May 18, 2011
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Posted by
Jenny Mehan
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When it comes to researching a product, online user ratings and reviews carry a lot of clout. A recent study by Lightspeed Research indicates that 62% of respondents read online reviews before making a purchasing decision. As the mother of two young children, I always check out a product’s reviews before adding it to my cart. Reading the “field testing” experiences of the latest stroller by other moms is much more important to me than looking over the manufacturer's product specs (i.e. Will that cup holder really hold a Grande latte?).
Regardless of whether I’ve bought online, or mad...
March 30, 2011
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Posted by
Jenny Mehan
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A couple of weeks ago, the network was abuzz with rumors that Google would be launching a new social service called Google Circles. The primary feature that would distinguish this new offering from established players, such as Facebook and Twitter, was the ability to group contacts into certain “circles”. Rather than lumping all of my contacts into one big generic amalgamation of “Friends”, I could organize independent groups (Family, Co-workers, etc.) in a way that would actually reflect the social networks that exist in my offline life. This would establish boundaries and solve the “world...
September 29, 2010
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Posted by
Antonella Pannizzo
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Most of us have used location based services such as Foursquare and Gowalla to check-in and earn rewards or discounts from some of our favorite retailers. However, a new mobile shopping app for iPhone allows you to not only check-in but earn points by scanning the barcode on products in the store. It’s called CheckPoints - ‘The App that pays you back’ is their motto, where you check-in everywhere you shop, earn points for scanning products and redeem points for prizes. This is how it works: Once you arrive in a store and select the location to check-in, CheckPoints will then list all the ...
August 17, 2010
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Posted by
Wanda Cadigan
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I’ve written here before about growth of location-based services, specifically the current LBS darling foursquare. Foursquare is a location-based social network that helps you connect with friends using GPS via your mobile device. For merchants this type of location-based service has tremendous potential for increasing customer loyalty. A simple tap on an iPhone can associate a person with a local business thereby broadcasting buying intentions to their social network, as well as allowing you to deliver targeted offers.
While many have written about the potential of location-based services...
July 6, 2010
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Posted by
Wanda Cadigan
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User generated ratings and reviews are extremely important in e-commerce. Empowering consumers to make more informed choices by providing access to others feedback is generally accepted as a very good business practice.
And now businesses can extend the value of that user generated content beyond the confines of their own sites, via integration with search engines. Back in April, Bazaarvoice partnered with Google to enable its 800 customers to display ratings & reviews from their websites in Google search results (both natural and PPC). Now Bing has announced that it’s getting in on th...
June 23, 2010
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Posted by
Melany Gallant
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Offering a ratings and review system on your e-commerce site can be an effective way to get your customers to champion your brand. It also offers you the opportunity to actively engage those customers in dialogue about what they like, and what they dislike, about your products and services. For SEO purposes, ratings and reviews also keep your web content fresh and can help generate conversions. Over on SmashingMagazine.com, Rung András discusses (with some great examples) how adding user feedback to your e-commerce site is an effective way to facilitate customer engagement, build brand loya...
June 2, 2010
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Posted by
Wanda Cadigan
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I’ve written about foursquare here before from a business perspective and how it could be used as a tool to improve customer loyalty. But today’s post is purely from a personal point of view. My name is Wanda and I am a foursquare user.
It all happened innocently enough really. Keeping up with new technologies and trends is part of the gig. I figured I should start using foursquare to learn more about it and experience it from the point of view of a consumer. It wasn’t onerous - a simple tap on my iPhone would associate me with a particular location or business. I told myself I’d try it f...
May 6, 2010
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Posted by
Melany Gallant
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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, ...
March 25, 2010
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Posted by
Wanda Cadigan
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Bing has announced that it will integrate data from the location-based network into its Maps product, with a set of features that will debut later this year.
Rest assured, it’s not gawker for the common man, and won’t broadcast your location on Bing Maps. Rather it will feature user-generated content such as tips and comments that Foursquare users give to a certain venue or business. This data will be pulled into Bing Maps via a new Silverlight-based tool.
The signals the growing importance of location based services through the use of rich local data to improve the online experience. ...
March 9, 2010
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Posted by
Wanda Cadigan
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Details published in a Fast Company post today reveal foursquare continues the quest to make their location based service more than just a fun social networking game. The addition of analytics will increase its relevancy to businesses that may be interested in the service to drive cross channel traffic.
With recent announcements from foursquare such as the deal with Bravo, location-based content agreements with Zagat and HBO Deals, and now the introduction of an analytics dashboard, the service is positioning itself to be an highly targeted customer engagement tool.
Check out our previous...
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