According to a recent study on social commerce, customer reviews play an important role in an Internet user's online product research process. The 2010 Social Shopping study conducted by the e-tailing group and PowerReviews found that over half of the 1000 people they surveyed earlier this year seek out customer reviews on brand websites.

According to the survey results,

64% of shoppers say they spend at least 10 minutes reading product reviews prior to making a purchase, up from 50% in 2007. 33% of shoppers spend a half hour or more on reviews, up from 18% in 2007.

Further, only 6% of survey respondents named social media sites as a preferred destination to seek out product information. The findings are interesting in that Facebook has recently gone to a whole lot of effort to make it easier for brands to connect with consumers and prospects, through its social network, using new social sharing plugins aimed to create more "personalized experiences" for its users.

What is interesting here is that while Facebook is working to help brands engage with, and extend brand visibility to, its over 400 million Facebook users, the use of social networking sites as a trusted source of product information is still of limited interest to consumers.

The big advantages of integrating a customer review system on your site is the opportunity to provide customers and prospects with the research information they are looking for, namely other people's experiences with your brand, right on the same site where they can purchase your products. This makes your site relevant and demonstrates you are respectful of your customers' time and information needs.

Customer reviews provide you a channel from which to gather information on both the positive and negative experiences your customers have with your brand. The feedback received can be a great jumping point to connect and engage your customers and let them know you are listening and responding to their feedback. Whether you use the date to improve customer service, align product development to customer needs, or improve other areas of your business, you can increase customer loyalty and generate demand by simply providing a place for customers to connect and share.

Note: The 2010 Social Shopping study also shows that search engines are the most frequent starting point for Internet users when beginning the product research process. Use search engine optimization techniques and keyword relevancy in website content to make that rating and reviews content easily discoverable to Internet users as they begin their product search.