the majority of the Q&A content, creating a new self-help resource on your site that reduces customer questions to your support center. We’ve seen that deploying Ratings and Reviews with Ask & Answer is reducing call volumes to our client’s customer support centers.
4. Competitive differentiation –
   Implementing Ask & Answer is a great way to differentiate your site from your competition and to inspire your online community to participate in this new archived Q&A tool. Clients like Home Depot Canada have even branded it “The Answer Depot” and experienced a high level of community participation on their site.