UK Online Shoppers Prize User Ratings

APRIL 7, 2008

But only if the reviews are believable.

Shopping is a separate activity for most Internet users—sometimes leading to a purchase, sometimes not—but it is a key step in the decision to buy.

According to a report from BazaarVoice, an online ratings facilitator, and JupiterResearch, whether they intend to buy online or off, online shoppers in the UK find other people’s ratings and reviews, price comparisons and product images to be the useful features on retailers’ sites.

However, trust in customer reviews online was highest only when the pros and cons of a product were given, or when both positive and negative reviews were shown.

Lisa Phillips, senior analyst at eMarkter, said that online marketing tools such as search and online videos ranked far down the list for two possible reasons.

First, the survey asked about retailers’ Web sites specifically, where shoppers may have landed after using an outside search engine. "If the retailer had done its search engine optimization thoroughly, the shopper/searcher would land on the product page, not the retailer’s home page," Ms. Phillips said.

She also pointed out that the survey was co-sponsored by a company that offers online ratings tools, which may have affected the 70% response rate for “ratings and reviews.”

A separate recent report from search conversion agency Tamar, conducted by YouGov, found that young UK men were most influenced by negative product reviews (59%), while fewer young women (47%) took negative reviews by other shoppers as seriously.

The UK is Europe’s most advanced e-commerce market, according to the country's Office of National Statistics.

eMarketer estimates that 77% of all UK Internet users ages 14-plus will buy something online in 2008. Individuals will spend an average of £1,921 ($3,798) online, a 21% increase over 2007.