The biggest change we will see is better discounts online, as well as large retailers deciding to restrict in-store traffic, or in some cases, shutting down entirely during the commercial event.
This may not be surprising, given that the volume of online shopping has dramatically increased since the pandemic began. More and more consumers are now familiar and comfortable with shopping online, as shown by a Statista study according to which, global e-commerce traffic has increased by 6% from January to March 2020*.
Another significant change concerns the length of the event. Traditionally, the Black Friday sale has extended in length every year, and 2019 saw the event last for more than two weeks, with pre-sale deals happening earlier than expected. This year Amazon has gone another step forward, starting its sale a month earlier. In the UK, since the retailer giant brought the event online, Black Friday has overtaken other big annual sale events like Boxing Day and the January sales.
With 98%* of UK’s consumers planning to buy online and shoppers already eyeing up deals and researching products, ratings and reviews are key for both manufacturers and retailers.
On average around 70%** of Europeans state to actively look for reviews before making a purchase, with consumer electronics topping the list for the most sought-after reviews.
Most shoppers read between 5 and 10 reviews and about half of them state they value reviews just as much as the advice of family and friends**. Also ratings strongly contribute in generating trust towards a product or a service. When it comes to assigning stars, more than 60% of shoppers state to only trust companies with at least 4 stars, whereas another 32% is satisfied with 3**.
Only 3 out of 10 products get reviews
While nearly everybody seems to be interested in reading reviews, according to our most recent study** only around 50% of European shoppers write reviews “sometimes”, mostly due to lack of motivation (53%).
Only approximately 3 products out of 10 get reviewed online, with younger millennials being the most reluctant target group to share their experience.
How can brands ensure their products get the right online exposure in order to increase sales?
Activate a Crowd of real shoppers
At Roamler we work with a Crowd of thousands of shoppers active throughout Europe who are constantly connected to our platform via our mobile app. This allows us to profile the most suitable target audience to test products and services and to ensure reviews are available on the most relevant platforms within established timeframes.
Real customers, authentic reviews
Authenticity is key to gaining the trust of potential new customers and to driving sales. Letting a Crowd of real shoppers share authentic opinions is crucial to winning more consumers and challenging competitors.
Whether a product is already on the shelves or about to be launched, at Roamler we have significant experience in letting our Crowd test products and produce accurate and unbiased reviews by the time they are available to consumers.
Would you like to know more about how our Crowd-supported ratings and reviews solutions can help your business increase visibility and sales? Contact us!
More about Ratings and reviews? Read here