Both Barrels Communications Ltd

Kia Motors UK is moving to adapt to the customer purchase process of today’s car buyers with a proactive, verified review collection system. The car company has chosen Reevoo, one of the world’s top social commerce companies, to provide the verified, authentic reviews and other social features now expected by car buyers. Latest research shows that the purchase experience for car buyers is increasingly ‘social’, with 59% of consumers always or often reading reviews before buying.

The car-buying process has changed hugely in recent years. It is now highly social and involves recommendations or car reviews from friends, family and ‘trusted strangers’. But for today’s buyers, verified reviews carry significantly more credibility and weight than unverified reviews – where the motivation for writing a review or even ownership of the vehicle may be open to question.

Lawrence Hamilton, General Manager Marketing Communications for Kia, said: “The typical 2012 car buyer is very internet-savvy, and knows there’s a lot of information online to help them choose their next car. But they will select – and value – trusted information.”

“Visitors to kia.co.uk will be reassured that they are reading the opinions of real people by the presence of the ‘Reevoo Mark’ displayed alongside each and every review. Knowing that the content they are reading is from verified vehicle owners will boost customer confidence in the Kia brand, give them the information they want and need, and deliver the purchase experience they expect,” he explained.

Reevoo’s portfolio of managed solutions will initially be deployed on kia.co.uk, with plans in place to extend the service to dealer sites later on. This solution includes:

Recent research by Reevoo shows the extent to which consumers rely on recommendations and reviews before they decide which car to buy. Friends’ recommendations are the most important influence on someone deciding what to buy, ranked as important by 74%; the importance of reviews written by strangers is 65%. 59% of consumers always or often read reviews before buying a car.

“With a majority of car buyers turning to reviews and recommendations before making a decision on which car to buy, it’s clear that the automotive industry must embrace social commerce in full,” said Richard Anson, founder and chief executive of Reevoo. “A proactive collection system, where all content is from verified owners and no content is censored or modified in any way, is the only credible system for building real customer trust – and it’s trust in reviews that leads to increased sales.”

Notes to editors
Research was carried out on behalf of Reevoo by Fly Research in September 2011 (n>1000).

Award-winning car dealership Luscombe Suzuki has signed a deal with social commerce company social commerce company. Reevoo for the implementation of Reevoo’s “verified owner” review service. The Leeds-based dealership aims to drive incremental showroom sales by enabling potential customers to read reviews of the cars – new and used – and of the dealership itself, online.

Luscombe Suzuki proprietor Robin Luscombe puts great store in customer service as a selling point. He said: “This dealership provides outstanding service, and we know that the Suzuki cars we sell are incredibly well built and reliable. The most credible way to communicate both of these things is to enable our existing customers to tell potential customers about us and our cars, through the medium of verified owner reviews.”

Richard Anson, Reevoo founder and chief executive, added: “To be of real value to today’s customer, it’s really important that such reviews are sourced, managed and published by a recognised and trusted third party – so we’re delighted that Luscombe Suzuki is going to be working with Reevoo to fulfil those criteria. Whether for major publishing businesses like What Car? or Motors.co.uk, or a regional dealership like Luscombe Suzuki, Reevoo adds real value and can drive substantial additional sales.”

Reevoo will be providing a range of functionality from its market-leading portfolio of social commerce solutions, including:

Luscombe Suzuki will also enjoy improved search engine rankings, since unique user-generated content – such as reviews and customer Q&As – is highly valued by search engines. Improved ‘natural search’ results will make the company’s online presence more profitable and cost-effective.

Luscombe Suzuki was voted Suzuki Dealer of the Year 2011 and also received Motor Trader’s New Dealership of the Year award in 2011.

About Reevoo
Reevoo (http://b2b.reevoo.com) is a world-leading provider of social commerce solutions. Reevoo has been deployed by more than 150 major brands including Sony, Tesco, Orange, Octopus Travel, Motors.co.uk and Dixons, helping them to achieve average sales uplifts of 18% through boosted conversion rates and increased order values, turning browsers into shoppers.

