Press Release: Free Reports Added to BizRate’s Customer Feedback Program

Free Reports Added to BizRate’s Customer Feedback Program
--BizRate® Research expands its free offering to include BizAdvisor and Comments Classifier --

Los Angeles, CA (September 23, 2009) – BizRate® Research announces the expansion of its free buyer feedback program to include two new reports: the BizAdvisor and the Comments Classifier. These new reports provide online retailers with enhanced insights about buyer behavior and needs.

The two new reports are now available to all of the 4500+ retailers already participating in the BizRate® Research Point-of-Sale and Order Fulfillment Network. The BizAdvisor report helps online retailers efficiently assess and prioritize improvements to key functional areas based on their correlation to key loyalty metrics and future buying intent. BizAdvisor also allows retailers to benchmark the behavior of their buyers against the buyers of other retailers within their category in the BizRate Network. These benchmarks are drawn from approximately one million surveys collected monthly from the buyers within this network. The Comments Classifier report provides more in-depth commentary and examples within each functional area. Additionally, the reports will include data points to augment the retailer’s insights about buying behavior, such as:
· Net Loyalty Scores
· Category Benchmarking
· Correlations and Quadrant Analysis
· Buyer Demographics
· Customer Comments Classified by Tone and Functional area

“These reports provide the foundation for consumer insights development and subsequent action plans. The BizRate® Customer Feedback program is indispensible for online retailers who are serious about prioritizing improvements to their ecommerce experience based on their buyers’ needs,” stated Hayley Silver, Director of Consumer Insights, BizRate Research.

BizRate® Research provides the opportunity for online retailers to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty with its robust assortment of customer feedback tools. The recent announcement of its non-buyer survey and this latest addition of the BizAdvisor and Comments Classifier reports significantly increased the consumer insight tools available to online retailers. The foundation of the Customer Feedback services that BizRate has provided to online retailers for over 10 years, are at no cost. BizRate also offers additional services, including survey customization, for a fee.

About BizRate® Research:
BizRate Research assists retailers in listening to their customers and starts a dialogue between retailers and customers with the end goal of growing consumer loyalty to the retailer. BizRate Research provides tools and reports to over 4,500 retailers to enlighten them about the customer experience and make them aware of the “why” in what consumers think and do. For over 10 years, BizRate’s consumer feedback and ratings platform amplifies the consumers’ voice in a way that is fast and measurable, resulting in insights, action, and consumer loyalty. For more information on our buyer and non-buyer survey and reporting products, please contact us at researchsales@bizrate.com. BizRate Research is a division of Shopzilla, Inc.

About Shopzilla, Inc.:
Shopzilla, Inc. is one of the largest and most comprehensive online shopping networks on the web. Through its leading comparison shopping sites, BizRate.com® and Shopzilla.com®, Shopzilla helps shoppers find the best value for virtually anything they want to buy from thousands of online retailers. Based in Los Angeles, Shopzilla operates sites in the U.S., U.K., France and Germany. The company is owned by Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (NYSE:SNI), which include national lifestyle TV networks such as HGTV, The Food Network, Fine Living and more.

BizRate Research's 2009 Circle of Excellence winners are announced!

BizRate® Research Recognizes the Very Best Online Retailers
-- Leading Consumer Feedback Network Announces the BizRate Circle of Excellence Awards for 2009 --

LOS ANGELES - September 22, 2009 – BizRate Research, a leading consumer feedback network, announced today the winners of its tenth annual BizRate Circle of Excellence. The award recognizes the top performing online retailers that provided outstanding customer experiences throughout the year, as rated by their customers.

The strict criteria set by BizRate Research evaluates customer satisfaction at each of the over 5,000 retailers within the BizRate Network. Online stores earning the prestigious Circle of Excellence award were rated by their buyers at a significantly higher level* than the Network average across seven key satisfaction metrics:

Circle of Excellence Satisfaction Metrics
Overall Satisfaction at the Point of Sale
Product Selection
Ease of Finding what the customer is looking for
Repurchase Intent after order receipt
Product Met Expectations after order receipt
On-time Delivery
Customer Support
* based on statistical significance

This year, 167 online retailers earned the coveted Circle of Excellence Award in recognition for their stellar customer experiences, as rated by their own customers between August 2008 and July 2009. Of this group of winners, 40 received the highest honor: the Platinum Award. The Platinum Circle of Excellence is awarded to retailers that achieved a score of at least 9.0 in all seven key satisfaction metrics named above.

For many online retailers, the BizRate Research platform and tools have become critical to their success in engendering customer loyalty. Powerhouses such as Crutchfield and Tower Hobbies, who have held the Circle of Excellence title for ten consecutive years, find the feedback platform essential in maintaining superior customer service and gaining consumer insights.

“We are very proud to be recognized by BizRate for our tenth consecutive year of service excellence,” says Bill Crutchfield, CEO of Crutchfield. “As they recognize us, we must recognize them. BizRate Research has been an invaluable partner of ours. Their sophisticated tools allow Crutchfield to deliver unsurpassed customer satisfaction to all who shop our website.”

The BizRate Circle of Excellence celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, making this year’s announcement an especially memorable one. “Back in 1999, we launched the Circle of Excellence to allow the very best retailers to earn special recognition for their exceptional performance in the area of customer service. At that same time, we also believed that the Circle of Excellence denomination would empower online consumers by highlighting retailers with whom they should feel extremely confident about shopping.” said Bill Glass, President of Shopzilla, Inc., the parent company for BizRate.com. “Since its inception, the importance of the Circle of Excellence has continued to grow, and today it is truly the hallmark of customer satisfaction success in online retail. After ten years, we are more committed than ever to providing retailers with the invaluable ability to listen to and understand their customers’ needs via our point-of-sale feedback platform. Furthermore, we are thrilled to offer them the opportunity to be recognized for their superior performance in delivering on those customer needs as Circle of Excellence winners.”

