Date published: 01.09.08 - not release date

Halfords successfully launches customer ratings and reviews online to enhance purchase decisions on the web and in-store

Car and travel specialist Halfords adds Bazaarvoice Ratings and Reviews and Ask & Answer to improve customer experience and drive sales.

Halfords, the nationwide car accessories and travel products retailer, has successfully launched customer ratings and reviews on its website; improving the consumer shopping experience and driving sales online and across its chain of 435 stores.

Social commerce company Bazaarvoice has implemented Ratings & Reviews and its ‘customer to customer help desk’ product Ask & Answer. Bazaarvoice Ask & Answer allows customers to pose questions about a product publicly on the site and get answers from actual users or Halfords’ product specialists; complementing Ratings and Reviews to provide shoppers with all the information they need to make a purchase decision.

Halfords is using its customers’ voices to encourage brand loyalty and to help it more deeply engage with its customer base.

“We’ve had a very positive response so far from our customers – almost 800 questions have been submitted and this is all organic activity,” said Jon Asbury, Channel Development Manager at Halfords. “we are about to launch a post-purchase e-mail and onsite adverts promoting the launch, which we know will drive customer review volume massively. The views of other customers are increasingly valuable in forming buying decisions and will improve the quality and relevance of information available on Halfords’ site; in turn having a positive impact on sales.”

Bazaarvoice’s advanced word-of-mouth analytics tools will allow Halfords to listen to its customers’ opinions in order to align marketing and merchandising strategies with customer tastes and preferences.

“Research has proven that reviews and recommendations from peers are the most helpful sources for gathering product quality and performance information,” said Sam Decker, Chief Marketing Officer of Bazaarvoice. “Halfords is taking an important step toward building customer engagement, loyalty and buying confidence by adding these new capabilities to its business. It will also give Halfords the opportunity to build an online customer community.”

About Bazaarvoice
Bazaarvoice offers outsourced technology, services, analytics, and expertise to help companies enhance the online shopping experience with social commerce applications that drive sales. Bazaarvoice Ratings & Reviews™, Ask & Answer™ deliver immediate success by minimizing implementation risk and maximizing the strategic impact of user-generated review content through complete customization, deep integration, and community management, advanced analytics, search engine optimization, and syndication across the Web and to offline channels.

Bazaarvoice was named in the 2007 Red Herring Global 100 and 2006 Red Herring Top 100 lists and received the 2006 ClickZ Marketing Innovation of the Year award. Bazaarvoice currently serves over 200 eCommerce leaders including Dell, Macy’s, Office Depot, PETCO, QVC, Screwfix and Timberland. The company is headquartered in Austin and has offices in London, Paris, and Singapore. For more info, please visit the company’s Web site at www.bazaarvoice.com, read the blog at www.bazaarblog.com, or e-mail info@bazaarvoice.com.

For further info please contact:
Claire Armitt
flannel
01273 779449
claire.armitt@no-flannel.com