Reevoo has solicited more than 3,000,000 pieces of independent, impartial social content from genuine customers. To help consumers make their purchase decision, Reevoo provides easy access to this content more than 750m times every month to shoppers across the Reevoo network.

Reevoo publishes evidence-based proof

When it comes to social commerce, bad product reviews are good for business according to data from social commerce company Reevoo. Sixty-eight per cent of consumers trust reviews more when they see both good and bad scores, while 30% suspect censorship or faked reviews when they don’t see bad scores. Shoppers who go out of their way to read bad reviews convert 67% more highly than the average consumer.

Three times as many consumers actively seek out and read negative user generated content as look for positive content: negative reviews are even more popular than “most recent reviews”, or “reviews from people like me”. Shoppers who seek out bad reviews are highly engaged with their pre-purchase research, viewing almost four times as many products as the average visitor to a site, and staying considerably longer.

Richard Anson, founder and CEO of Reevoo, said: “Consumers who seek out negative reviews outperform the average visitor to a website: we see a 67% bump in conversion rates for these shoppers. Counter-intuitive as it may seem, negative user-generated content is actually one of the most effective conversion tools,” he added.

The balance between positive and negative comments that a brand or retailer attracts varies according to whether a proactive or passive reviews strategy is employed. Download Reevoo’s ebook for more information on proactive/passive strategies and why bad reviews are good for business.

Notes to editors
Figures quoted are from data collected across Reevoo’s network of 150 UK and international partners and from Reevoo.com, the company’s consumer website, as well as from independent consumer surveys.

Educated car buyers are more likely to buy

Motors.co.uk, the UK’s second largest used car search network, has agreed a partnership with social commerce company Reevoo to promote Reevoo’s service to its dealer base and drive the take up of Reevoo’s respected “verified owner” review service. The partnership will also see Motors.co.uk publishing owner reviews, providing valuable, in-depth information to potential buyers.

Phill Jones, Commercial Director for Motors.co.uk, said: “We are keen to see UK dealers embrace consumer reviews, as they will help provide confidence to potential car buyers in a market that is currently quite nervous. A customer who has been able to fully research their next purchase is confident and a more likely buyer, and verified owner reviews will only improve this.

“For our dealer network in particular, this is an innovative way of improving the impact of their marketing budget, since it’s possible to measure very clearly what the results are from using Reevoo,” he added.

Richard Anson, Reevoo’s founder and CEO, said: “59% of consumers read reviews before buying a car, so it’s pretty inconceivable these days that a business involved in car sales would not make reviews available to its customers. But things are more complicated than that: research also shows that reviews provided by an independent third party like Reevoo are trusted three times more by consumers than reviews provided by a brand that stands to gain from a subsequent purchase.

“So, we expect the addition of Reevoo’s independent, verified-owner reviews to Motors.co.uk to inject additional trust into the process of buying a used car, which will become evident in the form of valuable incremental sales,” he explained.

Reevoo’s social commerce solutions are compliant with recent guidelines from the Advertising Standards Authority and the Office of Fair Trading regarding the verification of reviewer identities.

New figures reveal rapid adoption of social in consumer shopping behaviours

The astonishing speed with which the consumer purchase journey is becoming social is revealed today by new figures from social commerce company Reevoo. The company has just repeated a tranche of research first conducted in March 2011, with results showing that the reliance on social sources – including friends and consumer reviews – is increasing rapidly by almost every measure and, intriguingly, across all age-groups.

Among the key trends identified are:

Richard Anson, founder and CEO of Reevoo, said: “In repeating this research so soon after we first conducted it, we hoped to identify the rate at which the consumer purchase journey is becoming social, and the speed at which it is becoming an accepted part of our shopping lives. The results have certainly confirmed our view that it is, indeed, a rapid process, and that it is a phenomenon that is touching and changing the behaviour of all age-groups.

