Consumers are increasingly logging onto the internet to share their customer experiences and learn about those of others, a new report observes.
Web chat and social networks are becoming invaluable channels for the educated consumer, according to eMarketer.
"Web retailers that offer ratings and reviews report a number of benefits, including more traffic, higher conversion rates and increased spending per transaction," says analyst with the firm Jeffrey Grau, who maintains that companies need to utilise these trends rather than fear them.
The report cites research commissioned by Nuance Communications and carried out by the Society for New Communications, which found that 70 per cent of US shoppers at least occasionally use social media to get information about a company's customer service record before making a purchase.
About three-quarters of those surveyed said they had chosen product providers based on information collected during web chat or other online networking facilities.
Forrester Research predicts that investment in user-generated content and technologies is to increase over the next five years.
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