This is old content! The Womnibus Blog has been retired. For the new stuff, visit 
Walmart.com Launches Customer Ratings and Reviews
Last week, Wal-Mart announced the launch of customer ratings and reviews on walmart.com. The reviews will be available for all products offered on the company's website and will provide consumers a forum for sharing their opinions about a wide variety of consumer packaged goods -- from batteries and dental floss to lip balm and shampoo. Not only will consumers be able to use the peer reviews to make purchase decisions, Wal-Mart and product manufacturers will also be able to use them to gain valuable information about their customers.
"Ratings and reviews are the No. 1 customer-requested feature online at walmart.com," said Cathy Halligan, Wal-Mart's CMO. And now that the functionality is up and running, it's up to Wal-Mart's 130 million customers -- 75% of whom are online -- to speak up and be heard. According to Jupiter Research, 48% of consumers researching or buying products online describe reviews as "very useful" or "useful," and 52% of consumers have either written a review or have contributed feedback.
Walmart.com began testing its ratings and reviews functionality back in June, and by the time they launched publicly last week, nearly 15% of the company's products featured reviews. Internet users can submit their own reviews by viewing a product page, and walmart.com shoppers will now receive emails inviting them to review products they've ordered and received.
Learn more: (CNN Money)
Learn more: (WebProNews)
Learn more: (Progressive Grocer)
2 Comments
Add your own
WOMMA and members,
We are proud to be working with Wal-Mart on this very strategic initiative. And we are also proud to be a member of WOMMA!
You may also be interested in Andy Sernovitz's perspective on this, as the founder of WOMMA:
http://www.damniwish.com/2007/07/a-landmark-mome.html
And this AdAge article:
http://adage.com/article?article_id=119456&search_phrase=%2Bwal-mart
Sincerely,
Brett
Founder and CEO, Bazaarvoice
We, in turn, are proud to have worked with BazaarVoice to have conducted some of the research included in the AdAge article that Brett cites above.
You can find more complete data regarding the value of customer reviews in BazaarVoice's press release here: http://bazaarvoice.com/press072307.html
Summary
- Three out of four shoppers stated that it was extremely or very important to read customer reviews before making a purchase, and they prefer peer reviews over expert reviews by a 6-to-1 margin.
- Approximately 80 percent of US shoppers place more trust in brands that offer customer ratings and reviews
- US shoppers consider ratings and reviews to be the most useful eCommerce site feature (44 percent). Product comparison (15 percent), product navigation (12 percent), and privacy information (11 percent) followed in the distance.
- Customer ratings and reviews were important for over 50 percent of online shoppers in the UK. In contrast to US shoppers, privacy and security information took center stage when making a purchase with over one-third of UK shoppers rating this as the most important site feature. These findings reflect the relatively low number of UK sites offering a ratings and reviews facility compared to those in the US
Regards,
Dan
Founder & CEO, Vizu