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The Retail Social Proof Barometer 1 THE RETAIL SOCIAL PROOF BAROMETER HOW TOP RETAILERS MATCH UP TO CONSUMER EXPECTATIONSThe Retail Social Proof Barometer 2 The Retail Social Proof Barometer How top retailers match up to consumer expectations People buy from people. While this core sales principle has been driving revenue in physical retail for decades, many eCommerce businesses are unsure how best to help customers conveniently discover the right products online.Social proof tactics offer a cost-effective and scalable way to recreate the person-to-person experience by showing shoppers which products are resonating with their peers. But with the broad range of possible social proof tactics available, finding the right mix for your brand can be tricky. We embarked on extensive research, matching the web and email initiatives of 50 IRUK Top 500 retailers with the opinions of 2000 British consumers to find out what consumers expect, and which tactics help lead to a purchase. Along the way, weve discovered which brands are excelling in social proof, and who is just scratching the surface. Keep reading to discover: The three key pillars of social proof wisdom of the crowd, user and celebrity social proof The tactics that shoppers expect when making a purchase decision The brands that harness social proof well and the ones who are just scratching the surfaceHow to determine the right mix for your brandThe Retail Social Proof Barometer 3 Contents User social proof . 4 Ratings and reviews . 4 User Generated Content (UGC) . 9 Wisdom of the crowd . 13 Product recommendations . 13Popularity messaging . 16 Celebrity & influencer social proof . 19 Key findings at a glance . 23 Top retailers . 23 Top verticals . 24 Action points for retailers . 25 Retail Social Proof Ranking . 27The Retail Social Proof Barometer 4 USER SOCIAL PROOF When making a purchasing decision, consumers look for unbiased sources of information. Shoppers are also more inclined to be influenced by the people most similar to them - fellow customers. Retailers can leverage the power of user social proof with User Generated Content (UGC), specifically product ratings, reviews and customer photos. Ratings & reviews Product ratings and reviews increase consumer trust in your brand because they come directly from customers who have used your products. Retailers can collect this authentic feedback from existing customers, and display this alongside product information on the website and in emails to reassure shoppers as they research and compare options.What do consumers want? Ratings and reviews are top considerations in the purchase process, with over half of shoppers finding them useful, topped only by detailed product descriptions and images (70%) and shipping and returns information (62%): NEARLY HALF (46%) of consumers will extensively research products & compare options before purchasing TWO THIRDS OF CONSUMERS find detailed product reviews useful when making a purchase OVER HALF OF CONSUMERS look for star ratings when making a decision 56% 1 IN 3 SHOPPERS read 3 - 4 product reviews before making a purchase decision 1 IN 3 CONSUMERS are sceptical of brands that fail to share product reviews 30% 37% 61% And the more reviews, the betterThe Retail Social Proof Barometer 5 How do retailers shape up? 61% of customers find reviews useful 58% of retailers offer reviews online Retailers offering reviews in web and email content Beauty 100% Jewellery & accessories 60% Electronics 60% Footwear 50% Fashion 20%The Retail Social Proof Barometer 6 Missed opportunities Fashion and footwear brands could be missing out by not adopting ratings and reviews. Since customers cant touch or try on items as they can in store, customer feedback provides a valuable additional source of information to help them choose the right product - potentially reducing return rates. Reviews could also provide customer-led insights for the design of future collections. With inboxes overflowing, brands have a limited opportunity to capture recipients attention. Since consumers rank ratings and reviews as key parts of the decision-making process, retailers across all verticals could be leaving potential buyers behind by omitting this information from bulk and triggered emails. Marketers can easily incorporate product feedback in emails by automatically pulling product review content from a trusted eCommerce ratings and reviews provider or in-house solution. Ratings and reviews across channels 18% show stars on homepage 42% show stars on product listing page 58% show reviews on product detail page 54% show stars on product detail page “ “ 4% show stars in newsletters 8% show stars in shopping recovery emailsThe Retail Social Proof Barometer 7 Retailer highlightsBoost conversions by emphasizing top rated products Prominently displaying a customer favorite sparks interest by implying that its worth looking at. Adding a rave review builds authority and trust, and shows that your brand values customers input. SpaceNK creates a buzz around one particular product by featuring it prominently on the homepage with a star rating and customer review:Tempt back shoppers with ratings and reviews in recovery emails When sending recovery emails, retailers can give customers additional encouragement to click through by including star ratings and product reviews. For an undecided shopper, this could be the final motivation needed to make a purchase. In this example, LOccitane uses both stars and ratings to boost click throughs, and supplements these with product recommendations in case the browsed products dont do the trick.The Retail Social Proof Barometer 8Inspire shoppers with featured product reviews Lush features selected customer reviews in a format similar to tweets on product listing pages (PLP) and product detail pages (PDP). This is particularly engaging as it presents useful information in a familiar social media format. Although the reviews have been curated and are not in real time, the tweet format creates a sense of immediacy.The Retail Social Proof Barometer 9 User Generated Content (UGC) User generated content is the perfect social proof tactic for a world driven by social media. We love taking photos and sharing stories about our everyday lives. So why not leverage this to let your loyal customers become your best marketers? Whats more, customers trust posts and photos from fellow customers far more than content created by marketers. 