Congratulations to the Circle of Excellence Platinum award recipients for 2009:
4 All Memory
Bose
Discountcontactlenses.com
OnlineLabels.com
Abacus Private Store
Build-A-Bear Workshop
DrinkingFountainDoctor.com
Shopirish.com
Adagio Teas
Café Britt
Embroidables
Step2
American Muscle
CD Universe
Fox Creek Leather
The Birdsafe Store
Anna's Incense
Cheryl & Co.
Jo Malone
The Perfume Spot
B&H Photo-Video-Pro Audio
Christianbook.com
La Mer
Thymusking.com
Baby Super Mall
Community Coffee
MAC pro
TibetShining.com
BabyHopes.com
Condom Depot
Memory Giant
Tillamook Country Smoker
Bobbi Brown Cosmetics
Crutchfield
Name Brand Golf Shirts Direct
Titanium Kay
Bodybuilding.com
DermStore
One Small Child
Zappos.com

Congratulations to all Circle of Excellence award recipients for 2009:
1A Auto Parts
Chico's
Inksmile
Prescriptives
2nd Story Software, Inc.
ChristianCinema.com
J&R
Quill
4Inkjets
Clinique
Janie and Jack
QVC
A Main Hobbies
Courtneys Candles & Creations
Jimmy Beans Wool
RubberStamps.net
A Southern Season
CPO Milwaukee
Knitting Warehouse
Safety Glasses USA, Inc.
A.T. Cross
Crucial Technology
LD Products
San Marco Coffee
ABC Vacuum Warehouse
CutleryandMore.com
Legacy Motors Diecast Cars
Scentiments.com
Abt.com
Dar-us-salam publications
Leisure Pro Divers Emporium
ShipMyContacts.com
ACLens.com
Data Memory Systems inc.
Lenox
SitStay.com
Advantage Supplements
Databazaar.com
LONDONS Bathecary
SkinCareRX.com
All Star Health
Dave and Adam's Card World
M&J TRIMMING
SkinStore.com
AllAboardToys.com
DERMAdoctor.com
Mack's Prairie Wings
Steven Singer Jewelers
American Musical Supply
Discount AC parts
Madame Madeline
Supplies guys
Annie's Charm Closet
Dogfunk
Mardi Gras Outlet
Switch Hits Switchplates
Appliance Parts Pros.com
DVD empire
MemoryTen, Inc
Teavana
Austin Kayak
Easy Appliance Parts
Memory-Up
The Blue Rooster Company
Aveda
Esteelauder.com
MetroMedicalOnline
The Cover Store
Backcountry.com
Fairytale Brownies
Ministry Ideaz
The GPS Store, Inc.
Bath and Body Works
Faucet-Warehouse.com
Moolka Toys
The Kershaw Store
BatteryMart.com
Filter-outlet.com
NorthShore Care Supply
The Vermont Teddy Bear Co.
Best Price Nutrition
FiltersFast
NutritionGeeks
TigerDirect.com
BestNest.com
Firefold
OEMPCworld.com
Tilly's
Bigdiscountfragrances.com
Fisher-Price
Oneida.com
Tower Hobbies
Blackhole boards
Footwear etc.
Onlineshoes.com
Truckspring.com
Blue Nile
FragranceNet.com
Origins Natural Resources
TSS-Radio
BOMC2
FragranceX.com
OrnamentShop
Undercover Condoms
Bowlingball.com
GigaGolf
Overland Sheepskin Co.
Vanns.com
Bulbconnection
GoBros.com
PartSelect
Vitalicious.com
Bumble and bumble
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters
PENWA.com
www.weldfabulous.com
CajunGrocer.com
HealthWarehouse.com
PersonalizationMall.com
Your Electronic Warehouse
Carrot Ink
iAllergy
PetSolutions
Zbattery.com, Inc.
CheckOutStore.com
Iaqsource.com
Planet Shoes



About BizRate Research:
BizRate Research assists retailers in listening to their customers and starts a dialogue between retailers and customers with the end goal of growing consumer loyalty to the retailer. BizRate Research provides tools and reports to over 5,000 retailers to enlighten them about the customer experience and make them aware of the “why” in what consumers think and do. For over 10 years, BizRate’s consumer feedback and ratings platform amplifies the consumers’ voice in a way that is fast and measurable, resulting in insights, action, and consumer loyalty. For more information on our buyer and non-buyer survey and reporting products, please contact us at researchsales@bizrate.com. BizRate Research is a division of Shopzilla, Inc.

About Shopzilla, Inc.:
Shopzilla, Inc. is one of the largest and most comprehensive online shopping networks on the web. Through its leading comparison shopping sites, BizRate.com and Shopzilla.com®, Shopzilla helps shoppers find the best value for virtually anything they want to buy from thousands of online retailers. Based in Los Angeles, Shopzilla operates sites in the U.S., U.K., France and Germany. The company is owned by Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (NYSE:SNI), which include national lifestyle TV networks such as HGTV, The Food Network, Fine Living and more.

Digging In - Respondent Level Data Files

BizRate offers a number of reports and tools to help you review your data – VitalMail, VitalSigns, AccuRate Reports and BizAdvisors to name a few. But all of these provide data at an aggregate level. What happens when you want to see your data at the customer level? BizRate can help!

BizRate collects and maintains all responses at the customer level. If desired, your team can purchase and utilize this data to see how a single respondent answers questions across both the Point-of-Sale and Fulfillment surveys. Not only will you see individual responses, but also comments and any information that has been passed through the survey (Customer ID, referring URL, etc.). When included on your survey, custom questions can be included to provide even more information.