“We have said for some time how vital it is that marketers who have so far ignored social commerce need to look at it very seriously, now. Many brands are translating these social changes into revenue, while those that don’t will be left behind – and now we can see just how fast they might be receding into the distance.”

Reevoo’s latest research, undertaken on its behalf by Fly Research, contains extensive insights into current consumer behaviour as it relates to social commerce, the social web, and shopping behaviour. Download an ebook detailing all key findings and trends.

Notes to editors
Both surveys were carried out on behalf of Reevoo by Fly Research, in March 2011 and again in September 2011. In excess of 1000 nationally representative UK consumers were questioned for each survey.

Verified owner reviews, in greater quantity, more quickly

What Car?, the UK’s leading car buyer’s guide, is to partner with social commerce company Reevoo as part of its ongoing strategy to consolidate its position as the most authoritative car buyer’s site on the web. The agreement will see Reevoo, which specialises in the collection and publication of reviews from verified purchasers, provide What Car? with an increased volume of review content, more quickly. The deal with What Car? is Reevoo’s first partnership in the automotive sector.

Andrew Golby, publishing director at What Car?, said: “What Car? is Britain’s biggest and best car buyer’s guide, and providing informative reviews is fundamental both to what we do and how we do it. Partnering with Reevoo will enable us to deliver larger volumes of trusted, verified, quality, consumer reviews, providing a representative sample of opinion and covering all models of cars on sale in the UK, including for new vehicles, more quickly than ever before.

“Combined, these factors will help to ensure that we continue to be the most informative and interesting destination on the web for car buyers,” he added.

Richard Anson, Reevoo’s founder and CEO, said: “Recent research shows that 59% of consumers always or often read reviews before buying a car. As such the automotive sector clearly needs to deliver trusted reviews to its consumers, to increase confidence in the car buying process.

“And, with recent guidelines from the Advertising Standards Authority focusing on the authenticity of reviews, it’s vital that any review system is entirely transparent in providing reviews from verified owners of the car they are reviewing. What Car? is passionate about providing its readers with all of the information they need to make the right choice of car for them and Reevoo verified reviews will be a key part of this going forward,” he explained.

Notes to editors
For more information, or to arrange an interview with What Car? Publishing Director Andrew Golby (ISDN available), please contact Karen Parry, 020 8267 5553, karen.parry@haymarket.com or karen@prandmediaworks.com

And 22% don’t measure their return on investment from social commerce at all

One-fifth of marketers don’t measure their return on investment from social commerce projects, a survey of marketers conducted for Reevoo has revealed. Among marketers measuring ROI for social, one-third report positive return on investment, with just one in 25 respondents claiming they have experienced negative ROI.

Despite the opportunity for precise measurement of the business impact of social commerce, the survey shows that just one-third of marketers measures impact in terms of increased sales or order values, while one in 10 makes no attempt to measure success at all. Many marketers still rely on traditional metrics such as traffic, page views or returning customer rates to measure social commerce performance, or put their faith in quite rudimentary or arbitrary figures such as the number of fans, followers or contributors, or mentions on Facebook, Twitter and blogs.

Nonetheless, 43% of all respondents say they can tie some percentage of their revenues back to social commerce initiatives. Read the rest of the survey results

Richard Anson, founder and CEO of Reevoo, said: “These figures suggest that there’s more confusion about measuring ROI for social commerce than there should be, or needs to be. For example, we calculate and attribute accurate, data-backed statistics for our clients including conversion rate improvements, increased average order value and repeat visitor uplift – knowledge of which makes it quite straightforward to calculate whether a project is generating a positive ROI. And, on average, the sales uplift is 18%, which is a great way to demonstrate the performance of social commerce.”

But these figures suggest this isn’t always obvious to marketers, and there even appears to be some confusion and polarisation of views, so as an industry we’re clearly going to have to look at ways of communicating this better. With 54% of marketers planning to increase their social commerce budgets in 2012, you can bet that social commerce projects will attract ever more scrutiny, so demonstrable ROI measurements to track and report on performance will become increasingly important,” he added.