1 IN 3 SHOPPERS (29%) prefer to see a product as it is worn or used by real people as opposed to professional product images.What do consumers want? Many customers prefer to see a product worn or used by real people, rather than professional product images. But the impact of this tactic varies depending on your target audience. How do retailers shape up? 29% of customers find product photos from other customers useful 16% of retailers offer UGC ONE THIRD OF CONSUMERS prefer UGC over professional product imagery 2 IN 5 MILLENNIALS find product photos from other customers useful when making a purchase decision (29%) (41%)The Retail Social Proof Barometer 10 Retailers offering UGC in web and email content Beauty 30% Jewellery & accessories 0% Electronics 30% Footwear 10% Fashion 20%The Retail Social Proof Barometer 11 Missed opportunities Showing UGC on web pages and in emails can help build a sense of community that retailers across all sub-verticals and especially brands with a younger, image-conscious customer base - such as sneaker brands - could benefit from. Retailers selling products that shoppers prefer to try on, like fashion, jewellery and footwear, could also boost conversions and reduce return rates by showing images of real people wearing the item on product pages. To keep the manual effort to a minimum and content fresh, real time social feeds can be incorporated to automatically pull the latest posts into web pages and emails. UGC across channels 6% show UGC on homepage 0% show UGC on product listing page 10% show UGC on product detail page 4% show UGC in welcome series 2% show UGC in newsletters 0% show UGC in shopping recovery emails WELCOMEThe Retail Social Proof Barometer 12 Retailer highlightsShowcase the best customer shots Make your customers your best marketing assets by showcasing user generated images in email newsletters, and crediting customers for their work. Here, Jessops includes a photo of the week taken by a customer using Jessops photo products. Not only does this inspire customers with ways they can use the equipment, but it also creates a sense of community by shouting out the customer for their good work. Increase engagement on product detail pages Help customers imagine how the product will fit into their life by showing inspiring images of real people using the item. Bose includes a social media feed alongside technical details to appeal to customers emotions as well as giving practical information:The Retail Social Proof Barometer 13 WISDOM OF THE CROWD When faced with the unknown, we tend to follow the logic that a group of people collectively makes better decisions than the individual. Telling consumers what others are purchasing adds urgency and makes stock more desirable, without changing anything about the product or the price. Demonstrating that a product is popular with similar shoppers could be the crucial factor in preventing a bounce or an abandoned cart. Product recommendations Offering recommendations is a tactic as old as retail itself. In physical stores, sales clerks have been trained to help close the sale and increase the average order value by suggesting products the customer might like. Technology now allows retailers to mimic this experience online. Using a product recommendation engine, marketers can suggest items based on a combination of crowdsourced data, business rules, and social proof. For example, retailers can highlight most-viewed or top-rated products. The effectiveness of product recommendations can be increased by filtering them based on a customers individual preferences. How do retailers shape up? When consumers were asked which types of product recommendations had persuaded them to make a purchase, more than one in four (26%) cited Top-rated products. However, retailers are failing to capitalize on this opportunity to move customers towards a conversion. TOP SELLERS Consumers influenced by this recommendations type Retailers offering them 28% 22% FREQUENTLY BOUGHT TOGETHER CUSTOMERS WHO VIEWED THIS ALSO BOUGHT 19% 14% 21% 12% 26% 0% TOP RATEDThe Retail Social Proof Barometer 14 Missed opportunities Of the retailers surveyed, none were suggesting top rated products. With a quarter of consumers saying they are influenced by this type of recommendation, this is a real missed opportunity. Retailers across verticals could be using product ratings and reviews to inform product recommendations and increase conversions. Retailers could especially benefit from including a mix of social proof product recommendations in email, where wisdom of the crowd has the power to increase click throughs and move customers towards a purchase. Product recommendations by channel 26% show top sellers on homepage 8% show top sellers on product listing page 6% show top sellers on product detail page 4% show top sellers in newsletters 0% show social proof product recommendations in shopping recovery emailsThe Retail Social Proof Barometer 15 Retailer highlightsUse best selling products to boost bulk email performance Bulk emails traditionally have lower KPIs than triggered emails, as there isnt one specific product that the customer has expressed an interest in. In this scenario, showing top selling products encourages customers to click through. Here, Glasses Direct showcases popular products in its email newsletter.Engage customers straight away with product recommendations in welcome emails Recommending popular products is helpful for new customers who may not be familiar with your offering. In this example, photo retailer Wex Photo Video welcomes new subscribers by sharing recommendations for frequently browsed cameras. This is supplemented with rating stars to reassure first-time shoppers.The Retail Social Proof Barometer 16 Popularity messaging Consumers desire items more when they are popular or scarce and are driven by a phenomenon known as fear of missing out (FOMO). This is good news for retailers. Marketers can encourage a sense of urgency by using real time product data and stock levels to demonstrate scarcity (“there arent many left!) and popularity (“lots of people are buying this!”).What do consumers want? Urgency messaging has the potential to increase conversions, with almost half (43%) of consumers citing stock levels as a key consideration when making a purchase. ALMOST HALF OF CONSUMERS (43%) of con
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