The Respondent Level Data File’s contents can be designed to suit your needs. Your team can include all of the data we collect, or just specific information (i.e. Customer Support Questions Only), and can choose to receive the data at the desired frequency. When used in conjunction with BizRate’s aggregated reports, this report gives the full picture of the individual experience from purchase to receipt.

If you would like to learn more, please contact us.

Press Release: Free Non-buyer Insights are finally here!

Free Non-buyer Insights are finally here!
--BizRate® Research offers a companion product to its free buyers’ surveys and reporting--

Los Angeles, CA (September 17, 2009) – BizRate® Research announces its new free non-buyer survey and reports product to help online retailers learn more about visitors’ experiences. The new product enhances the information available to online retailers for their end goal of increasing conversion and loyalty.

In response to retailer demand for greater insight into non-buyers, BizRate® created a new non-buyer survey and reports product as an added feature to enhance the suite of consumer insights tools it already offers to thousands of online retailers for free. “BizRate Research’s goal is to amplify the consumer voice such that each online retailer, and e-commerce as a whole, grows through consumer loyalty. Adding a listening post to collect the feedback of non-buyers complements the buyer point-of-sale feedback platform that BizRate has operated for over 10 years and, in doing so, offers retailers a comprehensive suite of customer satisfaction collection and measurement tools,” stated Hayley Silver, Director of Consumer Insights, BizRate Research.

This survey is easy to implement, provides rich information, and protects consumer privacy. Specifically, the non-buyer survey is designed to collect feedback from site visitors, cart abandoners and check-out abandoners. BizRate® Research also provides retailers with actionable monthly reports. When added to the widely adopted Buyers’ surveys and reports, retailers gain the “why” behind customer actions at every on-site touch point. “BizRate Research provides the most in-depth customer feedback and reporting tools for retailers – for free!” added Ms. Silver.

The non-buyer survey and reports product is currently in its beta; broader market release is scheduled for October 1, 2009. Several marquis retailers intend to integrate it in time for the 2009 Holiday season. Lucky Brand Jeans, first to launch the survey in July 2009, experienced a seamless implementation and is already beginning to reap the benefits of the new survey. “We expect those retailers with the code in their QA environments to move it to their live sites shortly,” reported Ms. Silver. “We welcome more retailers to join our program.”

References for this product, as well as our comprehensive offering, are available upon request.

About BizRate® Research:
The industry leader, BizRate Research assists retailers in listening to their customers and starts a dialogue between retailers and customers with the end goal of growing consumer loyalty to the retailer. BizRate Research provides tools and reports to over 4,500 retailers, representing approximately 18% of e-commerce*, to enlighten them about the customer experience and make them aware of the “why” in what consumers think and do. For over 10 years, BizRate’s consumer feedback and ratings platform amplifies the consumers’ voice in a way that is fast and measurable, resulting in insights, action, and consumer loyalty. For more information on our buyer and non-buyer survey and reporting products, please contact us at researchsales@bizrate.com. BizRate Research is a division of Shopzilla, Inc.
* excluding travel and services

About Shopzilla, Inc.:
Shopzilla, Inc. is one of the largest and most comprehensive online shopping networks on the web. Through our leading comparison shopping sites, BizRate.com® and Shopzilla.com®, Shopzilla helps shoppers find the best value for virtually anything they want to buy from thousands of online retailers. Based in Los Angeles, Shopzilla operates sites in the U.S., U.K., France and Germany. The company is owned by Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (NYSE:SNI), which include national lifestyle TV networks such as HGTV, The Food Network, Fine Living and more.

Why Can't I Find What I Want?

Hot Topic: Onsite Search

If a customer cannot find what they are looking for, then they will leave a site without making a purchase and possibly never come back. This is a powerful statement, and is the reason why retailers spend so much time and money trying to perfect their search functionality.

BizRate Research ran a "Hot Topic" study in Q1 2009 to uncover how customers search for products, their mindset, and the tools they expect to be available to help them find that perfect little black dress...or television...or gift for a friend. We launched the questions across the majority of our Network of retailers.*

Check out some of the key findings:

1. Most customers (62%) come to a site knowing exactly what they want. In categories such as Apparel, browsing is more of a factor (50% come to an Apparel site to browse).
   
2. The Search Box (49%) and Menus/Tabs (47%) are the most popular search methods - make them intuitive, easy to find and ensure your algorithms produce relevant results.


3. "Mixed Relevant and Irrelevant Results" was the top reason the Search Box was ineffective (16%), while "Produced Too Many Results" was the top reason for Menus/Tabs (26%)


4. Make sure you have a "View All" option. Customers picked "View All Choices On One Page" as most important in helping them find what they want the next time they shop for that particular item (14%).


5. Provide a variety of sorting and narrowing options. Customers want control; they want to be able to arrange search results in a way that makes sense to them. 62% want to control either the sorting or narrowing (or both) vs. having predetermined groups, such as "most popular" (24%).


6. Overall, customers find Brand/Model (13%), Sale/Clearance Items (9%) and Price (9%) to be the most important attributes in locating their coveted item (outside of "View All Choices On One Page").


7. These top three can differ depending on your category or business. For example, if you are an Apparel retailer, especially a private labeled retailer, then looking for products by Sale/Clearance Items (14%), Size (11%) and In-Stock and Available (10%) are most important for your customers. For Office Supplies retailers, Brand/Model (18%), Item/Catalog No. (12%) and Price (12%) are most important.
   

I'll be posting results from some of our other "Hot Topic" studies, so please stay tuned! If you are interested in learning more about the "Hot Topic" program, then please contact us. We welcome suggestions for future topics - leave a comment with your ideas!

