61% of Reluctant Consumers Can Be Positively Swayed Online

It seems like the news about the economy gets worse by the day. If it has you scratching your head (or ripping out your hair) trying to figure out what your online marketing strategy should be in the coming years, don’t get discouraged just yet.

In a survey conducted by Jupiter Research for Bazaarvoice and richrelevance, 61% of reluctant shoppers said they could be positively swayed by online shopping resources.

The niches most affected by hesitation are:

• Automotive – 50%
• Travel – 46%
• Electronics – 43%

Consumers are shopping around and leaving their options open. 42% visited 3 or more sites to research their last purchase, and only 33% of online shoppers had made up their minds about the price they were willing to pay for their purchase in advance of going online to research.

That leaves some good wiggle room for sites and brands to compete. Before researching:

• 31% had made up their minds on which item or title to choose
• 23% knew which brand they wanted to buy
• 16% knew which store they would purchase from
• 13% knew when they would make their purchase

Once online, they trust the reviews and opinions of other consumers, so make sure your product offering is solid.

• 77% look to user ratings and reviews
• 66% use recommendations based on other consumers’ purchasing
• 65% use recommendations based on browsing behavior of fellow consumers

These numbers are also a very good reason why you have to keep an eye on your brand’s online reputation. Bazaarvoice knows this and their efforts at reputation management have paid off.

“Shoppers trust and use the opinions of others in making choices about products and brands,” said Brett Hurt, founder and CEO of Bazaarvoice. “As consumers head to the web to research online and offline purchases, companies have a tremendous opportunity to provide them with the authentic user-generated content that is proven to build confidence, increase satisfaction, and drive sales. The benefits of user-generated content are amplified in a bad economy, and this is why 9 out of 10 of the Internet Retailer Top 50 who outsource reviews choose Bazaarvoice.”

Related Reading:
Bazaarvoice Lets Brands Push Ratings to E-Commerce Partners
SLI Systems Joins Bazaarvoice Radius to Help Marketers Execute Integrated Social Commerce Strategies
Bazaarvoice Syndicates Merchant Reviews to Shopping Portals