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Few marketing touchpoints put customers in the driver seat the way customer product systems do. While this tactic has its detractors—those worried about negative publicity and those pointing out the ability for marketers to post fake reviews—consumer approval is convincing larger numbers of online merchants to take the plunge. JupiterResearch reported last year that 48 percent of online shoppers it polled find customer reviews helpful in making online purchasing decisions.
Overstock.com, the Salt Lake City-based mass merchandise e-tailer, has not needed any prodding on this front. The company launched in 1999 and opened up its site to customer-generated reviews just two years later, says Jacob Hawkins, senior vice president, online marketing. In 2005, it upgraded its system, outsourcing this function to Bazaarvoice. This week, we talked to Hawkins about the benefits of customer-generated reviews, touching on a few pitfalls to avoid.
TM: What steps does Overstock.com take to populate customer reviews on as many products as possible?
JH: Originally, we had a link on the product page where customers could click and leave a review for the product. And we found that if we did that, the only people who left reviews were people who had bad experiences. We found that customers abide by the mentality, “No news is good news.” Where, “If I buy from you and you don’t hear from me, you’ve done a good job.”
So we found it was necessary to go and ping the customers—send them an e-mail—usually as soon after they receive the product as possible, while they are still excited about the product and more willing to share some feedback about it. That way we can get people who have had a positive experience with our product leaving feedback on those items. So that’s the first thing we’ve learned, that it’s important to proactively go out there and ask them to leave a review on an item.
Some companies will pay or give some bonus to people who leave reviews, and you have to be careful doing that. You want people to come and leave unbiased reviews for the sake of leaving the review, not for the sake of getting a prize.
TM: How have you managed the posting of customer reviews?
JH: Originally, when the reviews were launched, we had our buyers manage them, the same people who were going out and buying our products. And can you guess which reviews showed up on the Web site? Surprise, surprise, it was always the top reviews that said the products were fantastic—all where the review was smart enough to see the product the way the buyer did. We received a lot of negative feedback from our customer base saying, “I buy these items and if I don’t have a good experience, you don’t leave me any channel to voice my concerns about those items.” As we thought about this—and primarily in the last three years—Overstock’s focused heavily on improving the customer experience on our Web site.
Overstock.com, the Salt Lake City-based mass merchandise e-tailer, has not needed any prodding on this front. The company launched in 1999 and opened up its site to customer-generated reviews just two years later, says Jacob Hawkins, senior vice president, online marketing. In 2005, it upgraded its system, outsourcing this function to Bazaarvoice. This week, we talked to Hawkins about the benefits of customer-generated reviews, touching on a few pitfalls to avoid.
TM: What steps does Overstock.com take to populate customer reviews on as many products as possible?
JH: Originally, we had a link on the product page where customers could click and leave a review for the product. And we found that if we did that, the only people who left reviews were people who had bad experiences. We found that customers abide by the mentality, “No news is good news.” Where, “If I buy from you and you don’t hear from me, you’ve done a good job.”
So we found it was necessary to go and ping the customers—send them an e-mail—usually as soon after they receive the product as possible, while they are still excited about the product and more willing to share some feedback about it. That way we can get people who have had a positive experience with our product leaving feedback on those items. So that’s the first thing we’ve learned, that it’s important to proactively go out there and ask them to leave a review on an item.
Some companies will pay or give some bonus to people who leave reviews, and you have to be careful doing that. You want people to come and leave unbiased reviews for the sake of leaving the review, not for the sake of getting a prize.
TM: How have you managed the posting of customer reviews?
JH: Originally, when the reviews were launched, we had our buyers manage them, the same people who were going out and buying our products. And can you guess which reviews showed up on the Web site? Surprise, surprise, it was always the top reviews that said the products were fantastic—all where the review was smart enough to see the product the way the buyer did. We received a lot of negative feedback from our customer base saying, “I buy these items and if I don’t have a good experience, you don’t leave me any channel to voice my concerns about those items.” As we thought about this—and primarily in the last three years—Overstock’s focused heavily on improving the customer experience on our Web site.
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