*For this "Hot Topic" study, 107,224 consumers submitted responses Network-wide; 32,452 of which were Apparel purchases and 20,401 of which were Office Supplies purchases. Survey responses were collected from January 27 - April 15, 2009.

"Hot Topic" Program - What Is It?

Every quarter, BizRate Research launches a study as part of our "Hot Topic" program. "Hot Topic" is a way for us to gather data and glean insights on topics of importance to e-commerce, and to share this data with retailers.* Over the past two years of the program, topics have ranged from the nuts and bolts of e-commerce (Onsite Search, Email Marketing, Customer Support), to emerging trends (Mobile Commerce).

While retailers always have the option to create custom questions, they are not able to benchmark this data (as it is unique to them). One of the great things about the "Hot Topic" program is that retailers can benchmark their results against one of our Standard Categories (e.g. Apparel, Office Supplies, Electronics - BizRate's Network represents 18% of e-commerce**) or against a custom benchmark that they determine.

We'll be sharing some of the Network and Category level results in upcoming posts. If you are interested in learning more about the "Hot Topic" program, then please contact us. We welcome suggestions for future topics - leave a comment with your ideas!


*The "Hot Topic" report is available for a fee to retailers that offer the BizRate Point-of-Sale Survey to their buyers. To join our Network, please create an account.
**Excluding travel and services.

New to Network Rockstars

In August, we were fortunate enough to welcome 92 new merchants into our network! Among them were: Franklin Covey , Doctors Foster & Smith , and House of Antique Hardware.

Franklin Covey has already received over 4500 reviews and has rated very well in Charges stated clearly and Product met expectations. One enthusiastic customer comment reads:

“I've been using Franklin Covey products for years, probably close to 20, and I wouldn't use any other system to keep track of my busy life! The service has always been great, everything is top of the line!”
Source: BizRate® Research, September 2009 (See full review)

For a company who first produced the Franklin Planner at little over 25 years ago, that is quite a statement and a testament to their commitment to their customers and their product.

Doctors Foster & Smith, having listed their inventory on BizRate and Shopzilla for several years, has recently started utilizing our survey! We are so pleased to see they not only value our services in the marketplace but also in helping drive customer satisfaction! Doctors Foster & Smith distributed their first informational product catalog, a 16-page flyer sent to 1,500 customers in 1983. This is a merchant who prides itself as a trusted veterinarian source for pet supplies, offering low prices and award winning customer service. With reviews such as this…

“I LOVE ordering my ferret supplies from Drs. Foster & Smith. They have a wide selection, and I have never had any problems, even after 5 years! The prices are very hard to beat as well. I recommend Drs. Foster & Smith to everyone I know that has pets!”
Source: BizRate® Research, September 2009 (See full review)

…it’s no wonder customers give it such outstanding ratings, particularly in Post-Fulfillment Satisfaction metrics.

House of Antique Hardware was founded in 1999 and has since grown it into one of the premier online retailers for both authentic antique and vintage reproduction hardware. How often do we hear customer raves such as this:

“The items were exactly as pictured and described on the website. Shipping was fast and the order was accurate. This is exactly the experience I hope for in an online shopping experience. Antique Hardware really delivers!”
Source: BizRate® Research, August 2009 (See full review)

It’s probable we do not hear it often enough, though we would love to. Their customers give them especially high ratings in Clarity of Product Information and Charges Stated Clearly.

In just a little over a month and a half, all three have become Customer Certified and have enjoyed hundreds, if not thousands of customer reviews. One question that we frequently hear is “what if we don’t sell on Shopzilla or BizRate?” The survey is free for any merchant regardless of traffic source and is easy to set up . For information regarding the survey or learning more about getting set up,feel free to simply contact us.

Competitive Intelligence - How do I Compare?

Finding out your own scores are just a small piece of the research pie. By learning how you compare to others – where you perform best and not quite as well – you can see where to focus your manpower and allocate your budget. While some of this information is available at BizRate.com, the easiest way is to have the information delivered right to you via the BizAdvisor Report.

The BizAdvisor Report offers a snapshot of the most popular Point-of-Sale and Fulfillment scores for either the previous month or quarter. The scores are presented as an average and as a distribution on the 1-10 scale. You can also see your Net Loyalty score and watch how it changes as you make changes and improvements to your site. One of the most unique pieces of this report is the prioritization key. The smiley scale is used to show you which areas are important to customers (based on correlations), but not performing as well (red and yellow) and which are performing well, but perhaps not as important (green and sunshine green). In addition to providing your scores, this report also allows you to see the aggregated scores from the standard BizRate category of your choice.

Standard BizRate Categories:
· Automotive
· Apparel
· Computer Hardware
· Computer Software
· Electronics
· Entertainment
· Food & Drink
· Gift & Flowers
· Health & Beauty
· Home & Garden
· Musical Instruments
· Office Supplies
· Pet Supplies
· Sporting Goods
· Toys & Video Games

This valuable report will either be delivered on a monthly or quarterly basis based on your overall response volume (minimum of 300 Fulfillment responses required in the time period). If you are not currently offering the BizRate survey to all of your customers, now is a good time to update your code. If you need instructions, please login to the Business Services Site. The BizAdvisor Report is available to you at no charge – all you have to do is contact us to learn more.

Burning Questions – Customizing your BizRate Survey

As many retailers know, the BizRate survey is comprised of a set of standard questions. These questions cover a variety of topics at both Point-of-Sale and Fulfillment including: overall satisfaction, shopping experience, delivery experience, product satisfaction and Customer Service. The best part about these questions is that since they are asked of all merchants who use our surveys, it is easy to compare yourself to other merchants.