Notes to editors
Research conducted for Reevoo in October 2011 with 152 marketing professionals. Download the survey report.

Reevoo Social Reach enables brands to tap into the 38% of consumers who use Facebook as a shopping tool

Social commerce company Reevoo today announced the addition to its portfolio of advanced new social features to enable brands to benefit from the rapidly increasing importance of the social web as a source of trusted shopping advice.

New research shows that 38% of consumers use Facebook as a shopping tool and that 74% of shoppers are influenced by their friends’ recommendations. In fact, more than half of consumers are more influenced by a friend’s review than by a stranger’s review.

Richard Anson, founder and CEO of Reevoo, said: “By combining impartial advice from the two most trusted sources – verified customers and friends – brands can unlock the full potential of social commerce to deliver increased sales and long-term brand loyalty.”

Sean Emmett, Marketing and E-commerce Director at Jessops, said: “Reevoo’s new social functionality drives real customer engagement by letting our customers chat with their friends about their shopping choices just as they would if they were out together in a store. We’re now offering our customers a pretty much personalised shopping experience, and we believe this will help boost our conversion rates even further.”

The new functionality of Reevoo Social Reach boosts traffic and sales through a combination of enhanced trust, greater brand awareness and improved customer engagement using a variety of mechanisms including:

Review sharing – allowing consumers to easily share their reviews on Facebook, Twitter and via email to intensify the positive word of mouth about a brand
Ask Facebook friends – amplifying conversations about a brand by letting shoppers post their product or service questions to Facebook for their friends to follow and answer
Fan acquisition – engage existing customers and drive longer term relationship by offering timely invitations to ‘Like’ and follow a brand’s social media channels, turning reviewers into loyal repeat customers
Instant personalisation – customising each customer’s individual shopping experience on a brand’s site by highlighting reviews from a consumers’ social circle and information from Facebook profiles.
Enhanced social validation – increasing the credibility of social content by letting consumers link their Facebook profile to their ratings and conversations.
On-site social integration – integrate ‘Like’ or ‘Want’ Facebook buttons across a site to drive greater social reach for products and services

Notes to editors
38% of consumers use Facebook as a shopping tool. 74% of shoppers are influenced by their friends’ recommendations. Source: Fly Research, September 2011, n=1016

Travel sites providing consumer reviews will be able to overcome the issue of fake reviews

Social commerce company Reevoo today announced a deal with Octopus, part of the Kuoni Group, to provide authenticated reviews of cities and hotels offered as destinations by Octopus. The deal heralds the beginning of the end for the problem of fake reviews, consigning to history the kind of allegations that have dogged some travel review sites.

“Travel review sites have been the subject of allegations regarding the authenticity of their reviews on several occasions. This is damaging for all parties because it plants doubt in consumers’ minds,” explained Richard Anson, Reevoo founder and CEO. “But Reevoo only collects reviews from authenticated customers. This, and our independence, means travellers and holidaymakers can be confident that, wherever they see the Reevoo brand, the opinions they are reading are from people who have been on a particular holiday, stayed at the hotel, or gone on that trip.

“As we roll out our service throughout the travel sector, consumers will be quick to cotton on to the fact that sites which continue to display unverified reviews may be making a conscious decision to do so, because they know it doesn’t have to be that way,” he added.

Reevoo’s strategy of proactively contacting people who actually stayed in a hotel or visited a particular city, to invite them to write a review, overcomes the problem of fake reviews. This strategy is at the heart of the Reevoo manifesto announced in September, which focuses on the authenticity of its reviews. The UK Government welcomed Reevoo’s initiative via the Consumer Minister Ed Davey MP.

Research also shows that the independence of reviews is an important factor in determining how they are perceived: consumers trust reviews and opinions provided by an independent provider such as Reevoo three times more than reviews provided by the brand which stands to benefit from them.

