It has been well documented that user-generated reviews (a social media tactic) can and will increase sales. Well now a SellPoint study conducted by Coremetrics found a significant increase in product purchases after online shoppers viewed audio/video tours of products.
The numbers from the study we really extraordinary:
- There was a 35 percent increase in the sales conversion rate among shoppers who viewed the tours vs. those who did not.
- Shoppers viewing the product tours spent more than 2.5 minutes, on average, engaged in viewing detailed product information about each product viewed.
Read more... (355 words, 1 image, estimated 1:25 mins reading time)
In the past we have asked whether Customer Reviews Increase Sales and the importance of User Generated Content Important in Buying Decision.
A recent story about Petco said that products reviewed by customers on the site had a return rate that is 20% lower, on average, than for products without reviews. And the return rate continues to decline as a product gains more reviews, with return rates on products having 50 or more reviews 65% lower, on average, than for products with no reviews. Read more... (202 words, 1 image, estimated 48 secs reading time)
Going crazy with client work this week, but here are some interesting social media stories that I came across this weekend.
Last week I blogged about the Obama/MySpace issue. Well this story has really taken off, with a lot of bloggers voicing their opinions. Four good articles that I read were SMO Blog, Tech President, a MySpace page devoted to this topic and also the Obama campaign. Overall I would say that the blogospere is overwhelminging negative about how the campaign handled this. Read more... (206 words, 1 image, estimated 49 secs reading time)
Interesting article in Internet Retailer recently about how companies were using user-generated content, in this case reviews, to generate sales.
On of the selling points of the social shopping engines, is that shopping is a social event. The Yahoo/Harris Interactive poll late last year showed that “60% of U.S. adults who plan to shop on the Web viewed recommendations from friends and family as the top factor when choosing a small online retailer for holiday gift buying”.
Most of the coverage about social search engines has been written from the social point of view, and not from the retailer’s point. So the question has always been, does user-generate content and customer reviews translate into more sales? Read more... (336 words, 1 image, estimated 1:21 mins reading time)