What many retailers don’t realize, however, is that BizRate offers the opportunity to include some questions as well. Merchants can purchase up to 5 Point-of-Sale and/or 5 Fulfillment questions to be included with the custom survey. Some examples of popular topics include: Pre/Post analysis on site changes, checkout, browse/search and Customer Support. The questions can be anything you want – and we’re always happy to help with the wording. While these questions are custom to your site and cannot be benchmarked, they are a great way to see what your customers are looking for before you make a change, and then gauge satisfaction after a change. They can also be used to dig deeper in to issues that you know exist and then trended for improvement. Some examples of popular topics include: pre/post analysis on site changes, checkout, browse/search and Customer Support.

Please contact us if you would like to learn more about including custom questions in your survey.

What Are Your Customers Saying About You?

Earlier this week, I touched base with part of the online team from Hot Topic, Inc., which operates brick and mortar and online retail stores under the Hot Topic, Torrid and ShockHound brands. On the call were Brita Womack, Director of hottopic.com; Tricia Burch, Producer for torrid.com; and supporting all three sites, Deanna Steele, Director of Internet Operations; Joy Hussey, Customer Service Manager; and Tracy Hagerman, Online Marketing Manager.

Hot Topic’s commitment to customer satisfaction is evidenced by the 16 collective years that they’ve been using the BizRate Ratings & Customer Feedback Platform. Hot Topic has utilized the BizRate Ratings & Customer Feedback Platform since 2000, during which time it has maintained its Customer Certified standing and has collected over 150,000 customer ratings! Torrid.com has been using the ratings and feedback platform since 2002; it too is Customer Certified and has compiled over 50,000 customer reviews.

During our call, we talked about the feedback tools that Hot Topic uses, how they use them to validate insights, and some of the features and services they’d like to see us offer.

Hot Topic uses the BizRate Customer Feedback Form to collect customer ratings and reviews, as well as our very popular VitalMail and VitalSigns service. The Hot Topic team uses data collected through our feedback survey to monitor trends in overall customer satisfaction. But, more importantly, they use the data to validate feedback they receive from their customers. For example, the team believed that they could better serve customers’ needs with respect to order shipping, in terms of both rates and the range of shipping options. Using the responses from the BizRate Feedback Form related to customers’ satisfaction with shipping, the team was able to validate their belief. And, with this data, they are a introducing some programs and promotions that will better address their customers’ shipping preferences.

Hot Topic’s most widely applied use of the ratings & feedback tools is in understanding what their customers are saying about them and their shopping experience and customer service experiences. Joy Hussey, who’s been with the company for about 8 years, shared with me that the team also relies heavily on our VitalMail and VitalSigns products, both of which provide specific customer comments that are collected through the feedback form. In cases where customers grant permission (in the feedback form) to share their email address, Hot Topic proactively contacts their customers to follow-up with them about the comments they made.

I also asked Hot Topic what they’d like to see from us going forward. They identified four opportunities where we could better serve them. They are:

1. Offer the ability to customize questions on their customer feedback form
2. Better support on customers’ questions about survey incentives and promotions
3. Faster turn-around time on adding subscribers to VitalMail
4. Offer a visitor and cart abandonment survey product

I was able to address most of these areas of opportunity during our call.

Custom Questions: Merchants can customize question in their feedback form; this is offered as premium, fee-based service.

Better Support on Survey Incentives: We utilize various incentives and promotions, such as our popular Daily Cash Giveaway, to help drive response to the surveys. We have a dedicated customer service team that handles all inquires about these incentives and promotions. When your customers contact you with questions or issues related to these promotions, you may simply direct them to our customer service team; we’ll immediately and professionally follow-up with these respondents on your behalf and, then we’ll circle back with you on the resolution of the issue.

Faster Turn-Around on Adding Subscribers to VitalMail and QuickResponse: We’re aware that this is an issue. We hope to better address this in the coming year by offering self-service subscription management to these products.

Visitor & Cart Abandonment Survey: We are currently in beta with a product that offers precisely this. Currently, we have one well-known, branded retailer using the product. (In the coming weeks, we’ll reveal in this blog who it is and what their thoughts are about it).

So, while in our first user interview with Backcountry.com, we heard about how they rely on the BizRate Ratings to help boost their rankings in Google Product Search, in this second interview, learned about how Hot Topic uses our products to find out what their customers are saying about them.

Thank you Brita, Deanna, Joy, Tracy and Tricia for taking the time to speak with me.

VitalMail - Get Your Scores Daily

Vitalmail is a report that is useful to everyone in a company – from Customer Service Mangers to Executives alike. This report is not only free, but you can begin to receive it as soon as your first Point-of-Sale Survey is completed.

So what exactly is VitalMail? VitalMail is a daily snapshot of your organization’s performance. The day following any completed Point-of-Sale surveys, you will receive a VitalMail email containing your aggregated scores for BizRate’s standard Point-of-Sale and Fulfillment questions. Not only will you be able to see scores for the past day, but VitalMail also provides rolling scores for the past week and two-week time periods for comparison. In addition to scores, you will also get a random sample of five Point-of-Sale and five Fulfillment comments to review.

The VitalMail email is available to anyone in your company. Individuals can request to be added or a company distribution email can be provided to allow you to quickly and easily manage the distribution on your end. If you would like to learn more, please logon to the merchant site and login. You can see samples and learn more via the Research & Ratings tab or simply contact us and provide the desired email address(es).

Find Your Metrics Fast

One of the most common questions I get form merchants is “I use the BizRate survey, but where can I find my scores?” In addition to the number of free monthly reports that we produce, merchants can always access their data via the Merchant Site. By logging in with your secure username and password, you can gain access to 30 rolling days of customer scores and comments for the standard Point-of-Sale and Fulfillment metrics as well as comments by week or by day. Finding the data is easy – just look under the Research & Ratings tab and click ‘VitalSigns’ then choose either “Performance Summary” for data or “Comments”.

