Merchants sometimes fear that comparison shopping engines will erode their price point or dilute the value of their brand. In the results our merchants get on the shopping engines what we see is that both of these fears are overblown. Here's the reality of the situation: On the CSEs it's really not all about price, it's all about TRUST. Brand equity matters. Merchant ratings matter.
This is our sixth in a series of nine posts on CSE best practices. In this issue we'll talk about the profound value we've seen in taking care of the customer. Customers not only buy your stuff, they are unflinching champions (or demon destructors) of your brand credibility online. If you don't have time to read any further... then end with this admonition: Don't spend money marketing on comparison shopping engines and online marketplaces until you can delight your customers (and consistently earn great merchant reviews).
CSE Satisfaction surveys are your friend
Here's a simple money making formula: High customer satisfaction ratings = more sales + lower cost per order. A good brand plus high satisfaction ratings equal an unbeatable combination that will allow you to command a premium for trust and not compete on price alone.
The bigger comparison shopping sites (Shopzilla/BizRate, Pricegrabber, Shopping.com/Epinions etc.) have customer satisfaction surveys. These are javascript triggered survey forms that are easily pasted on the merchant's order receipt page at the end of the checkout process. The forms typically ask for immediate satisfaction feedback on the purchase process and then there is a follow up in a few days via email to see how the fulfillment process went. The survey responses are used to determine the merchant's customer satisfaction ratings for a given shopping channel.
It's smart to put code on your order receipt page to either: 1) rotate the customer surveys for the CSEs between all orders, or 2) serve up the javascript for the satisfaction survey of a given CSE if the customer was actually referred from that channel. I'd suggest you consider option #2. In either case, it's not good to display more than one survey form at a time.
Ask for the review... and ask for a good one.
If the CSE site has customer satisfaction reviews but not an automated customer survey process, then it's especially important to encourage the customer to return to the CSE site and leave a review (and to ask them for a positive one!). This may easily be done by providing a link back to the survey page on the CSE in all outbound emails relating to that order. Of course, it's very important to also make sure that the customer understands that you would like the chance to resolve any outstanding issues so that they may be able to give you an unqualified review.
This may seem like a radical approach to some, but if you are committed to being fair to your customers, and aggressive about establishing a base of positive customer reviews, you'll build massive brand credibility online that will result in lower costs per order/customer, more repeat sales and great viral marketing.
Read and respond to customer reviews
One mistake some merchants make is that they set up customer surveys and encourage customer reviews but they don't consistently read and respond the positive and negative ones. All reviews should be responded to, via email if the reviewer leaves their email address for the merchant (as is sometimes the case on BizRate/Shopzilla) and always publicly in the merchant response area for each customer review on the shopping portal. Responding to reviews is classy and it's savvy marketing. Respond to the complaints and leave a reply admitting blame/apologizing if deserved (never blame the customer) and telling a bit about how the issue was resolved and thanking the customer for their business! What a concept!
The BizRate/Shopzilla Circle of Excellence highlights 58 merchants who out of 10's of thousands of online resellers on that CSE achieve spotless customer ratings over a large number of reviews. Companies like these 'get it' and know that investing in customer satisfaction is 'marketing goal #1' and 'marketing 101.'
Comments