The ConnectedEconomyInsights from the network

Insights from the network As marketers, we’re used to speaking in the millions and billions. We’re excited by these magnitudes — not frightened by them. Big Data has conditioned us to dig through mountains of noise until we strike signal, until we recognize patterns that tell us what we want to know.

Big numbers make it tempting to speak in abstractions, but it has never been more important to recognize that behind each data point is a person. Those signals are human signals, and those patterns tell us about how real consumers live their lives. The responsibility as marketers possessed of this data is to use it to serve those that supply it, the end consumers that buy our products and tell us how to make them better.

We’ve created this booklet to share some of what we’ve learned about consumers around the world — their attitudes and beliefs, preferences, behaviors, and more — from the billions of conversations that flow through our system every year.

Find more consumer insights in the following places:

Bazaarvoice blog: bazaarvoice.com/blog The Conversation Benchmarking Tool: bv-url.com/benchmarkingThe Conversation Index: theconversationindex.com

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The Connected Economy: North America Edition

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Table of ContentsInsights from the network 1

Travel 10

Apparel 14

Department Store & Mass Merchant 18

Consumer Electronics 22

Consumer Packaged Goods Manufacturers 26

Financial Services 30

Definitions 34

About Bazaarvoice 35

Sources 37

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Top 5 categories by average rating* out of 5 stars

4.494.504.534.544.63

Jewelry ProfessionalServices

Flowers& Gi�s

Media Sporting Goods& Outdoors

5*See page 36 for definition of these terms.

Top Performing Categories Did your category make the list of top performers by these critical measures?

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Top 5 categories by % lift in revenue* per visit for review readers

Apparel &Accessories

Department Stores& Mass Merchant

Housewares &Home Furnishings

Hardware &Home Appliances

Sporting Goods

63%

78%

81%

111%

178%

Apparel &Accessories

Department Stores& Mass Merchant

Housewares &Home Furnishings

Hardware &Home Appliances

Sporting Goods

90%

101%

109%

112%

201%

Top 5 categories by % lift in conversion* for review readers

Toys, Games& Hobbies

Health& Beauty

Media LuxuryApparel

Apparel &Accessories

40% 37% 32% 31% 29%

Pets Food,Beverage

& Drug

Health& Beauty

Media Jewelry

70% 69% 68% 67% 66%

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Top 5 categories by % repeat reviewers*

Top 5 categories by net promoter score*

*See page 36 for definition of these terms.

Consumers have no problem telling you what’s working, and what’s not. For these six common business types, the data is just as clear: User-generated content equals massive advantage.

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I think mobile is going to be 50 percent of travel booked within a few years. It’s up for grabs for anybody.”Carl Sparks1 CEO Travelocity

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Travel Compared to site visitors that did not read reviews, review readers in the Travel category experience average lift of 52% in page views per visit, 83% in time on site, 25% in repeat visits, 77% in conversion, and 61% in revenue per visit. No significant gains in Average Order Value were detected. These gains translate into sitewide gains of 1% each in conversion and revenue per visit.

The average rating in the Travel category is 4.14 out of 5 stars. Seventy-nine percent of Travel reviews are 4 stars or above. Twenty-two percent of reviews come from repeat reviewers. When shoppers post questions in the Travel category, 95% of the answers posted are from community peers (as opposed to employees).

Travel’s Net Promoter Score (NPS) is 46%, with 62% promoters and 16% detractors. Ninety-six percent of reviewers in this category input NPS.

of Millennials won’t rent a hotel room and 32% won’t book travel accommodations without first reading others’ opinions.

From Destination Millennials

39%13

All Clients

AVERAGEORDER VALUE

+7%

All Clients

CONVERSION+77%

All Clients

REVENUEPER VISIT

+61%

ROI Questions & Answers — Percentage lift for product pages

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We’re just doing what we’ve always done. We don’t do a lot of advertising. We try to let customers do it for us. Well that’s what social media is. It’s customers talking to each other — same thing as 20 years ago.”

Jamie Nordstrom2 President Nordstrom Direct

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of product suggestions across reviews in all categories, were “wishes” relating to color, style, or sizing, such as, “I wish these boots were available in brown.”

ApparelCompared to site visitors that did not read reviews, review readers in the Apparel category experience average lift of 93% in page views per visit, 130% in time on site, 9% in repeat visits, 178% in conversion, 201% in revenue per visit, and 9% in Average Order Value. These gains translate into sitewide gains of 8% in conversion and 9% revenue per visit.

The average rating in the Apparel category is 4.28 out of 5 stars. Eighty-three percent of Apparel reviews are 4 stars or above. Twenty-nine percent of reviews come from repeat reviewers. When shoppers post questions in the Apparel category, 57% of the answers posted are from community peers (as opposed to employees).

