Interesting survey of 2,000 Canadian shoppers by J.C. Williams Group. The fact that users trust the opinions of others when buying a product is not news. What is newsworthy is that Canadians trust reviews on e-commerce sites almost twice as much as those in traditional media sources like newspapers and magazines.
The research finds that 60% of online shoppers rate customer reviews posted on an e-commerce site as their most trusted source of information vs. 31% who rely on newspapers or magazines. Online shoppers in Canada also are twice as likely to post a customer review, write a blog entry or post a video than Internet users who do not shop online, the report says.“Consumers are increasingly turning to their online community or network for advice instead of traditional mass media,” says senior partner Jim Okamura. “It is indicative of the shift to an empowered consumer and the rapid fragmentation of media channels. It definitely presents a challenge for online marketers.”
If you have an e-commerce web site and you are not actively using social retailing tactics like customer reviews and feedback on your site, then your site is only generating a fraction of its potential revenue.
