User-generated product reviews increase conversion

Around 40 percent of online shoppers are advocates, says Yahoo’s Diane Rinaldo, and they influence purchases two-to-one over non-advocates.

“The brand advocate has emerged as a particularly valuable and trusted source of advice in online communities,” said Brett Hurt, founder and CEO of Bazaarvoice. “More than half of advocates write about their purchases online and have a huge impact on the buying decisions of other shoppers.”

Bazaarvoice claims 77 percent of all customers read user-generated reviews and treat them as a valuable source of research. Of those who shop online more often, and spend over $500 every month, 81 percent consult user-generated product reviews.

Such is the power of word-of-mouth that some companies are giving their website review pages more prominence. After swapping their usual landing page for its user-generated review page, specifically for visitors coming from search, CompUSA saw conversion rates rise 60 percent and individual spend rising 50 percent. About one-quarter of the 80,000 products on CompUSA have been reviewed.

"Reviews are critical [to online success]," said Bryan Eisenberg, co-founder of Future Now, a New York-based e-commerce consultancy. "Most sites do a pretty poor job of giving enough information to the customer to make a purchase. Less and less people are trusting organizations for their product information -- the BS levels are a little higher."

Tags: advocates, Bazaarvoice, conversion rates, product reviews, user-generated, Yahoo