Apparel’s NPS is 62%, with 73% promoters and 10% detractors. Ninety-two percent of reviewers in this category input NPS.

From The Conversation Index Volume 3

42%17

73% 17%

Net promoter score

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Consumers’ store-related mobile activities are contributing to — not taking away from — in-store sales, and our research indicates that smartphone shoppers are 14% more likely to convert and make a purchase in the store than non-smartphone users.”

Alison Paul3 Vice Chairman Deloitte LLP

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of all reviews in the Department Store / Mass Merchant category mentioned shipping issues, second only to the Home Improvement category in our analysis. Almost half of customer reviews that

mentioned problems with shipping rated products very poorly — up to 80% lower than average product sentiment. So even if a customer loves a product, a shipping hiccup can ruin the experience — and make product ratings plummet.

Department Store & Mass Merchant Compared to site visitors that did not read reviews, review readers in the Department Store / Mass Merchant category experience average lift of 74% in page views per visit, 107% in time on site, 9% in repeat visits, 81% in conversion, 101% in revenue per visit, and 11% in Average Order Value. These gains translate into sitewide gains of 3% each in conversion and revenue per visit.

The average rating in the Department Store / Mass Merchant category is 4.27 out of 5 stars. Eighty-three percent of Department Store / Mass Merchant reviews are 4 stars or above. Twenty-five percent of reviews come from repeat reviewers. When shoppers post questions in the Department Store / Mass Merchant category, 68% of the answers posted are from community peers (as opposed to employees).

Department Store / Mass Merchant’s NPS is 56%, with 69% promoters and 13% detractors. Eighty-seven percent of reviewers in this category input NPS.

From The Conversation Index Volume 2

2%

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AVERAGE ORDER VALUE

11%

8%All Clients

Department Store

+0% +25%

CONVERSION

81%

85%All Clients

Department Store

+0% +200%

+200%

REVENUE PER VISIT

99%All Clients

Department Store

+0%

ROI Ratings & Reviews — Percentage lift for product pages

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One screen isn’t enough anymore. Consumers want their devices to be connected and they want their content to move freely between them.”

Tim Baxter4 President Samsung Electronics America

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Consumer Electronics Compared to site visitors that did not read reviews, review readers in the Consumer Electronics category experience average lift of 74% in page views per visit, 144% in time on site, 9% in repeat visits, 37% in conversion, 48% in revenue per visit, and 12% in Average Order Value. These gains translate into sitewide gains of 1% in conversion and 2% in revenue per visit.

The average rating in the Consumer Electronics category is 4.27 out of 5 stars. Eighty-five percent of Consumer Electronics reviews are 4 stars or above. Fifteen percent of reviews come from repeat reviewers. When shoppers post questions in the Consumer Electronics category, 34% of the answers posted are from community peers (as opposed to employees).

Consumer Electronics’ NPS is 53%, with 64% promoters and 11% detractors. Ninety-one percent of reviewers in this category input NPS.

of all Consumer Electronics reviews included the word “easy,” more than any other category. Consumers in more complicated purchase categories like Consumer Electronics

are typically looking for ease of use. 0.1% of the reviews that contained “easy” also contained both “quality” and “value.”

From The Conversation Index Volume 1

19%

The Connected Economy: North America Edition

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0 through 69s and 10s

% of Detractors% of Promoters

64% 25%11%

53%

Promoters Detractors Passive

Net promoter score for Consumer Electronics

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What could possibly be more important than what your consumers say about you?”Mary O’Connell5 Director of Global Digital Marketing Clorox Brands

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Consumer Packaged Goods Manufacturers Compared to site visitors that did not read reviews, review readers in the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) category experience average lift of 88% in conversion.

The average rating in the CPG category is 4.12 out of 5 stars. Eighty percent of CPG reviews are 4 stars or above. Twelve percent of reviews come from repeat reviewers.

CPG’s NPS is 65%, with 78% promoters and 14% detractors. Ninety percent of reviewers in this category input NPS.

Trending use of specific language reveals consumer interest. In CPG, mentions of “healthy,” “allergies,” and “organic” correlate to consumer sentiment and overall trends — even for these lower-consideration products.

From The Conversation Index Volume 4

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68%5

12%

3%

2%

10%

4

3

2

1

Rating distribution for Consumer Packaged Goods

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I think we’re always challenged with figuring out ways to engage customers in a meaningful way, and in a way that they need, rather than just trying to drive engagement for the sake of engagement — which generally falls flat in a category like ours.”

