Top Rated Products Deliver 59% Lift in Conversion for Bass Pro Shops

Shoppers who browse "Top Rated Products" on BassPro.com also spend more per order than average shopper

Austin, TX – September 19, 2006 –Bazaarvoice, an innovator in helping brands use online word of mouth to build their businesses, today announced that Bass Pro Shops has dramatically boosted conversion by using customer ratings and reviews from Bazaarvoice to improve merchandising effectiveness. Shoppers who browsed the site's new "Top Rated Products" page, which features products rated most highly by customers in departments like hunting and fishing, had a 59% higher conversion rate than the site average and spent 16% more per order than other browsers of products.

"Ratings and reviews allow shoppers to benefit from the collective wisdom of a Bass Pro community that has hands-on experience with our products," said David Seifert, director of operations, direct marketing, at Bass Pro Shops. "By placing our community's authentic opinions at the center of our merchandising process, we were able to drive a significant boost in conversion and post-purchase satisfaction.

Bass Pro Shops, America's most popular outdoor retailer, serves more than 78 million customers each year. The specialty retailer is committed to creating a rich and compelling community experience on www.basspro.com. Bass Pro Shops selected Bazaarvoice to provide a fully managed and hosted customer ratings and reviews solution that combines outsourced technology, community management services, analytics, and syndication. Through Bazaarvoice, Bass Pro Shops now offers customers the chance to rate and review any of its 75,000 items available online.

Top Rated Products
Bass Pro Shops has been able to gather, analyze, and optimize the content created by its customers. As customers provide credible product information on items ranging from fishing rods to hunting apparel, Bass Pro Shops has gathered Top Rated Products into its own category browseable by any site visitor. The company's merchandising executives have also been able to analyze review content to pinpoint and promote top selling products and isolate underlying issues.

Bass Pro Shops was so pleased with the results of the Top Rated Products initiative, it plans to expand its customer ratings and reviews program in the coming months. The company is planning to make access to the Top Rated Products page easier and faster, incorporate Top Rated Products as a filter for search results, and plans to use Bazaarvoice's Inline Ratings system to display the star-rating graphic for each product.

"Bass Pro Shops fosters a community among its loyal customers," said Brett Hurt, CEO of Bazaarvoice. "By allowing customers to share their expert opinions on Bass Pro Shops' products using Bazaarvoice's unique hosted and managed platform, Bass Pro has shown that the customer voice is critical in driving sales, building brand loyalty, and boosting ROI on its eCommerce efforts."

About Bazaarvoice

Bazaarvoice’s Software as a Service (SaaS) social commerce solutions have served more than 50 billion pieces of customer-generated content on more than 525 brand web sites like Best Buy, Costco, Dell, Macy’s, Overstock, P&G, Panasonic, QVC and USAA in 36 countries. The company connects organizations to their influencers through a unique network that reaches hundreds of millions of consumers around the globe, enabling authentic customer-powered marketing. Through syndication, analytics, partnerships, and consulting, Bazaarvoice brings the voice of the customer to the center of their clients’ business strategy, proving “social” can drive measured revenue growth and cost savings for manufacturing, retail, travel, and financial services companies. Headquartered in Austin, the company has offices in London, Paris, and Singapore. For more information and access to client success stories, visit www.bazaarvoice.com, read the blog at www.bazaarblog.com, and follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/bazaarvoice.

Bass Pro Shops
Unequaled in their award-winning concept and design, Bass Pro Shops' current 33 destination retail stores attract some 78 million people annually. Bass Pro Shops, also a major Internet and catalog retailer, is headquartered in Springfield, Mo.

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