Performance Summary – You can view data for 17 metrics with just the click of a mouse, including:
· Ease of Finding What You’re Looking For (POS)
· Overall Look/Design of Site (POS)
· Selection of Products (POS)
· Clarity of Product Information (POS)
· Charges Stated Clearly Before Order Submission (POS)
· Prices Relative to Other Online Merchants (POS)
· Variety of Shipping Options (POS)
· Shipping Charges (POS)
· Availability of Product You Wanted (FF)
· On-Time Delivery (FF)
· Product Met Expectations (FF)
· Customer Support (FF)
· Order Tracking (FF)
· Would Shop Here Again (FF)
· Overall Rating (FF)

You can choose to view all of these metrics, or just the ones that you are focused on by choosing the check box next to each area. The POS metrics are pre-selected, but you can choose to de-select them as well.

Comments – One of the most popular uses for VitalSigns is downloading comments. The comments include the data, comment and email address for those who have agreed to share their information; for customers who have not agreed to share, the email address appears as xxx@domainname.com. If you have not signed up and would like to get started, then please contact us.

QuickResponse Allows You To Do The Unexpected

One of the most effective and popular tools in BizRate's suite of customer feedback products is QuickResponse. Its simplicity is what makes QuickResponse so useful.

Here's how it works: QuickResponse is a triggered email (to an address that you designate) that contains the open-ended comments that your customer leave in when they complete the BizRate Ratings & Feedback Form. Your buyers leave comments, they can characterize the tone of their comments as either positive or negative (or both), and they can attribute the topic to range of a topics, from billing to shipping charges.

BizRate's Ratings & Feedback platform also allows retailers to pass customers' order numbers and up to five product SKUs into the feedback form. When retailers use this Data Pass Through feature, we pipe these values into the QuickResponse email, which enables retailers to quickly associate the comments to a specific customers' order.

Below is a sample QuickResponse email; it originates with your buyers' email address as the From Address and can be directed to multiple email addresses with your organization.



Most retailers that subscribe to QuickResponse have the emails directed to their customer service operations. This allows subscribers to promptly respond to budding customer service issues before they erupt into something unmanageable.

QuickResponse Allows You To Do the Unexpected.
Everyone has a personal story about how a retailer or service provider has done something so out of the ordinary that it causes even disgruntled customers to pause with delight and converts them into evangelists or promoters. One of the most compelling applications of QuickResponse is to do just that; something that is so unexpected that it leaves your customers delighted and feeling valued.

In my inaugural post, I noted how Ralph Lauren delighted and surprised me with a prompt and genuine response to a comment I left in the BizRate feedback form after making an online purchase. I've since made another purchase at Ralph Lauren (what can I say, I'm an emerging Shopaholic) and left another comment in the feedback form. Again, Ralph Lauren promptly responded to my comments in a way that left me feeling like a valued customer.

Ralph Lauren, along with countless other retailers, uses BizRate's QuickResponse to unexpectedly delight their customers with prompt responses to their feedback and comments, to avert customer service snafus and to simply stay in-touch with their actual buyers. In doing so, they build loyalty and boost their customer satisfaction.

So, if you're already using the BizRate Customer Feedback Platform but aren't subscribing to QuickResponse, all you need to do is tell us where to send your customer comments. It's even easier than getting started and it too, is free.

Welcoming New Network Participants

Last quarter, almost 350 merchants started using the BizRate Ratings & Customer Feedback Platform. In this post, I’d like to introduce you to 10 of them. What struck me as most compelling about this list of 10 merchants is that many of them have been in business for years and years. In fact, one such merchant, Meijer, was founded in 1934 and continues to operate as a multi-products retailer in the Midwest. Another recent addition to our network is Skates On Haight, based in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco; their About Us page states that they started out “as a tiny hole in a wall with a cardboard counter and a shoebox for a cash register.”

That retailers who have been building their businesses for decades use our customer listening tools says more about the value of the feedback platform than we could ever say ourselves. Please join me in welcoming these 10 stores plus almost another 340 to our ever growing network!


Best Insoles
Best Insoles carries the complete Spenco Line of arch supports and insoles, as well as Superfeet Insoles, Lynco Insoles, SOF Sole Insoles, Powerstep Arch Supports, Sole Insoles & Orthopedic Sandals and other brands.
Overall Rating (on a scale of 1 - 10): 9.1
Would Shop Again Rating (on a scale of 1 - 10): 9.1
Customer Service Rating (on a scale of 1 - 10): 9.0
Customer Certified: Yes


Bradford Exchange Checks
Affiliated with The Bradford Exchange, a recognized leader in collectibles since 1972, they sell personal checks with exclusive, beloved art masterpieces at an exceptional price
Overall Rating (on a scale of 1 - 10): 8.6
Would Shop Again Rating (on a scale of 1 - 10): 8.5
Customer Service Rating (on a scale of 1 - 10): 8.4
Customer Certified: Yes


Bumble and Bumble
In business for over 30 years, they operate under the mission of becoming the best hair care products in the world through the continous process of self-examination and re-invention.
Overall Rating (on a scale of 1 - 10): 9.2
Would Shop Again Rating (on a scale of 1 - 10): 9.2
Customer Service Rating (on a scale of 1 - 10): 9.0
Customer Certified: Yes