Shawn Morton6 VP of Social Products & Platforms JPMorgan Chase

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Financial Services The average rating in the Financial Services category is 4.44 out of 5 stars. Eighty-seven percent of Financial Services reviews are 4 stars or above. Six percent of reviews come from repeat reviewers.

Financial Services’ NPS is 57%, with 74% promoters and 17% detractors. Ninety-nine percent of reviewers in this category input NPS.

Turns out, customers for 20+ years rate financial products less favorably than new customers. Those who have been customers for less than a year rated products 8% more positively, on average, than these long-tenured clients.

But all is not lost: 77% of long-term customers said they would recommend their financial firms to others — they’re the second largest segment of promoters for these types of firms.

Plus, these customers contributed more content than any other group — they created 32% of total product reviews.

From The Conversation Index Volume 2

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FIN

AN

CIA

L S

ER

VIC

ES

4.44

ALL

CLI

EN

TS

4.28

74% 9%17%Promoters Detractors Passive

0 through 69s and 10s

% of Detractors% of Promoters57%

Average rating

Net promoter score

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Definitions Conversion Rate % Lift

What it is: The percentage of visits that end in a transaction, measured in percentage lift for visitors who have interacted with user-generated content over visitors who have not.

Why it’s important: Use this to determine the impact of user-generated content on closing the sale.

Average Order Value % Lift

What it is: Total revenue generated divided by total number of orders, measured in percentage lift for visitors who have interacted with user-generated content over visitors who have not.

Why it’s important: Use this to determine the impact of user-generated content on the dollar amount of the average transaction.

Revenue Per Visit % Lift

What it is: Total revenue divided by total visits, measured in percentage lift for visitors who have interacted with user-generated content over visitors who have not.

Why it’s important: Use this to determine the impact of user-generated content on the average revenue earned per visit.

Net Promoter Score (NPS)

What it is: Consumers’ likeliness to recommend your company.

Why it’s important: Use this to determine customer satisfaction — how your company is performing in the eyes of your customers.

Repeat Reviewers %

What it is: The percentage of total reviews written by those who have contributed two or more reviews over a specified period of time.Why it’s important: Use this to measure customer engagement and identify brand advocates.

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About BazaarvoiceBazaarvoice, a leading social software company, assists clients in bringing the voice of the customer to the center of business strategy. With over 2,000 clients globally, including over half of the Internet Retailer 500, over 20 percent of the Fortune 500 and over one-third of the Fortune 100, Bazaarvoice helps clients to leverage social data derived from online word of mouth content to increase sales, acquire new customers, improve marketing effectiveness, enhance consumer engagement across channels, increase success of new product launches, improve existing products and services, effectively scale customer support, decrease product returns and enable retailers to launch and manage on-site advertising solutions and site monetization strategies. This online word of mouth content can be syndicated across Bazaarvoice’s global network of client websites, shopper media sites and mobile devices, making the user-generated content that digital consumers trust accessible at multiple points of purchase. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Bazaarvoice has offices in Amsterdam, London, Munich, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Stockholm, and Sydney. For more information, visit www.

bazaarvoice.com, read the blog at www.bazaarvoice.com/blog, and follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/bazaarvoice.

Column Five Media created the visualizations for The Connected Economy, based on data from the Conversation Benchmarking Tool (bv-url.com/

benchmarking)

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Sources“The Connected Economy”

1. “Travelocity’s Carl Sparks found a job all about travel, but close to home,” Dallas Business Journal, October 2012 http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/print-edition/2012/10/12/carl-sparks-of-travelocity-found-a.html?page=all

2. “Shaking the Social Media Magic 8 Ball,” Apparel, September 2012 http://apparel.edgl.com/case-studies/Shaking-the-Social-Media-Magic-8-Ball82294

3. “Smartphones will Influence $689 Billion in Retail Store Sales by 2016: Deloitte Study,” Deloitte, June 2012 http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_US/us/press/Press-Releases/21b5a46ee8828310VgnVCM2000001b56f00aRCRD.htm

4. “Samsung’s Vision Of A Hyper-Flexible Gadget Empire At CES 2013,” readwrite, January 2013 http://readwrite.com/2013/01/07/ces-2013-samsung-press-conference

5. “Competing against ‘the other woman’: How CPG brands can win against private labels,” Bazaarvoice Blog, October 2012 http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/2012/10/08/competing-against-the-other-woman-how-cpg-brands-can-win-against-private-labels/

6. “Social Pros 24 – Shawn Morton, JPMorgan Chase,” Convince & Convert, July 2013 http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-pros-podcast/social-pros-24-shawn-morton-jpmorgan-chase/

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