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.