Over 60% of American households own at least one pet. Pet owners are passionate about their pets -- and the products they use. In 2005, Americans spent an estimated $35.9 billion on pets and pet-related goods and services.

Leading specialty pet retailers PETCO understands that their customers are pet lovers, not just pet owners. They are dedicated to creating a fun and exciting shopping experience that people talk about, both online and in their 800 retail stores in 49 states.

PETCO knew that pet owners turned to each other for recommendations and product suggestions, and that bringing the customer voice onto their web site would significantly improve the online shopping experience for customers. But the benefits were offset by IT resource constraints, human resource commitment, and the costs of managing a community of customer conversations.

Partnering with Bazaarvoice, PETCO implemented customer ratings and reviews on PETCO.com in early 2006. The company jumpstarted their review volume through a home-page promotion featuring a $100 sweepstakes for reviewers. Participation increased 800% in less than a month.

As review volume rose, PETCO.com noticed that reviews were lowering returns for several products. The company began to investigate new ways to use this consumer-generated content to improve customer acquisition and retention. The company implemented an automated feed of negative and customer-service reviews to the customer service team in order to identify and respond to their influencers. PETCO also began to use review content in email campaigns and site merchandising efforts to spectacular effect:

* PETCO integrated ratings and reviews into email campaigns and realized a 5x increase in email click-through rates.

* PETCO integrated Bazaarvoice with its site search and navigation solution to create top-rated products paths that highlighted four- and five-start products in each category. These "Top-Rated Product" paths delivered 40% higher conversion and 60% higher average order value than their traditional shopping paths.

PETCO.com's efforts have been featured on the cover of Internet Retailer and in the New York Times weekly eCommerce column.

Credit Information
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Client: PETCO
Agency: Bazaarvoice
Budget: Undisclosed
Date of Campaign: Ongoing