Cableorganizer
Offers simple but effective products that help you organize the cord clutter in your home and office.
Overall Rating (on a scale of 1 - 10): 8.8
Would Shop Again Rating (on a scale of 1 - 10): 8.8
Customer Service Rating (on a scale of 1 - 10): 8.4
Customer Certified: Yes


discountgolfworld.com
Discount Golf World retails golf clubs, bags, golf shoes, equipments, golf cart accessories and golf balls.
Overall Rating (on a scale of 1 - 10): 8.8
Would Shop Again Rating (on a scale of 1 - 10): 8.8
Customer Service Rating (on a scale of 1 - 10): 8.4
Customer Certified: Yes


meijer.com
Meijer is a one-stop shopping experience, where you'll find a wide selection at great values. A family-run business since 1934.
Overall Rating (on a scale of 1 - 10): 8.8
Would Shop Again Rating (on a scale of 1 - 10): 8.6
Customer Service Rating (on a scale of 1 - 10): 8.4
Customer Certified: Yes


Pretty Skin 4 Less
Decades of experience in the esthetics industry, including medical esthetics and spa products and services.
Overall Rating (on a scale of 1 - 10): 9.4
Would Shop Again Rating (on a scale of 1 - 10): 9.5
Customer Service Rating (on a scale of 1 - 10): 9.0
Customer Certified: Yes


Skates on Haight
The online store for San Francisco, CA based Skates On Haight, which has been in business since 1975. They started as a tiny hole in a wall with a cardboard counter and a shoebox for a cash register. Now they ship worldwide to over 100 countries!
Overall Rating (on a scale of 1 - 10): 9.0
Would Shop Again Rating (on a scale of 1 - 10): 9.0
Customer Service Rating (on a scale of 1 - 10): 8.7
Customer Certified: Yes


Sweetwater
Launched in 1979 as a 4 track recording studio, Sweetwater today offers products from hundreds of the best names in the music business.
Overall Rating (on a scale of 1 - 10): 9.6
Would Shop Again Rating (on a scale of 1 - 10): 9.5
Customer Service Rating (on a scale of 1 - 10): 9.6
Customer Certified: Yes


The History Channel
The online store for The History Channel where you can order favorites shows from "Band of Brothers" to "Monster Quest".
Overall Rating (on a scale of 1 - 10): 9.1
Would Shop Again Rating (on a scale of 1 - 10): 9.0
Customer Service Rating (on a scale of 1 - 10): 8.8
Customer Certified: They’re Working On It

Ratings: They Boost Your Search Engine Listings Too!

Earlier this week, I had an opportunity to speak with Greg Goodson and Greg Davis, of Backcountry.com about how they're using the BizRate Ratings & Customer Feedback Platform (we're going to come up with a better name; if you've got any good ideas, let us know!).

As its website states, Backcountry.com is a pure online retailer focused on outdoor gear for the serious recreational athlete. Backcountry.com has been using the BizRate ratings platform for nine years, has collected over 100,000 points of customer feedback, is BizRate Customer Certified standing, and is a Circle of Excellence winner five years running! Their commitment to customer satisfaction is as genuine as their passion for the outdoors.

The primary purpose of our talk was to discuss how Backcountry.com used BizRate's suite of customer insights & feedback tools. Their biggest application of our tools is in running monthly reports on trended views of customer satisfaction, and using the data to provide training and feedback to their Customer Service Representatives.

But, Greg Goodson expressed another really interesting benefit to using the BizRate Ratings platform: better ranking in Google Product Search. Backcountry.com, along with just about every other online retailer, uses Google Product Search to drive traffic to their site.

Google has done a great job of crawling, from various sources, customer-generated seller ratings. And, they seem to ascribe a decent amount of importance to seller ratings that are compiled from the BizRate platform. When shoppers search for products, the results also include a reference to those sellers' ratings.

In Greg's opinion (and he's been at the traffic acquisition game for a couple of years), the seller ratings help boost the rank of a seller's product search results, all things being equal. With an aggregate rating of 4.5 stars (out of 5) in Google Product Search, Backcountry.com seems to show up quite prominently. When I searched for a Kelty Villa Tent, they are in the third and fifth positions; and, when I filtered by stores with a rating of 4 stars or more, they occupy the first and third positions.

And, the Googlejuice didn't seem to stop there. I search for Arc'Teryx, one of my favorite brands of ski apparel. For the term, Arc'Teryx Softshell Pant, Backcountry.com (and related properties) occupied positions 1 - 4 in Google Product Search.

In addition to helping boost positional rank in Google Product Search, both Gregs noted that their ratings also helped instill buyer confidence, which tends to result in better conversion rates.

So, if tapping into the voice of your customer and enabling a feedback loop isn't reason enough to use BizRate Ratings & Customer Feedback Platform, perhaps getting a boost in Google Product Search and seeing better conversions on that traffic might appeal to you. In this economy, I'd say: Yes!

Get Certified!

Becoming BizRate Customer Certified is one of the most important things a company can do. Posting the Customer Certified Medal on every page throughout your site shows customers that you value their feedback. It also provides a quick snapshot of your recent performance for both your review and your customers, as it is updated daily with your new overall score. In addition to the medal you can post on your site, a ribbon will appear next to your store name in the BizRate and Shopzilla Report Card pages.

Getting started on the road to certification is easy – post the BizRate Survey Code! You can download and post the BizRate Survey and BizRate Customer Certified Medal codes at the same time. Go to the Shopzilla Merchant Services Website and login with your username and password; the codes are located under the Research & Ratings tab. The Customer Certified Medal will be blank until you begin to collect surveys and then it will dynamically appear with the words "rate this store". Once you become Customer Certified by meeting these qualifications, your medal will dynamically generate with the smiley scale face for your overall score:

1. Offer the Point-of-Sale (POS) at least 30 times in the past 7 days
2. Receive at least 20 Fulfillment (FF) surveys related to POS surveys from the past 90 days
3. Receive a 6.0 or above in all standard metrics

The BizRate Customer Certified medal is unique because it isn’t awarded or granted by BizRate, but rather by your customers based on their feedback. The medal is a great tool because it allows you to show off not only your scores, but also your customer feedback. More than just an image on your site, this medal is actually a link to the BizRate Report Card Page, allowing your customers to quickly see feedback from others, or leave their own, with just 1 click. If you need assistance, please contact us, we’re always here to help.

