I read online reviews before making a purchase online do you? According to a recent Deloitte Consumer Product Group Study, virtually all consumers interviewed find online product reviews to be credible. 62% of internet users  read product reviews written by other consumers. As mentioned in a recent emarketer article, “More than eight in 10 respondents in the Deloitte study who read consumer reviews said that the reviews had affected their buying intentions: either they became more determined to buy the product or they changed their minds and bought a different product altogether.”

 More than 2/3 of US online retailers did NOT allow consumers to post reviews this dispite the high percentage of consumers relying so heavily on this information to determine whether or not to buy the product or service online. Another recent survey found that 42% of US internet shoppers thought that featuring consumer reviews on Web sites increased consumer trust in the web site and products.

As the holidays are right around the corner, one would think ecommerce sites would rethink their strategy in such a viable (and free) tool.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 12th, 2007 at 4:18 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.