In addition to reading reviews, visitors to the Octopus site will be able to ask questions of previous hotel guests directly, via an “Ask a guest” button, helping to provide reassurance and encouraging them to make their booking. Consumers will also be able to rate their own experience with Octopus and see how other travellers rated Octopus, providing continuously updated ratings including the percentage of satisfied customers who would book again through Octopus. Yet more social functionality will allow Octopus to respond in real-time to questions asked or issues raised in reviews.

A spokesperson for Octopus said: “For many people a holiday is the biggest single purchase they make in any year, paying up to thousands of pounds. It is absolutely right that they should know what other people genuinely thought of their own, similar trip, without worrying that the review might not be all it seems. We’re delighted to be leading the way in our sector by making that possible with Reevoo.

“As for allowing people to rate us, we’re confident about putting our money where our mouth is. Knowing what people like and dislike about the Octopus service sits well with our business ethos of listening to customers and continually improving our service. Conversations about our service will happen with or without us, so it is far better to be part of them and to learn from them,” he added.

[ends]

Notes to editors
- Reviews for Octopus-offered hotels and cities are provided by Reevoo Mark.
- Service reviews will be provided by Reevoo Reputation.
- Reviews are ‘crawlable’ by search engines. This enables Reevoo Traffic to provide Octopus with valuable, user generated, constantly refreshed, keyword-rich content for SEO purposes.
- The product that allows potential guests to ask questions directly to past hotel guests is Reevoo Conversations.
- The product that enables Octopus to respond in real-time to questions and reviews is Brand Response.
- The research mentioned here is from a consumer survey carried out by Fly Research in September 2011, with 1016 nationally representative UK consumers.

Reevoo Launch delivers reviews from day one of launch without compromising integrity and authenticity of the reviews process

Black & Decker®, one of the world’s largest producers of power tools and accessories, has solved the conundrum of how to deliver launch day reviews for its flagship eVo Multi-tool product. Reevoo Launch has enabled Black & Decker® to solicit authentic consumer reviews of the tool before it was widely available, giving the product a sales boost in the days and weeks immediately following its launch.

Sourcing consumer reviews pre-launch is increasingly vital because almost nine out of ten consumers – 88% – will buy a new product only after reading reviews, yet the margin on some types of product decreases rapidly in the weeks and months after launch. This accessibility of reviews on launch day is therefore critical for creating the maximum impact from social commerce and for maximising revenue.

Reevoo solicits reviews ahead of a launch by working with the partner or brand to offer engaged customers a product in return for an honest review. For absolute transparency, this process is made clear to readers above each and every review collected in this way.

Daniel Kennedy, Digital Services Manager EMEA for Stanley Black & Decker Inc., said: “The early customer advocacy that Reevoo Launch makes possible is of real benefit to us. We wanted to reassure consumers that although the new eVo Multi-tool combines numerous individual tools it still maintains the level of quality that our consumers have come to expect from Black & Decker.

“Although we are remote from the actual sale to a consumer, our research and analytics show that we are now being included in the purchase process. What’s more, using Reevoo Launch has been a Black & Decker brand-building activity in itself,” he added.

Richard Anson, co-founder and CEO of Reevoo, said: “Reevoo Launch enables our customers to protect their margins and sell while their products are hottest. It also means getting a head start on competitors – this runs across all marketing channels as review content is syndicated instantly to all marketing campaigns. With user-generated content being the SEO equivalent of gold dust, it’s easy to see why Black & Decker is so pleased with its deployment of Reevoo Launch.”

The Reevoo-collected reviews are displayed across nine of Black & Decker’s international sites using automated translations to ensure maximum value is extracted from every review.

Notes to editors
- The nine markets across which Black & Decker has deployed Reevoo Launch are: UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Greece and Belgium (NL) and Belgium (FR).
- Data regarding shoppers’ tendency to wait for reviews before purchasing comes from a Fly Research Study conducted in September 2011, which asked 1,016 nationally representative UK consumers about their shopping behaviour and usage of social commerce tools.
- For more information about Reevoo Launch, see: http://b2b.reevoo.com/products/launch