Bazaarvoice and iPerceptions Team with CompUSA to Analyze Shoppers' Use of Ratings and Reviews

Data gathered from over 2,000 shoppers show that over 80% consider ratings and reviews "important" in researching or planning a purchase

Austin, TX – October 16, 2006 – Bazaarvoice, an innovator in helping brands use online word of mouth to build their businesses, and iPerceptions, a leading web-focused attitudinal analytics provider, today announced that 81% of surveyed CompUSA shoppers consider customer ratings and reviews important when they are researching or planning a purchase. The findings are based on feedback and comments gathered by iPerceptions from over 2,000 CompUSA online shoppers during the month of August 2006. CompUSA is one of the nation's leading retailers and resellers of technology products and services.

“CompUSA offers over 20,000 products online,” said Al Hurlebaus, Sr. Director of eCommerce at CompUSA.  “Customer ratings and reviews are absolutely critical to helping our customers choose the right products from this assortment – and for attracting new shoppers to our site.  We’ve seen the great data on ratings and reviews from the analysts this year, and we are now able to develop an understanding of how ratings and reviews influence the decisions of our own customers.”

A recent study by JupiterResearch found that the number of online buyers who cite customer ratings and reviews as the most useful shopping site feature has more than doubled from 2005 to 2006. JupiterResearch also found that online shoppers who find user-generated product ratings and reviews useful are heavier online spenders than average online buyers.

In addition to measuring the overall importance of customer ratings and reviews for consumer electronics purchases, the CompUSA study provides new insights into the conditions that influence the importance and relevance of other consumers’ opinions:

• Surveyed shoppers indicated that both positive and negative reviews helped them make the right purchase decision for their needs.  Some shoppers even stated that they consult ratings and reviews before making every online purchase.
• Repeat customers considered ratings and reviews more important (86%) than one-time buyers (82%), underscoring the value of ratings and reviews in fostering customer loyalty and repeat purchase behavior.
• Highly qualified shoppers – those who indicated that they were “very likely” or “somewhat likely” to make a purchase – considered ratings and reviews more important (85%) to their decision process than those who were unlikely to purchase (70%).
• Younger shoppers consider ratings and reviews more important than older shoppers do.  Importance was highest (88%) for the “less than 18” segment and lowest (70%) for the “45 and older” segment.

“Our findings for CompUSA represent a significant advancement in measuring the impact of customer word of mouth on both online conversion and branding,” said Jerry Tarasofsky, CEO of iPerceptions. “With ratings and reviews, CompUSA has managed to transform thousands of customer voices into a very tangible and strategic marketing advantage.  Harnessing customer word of mouth is critically important for companies that want to build their businesses in the always-on and always-connected online environment.”

“CompUSA understands that customer ratings and reviews are strategic to their customer acquisition and conversion efforts,” said Brett Hurt, founder and CEO of Bazaarvoice. “Online word of mouth and user-generated content is gaining more and more momentum and merchants who consider ratings and reviews to be just a site feature are at risk of missing out on a huge multichannel marketing opportunity.”

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.

About iPerceptions
iPerceptions is one of North America's leading web-focused attitudinal analytics providers. Its webValidator Continuous Listening solution and its Proprietary Satisfaction Index (iPSI,) turn thousands of data points into easy-to-understand strategic and tactical decision support for web site marketers. Based in New York, iPerceptions' clients include such well known brands as InterContinental Hotels, General Motors, Dell Computers, Hyundai, CompUSA, LG Electronics, Toshiba, Choice Hotels International, BMW and Hilton Hotels.

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