Ready, Set, Listen!!

When you’re ready to listen and tune-in to your customers, you can easily do so with BizRate’s Customer Satisfaction & Feedback Platform. This post details how to get started. And, one of the best parts about the service is: it’s FREE!!

Step 1: Create a Shopzilla Merchant Account.
In addition to running Shopzilla.com and BizRate.com comparison shopping websites, Shopzilla, Inc. operates the BizRate Customer Satisfaction & Feedback program. All you need to start using the feedback program is a Shopzilla Merchant Account. When you register, we’ll ask you to activate your merchant account by way of email (so make sure you look out for our activation email that we send within 1 minute of your registering). After you activate your account, we’ll prompt you to fund your account. Only do this if you also want to buy CPC traffic from BizRate.com and Shopzilla.com. Otherwise, simply disregard this prompt.

If you already have a Shopzilla Merchant Account, you can skip this step. If you have an account, but have forgotten your password, you can recover it.

Step 2: Pick Up the BizRate Ratings Code.
Log-in to your Shopzilla Merchant Account and click on the Ratings & Research Tab. Then click on Survey Code in the sub-nav. Copy the Java Script; do not alter it any way.

Step 3: Paste the Code on Your Site’s Final Receipt Page
Once you’ve copied the Java Script, simply paste it on your store’s final receipt/check-out page. You can easily implement this code on any number of the popular ecommerce platforms such as Yahoo! Stores, Zoovy, and osCommerce. Your platform provider may have additional information on where to place this code.

When buyers reach the final receipt page, the Java Script spawns an “invitation” that links them to the ratings and feedback form. The invitation looks like the one below.

This invite is served to over 350,000 buyers shopping from thousands of different retailers every single day. When the buyers click on the invitation, it links them to the BizRate Ratings Survey & Feedback Form. The survey is between 2 and 4 pages takes about 2 minutes for a respondent to complete.

To incorporate your store’s logo in both the survey invitation and the survey form, simply upload your logo using the Logo Manager feature from within your Shopzilla Merchant Account

That’s it! It’s really that easy to get started. From there, you’ll begin collecting feedback and ratings. You can access your ratings and customers’ comments via a number of tools, including VitalSigns, VitalMail and QuickResponse, each of which we’ll discuss in further detail in subsequent posts.

If you have any additional questions, please comment on this post or contact us.

Enabling The Voice of the Consumer

Over 12 years ago, with the introduction of our Customer Feedback & Ratings platform, BizRate.com innovated the web’s first retail customer satisfaction feedback loop. This widely adopted platform enables the voice of the consumer to openly provide feedback to retailers and other shoppers and simultaneously gives retailers the tools to listen to their customers and measure their satisfaction.

So pervasive is the platform's use that, since its inception, it has captured over 100,000,000 consumer opinions from more 13,000 retailers. Given that every day, over 350,000 online shoppers are invited to rate their just completed shopping experience, it represents one of the more prolific sources of user generated content on the web. Retail brands as widely recognized as Saks, J. Crew, Ralph Lauren, Staples, Victoria’s Secret, REI and Zappos have been using the feedback loop and ratings platform for years to continuously monitor their customers’ satisfaction levels and to benchmark themselves against industry peers. And, retailers without quite the name recognition as those just mentioned but no less committed to their customers’ happiness also rely on this feedback loop. Names like Autobarn.com, backcountry.com, WorldOfWatches.com, and WineChateau.com not only use the platform to listen to their customers, but to help build their merchant reputation, which they accomplish – in part – when they become Customer Certified.

We are encouraged that retailers like Black Helmet Apparel actually celebrate their achievement in becoming Customer Certified as they did in a recent tweet. It’s something worth celebrating because retailers know that their customers use the BizRate feedback loop to express their frustration or, in the case of Amy Meehan, share their delight in how they’re treated by the stores at which they shop. Amy tweeted that she used the BizRate to successfully resolve an order fulfillment issue with MAC Comestics. And, I too have taken delight from the response I get from retailers when talking to them through the megaphone that is the BizRate survey. In May, I placed an order Ralph Lauren; I used the BizRate survey to express my surprise that standard shipping might take as many as 10 days (who can blame me when I’ve grown accustomed to Amazon Prime and Zappos’ free overnight shipping?!). Within 1 hour of submitting my feedback, I received an email from Ralph Lauren customer support that satisfactorily addressed my comment.

As effective as it is, the BizRate Customer Feedback & Ratings platform is not without limitations. A personal frustration is the absence of a social web that ties together all the Bizrate Merchant Ratings & Reviews. With all the ratings attributed to Online Shopper (the generic ID that we associate to all our reviewers), I have no idea who shopped where. Perhaps, I’d ascribe more credence to the reviews of a top 100 reviewer or to someone who rates multiple stores. We do know, though, that some shoppers have rated multiple purchases across a number of different stores. In fact, some dedicated customers have provided feedback to the same store for over 6 years. I, for one, would like to unmask this elusive Online Shopper and give her/him an identity by way of an account that lets them catalog and update their ratings and reviews of the stores at which they shop. I expect we’ll be able to do that in the coming year.

Going forward, we’d like to use this forum to showcase how retailers use the BizRate Customer Feedback & Ratings platform to listen to their customers, build their reputations and create long-term loyalty. We’ll also use it to provide more detail around the portfolio of products that comprise the platform and to introduce new features. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please contact us.