While BizRate hosts several services which are geared specifically towards supporting customer care teams, we also help merchants track metrics that lead to better conversion rates.  Additionally, we recently launched our abandonment survey that not only is free, but also helps merchants measure the success of their websites by considering the voice of customer.  Combining this qualitative knowledge with the quantitative trends helps get at the “why” when testing new layouts and creatives, and understanding why a customer visits and leaves without purchase.

Our standard point-of-sale survey captures these 8 metrics to help track factors that influence conversion:

• Ease of finding what you’re looking for
• Overall look and design of site
• Clarity of product information
• Selection of products
• Charges stated clearly before order submission
• Prices relative to other online merchants
• Variety of Shipping options
• Shipping Charges

These metrics are found on our daily VitalMails and Vital Signs where you can track performance on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.  You can also contact us to sign up for the free BizAdvisor report which not only provides regular snapshot of your website’s performance, but also how you compare to other retailers in your category.  Couple that with our abandonment reporting which breaks out visitors, cart abandoners, and check-out abandoners and you have a quite a comprehensive outlook…FOR FREE. Yes. For free.

I recently had the chance to catch up with Colin Eggleston, Customer Interaction Specialist at Bodybuilding.com. Bodybuilding.com has used BizRate’s Ratings & Customer Feedback platform since 2006, and in that time has demonstrated a strong commitment to listening to and serving their customers’ needs.

In the past few years, Bodybuilding.com has collected over 100,000 ratings (becoming Customer Certified in the process) and just won its first Platinum Circle of Excellence Award – a huge accomplishment! In light of this success, I wanted to talk to Colin about how Bodybuilding.com uses BizRate’s Ratings & Customer Feedback tools, and what they find most valuable.

Bodybuilding.com has integrated BizRate’s Ratings & Customer Feedback into their weekly Executive strategy meetings, paying close attention to both their survey scores and their customer comments. “We live and die by these numbers,” Colin stressed. Colin utilizes tools such as VitalMail, Vital Signs and a respondent level data file to put together these weekly reports. While the Executive Team looks at all of the survey scores, three areas of focus are the Net Promoter® score, customer support and shipping charges/options.

Bodybuilding.com constantly looks to their customer feedback as a guide for where to make improvements. While they are known for their superior customer support, their scores related to shipping were due for some improvement. Colin mentioned that while reading through customer comments recently, they noticed numerous complaints about the type of packing material that was being used in their shipments. After taking that feedback into account, they decided to make the switch from butcher paper to air bag inserts. Customers have been happy with this change, and it has had a positive impact on Bodybuilding.com’s ratings.

They also tried out a new shipping promotion a couple of months ago to see if that had an effect on their scores. According to Colin, “We take these numbers seriously, and take action where needed.” Having constant access to ratings and feedback helps Bodybuilding.com zero in on where changes need to be made, and to measure the effects of the programs they implement.

Upcoming initiatives for Bodybuilding.com include utilizing Data Pass Through (for country code and product sku (currently in beta)) to look at how scores differ between domestic vs. international customers, and to delve into product-level satisfaction.

Thank you for taking the time to talk to us Colin, and congratulations to Bodybuilding.com on its Platinum Circle of Excellence Award!

Earlier this week, I touched base with part of the online team from Hot Topic, Inc., which operates brick and mortar and online retail stores under the Hot Topic, Torrid and ShockHound brands. On the call were Brita Womack, Director of hottopic.com; Tricia Burch, Producer for torrid.com; and supporting all three sites, Deanna Steele, Director of Internet Operations; Joy Hussey, Customer Service Manager; and Tracy Hagerman, Online Marketing Manager.

Hot Topic’s commitment to customer satisfaction is evidenced by the 16 collective years that they’ve been using the BizRate Ratings & Customer Feedback Platform. Hot Topic has utilized the BizRate Ratings & Customer Feedback Platform since 2000, during which time it has maintained its Customer Certified standing and has collected over 150,000 customer ratings! Torrid.com has been using the ratings and feedback platform since 2002; it too is Customer Certified and has compiled over 50,000 customer reviews.

During our call, we talked about the feedback tools that Hot Topic uses, how they use them to validate insights, and some of the features and services they’d like to see us offer.

Hot Topic uses the BizRate Customer Feedback Form to collect customer ratings and reviews, as well as our very popular VitalMail and VitalSigns service. The Hot Topic team uses data collected through our feedback survey to monitor trends in overall customer satisfaction. But, more importantly, they use the data to validate feedback they receive from their customers. For example, the team believed that they could better serve customers’ needs with respect to order shipping, in terms of both rates and the range of shipping options. Using the responses from the BizRate Feedback Form related to customers’ satisfaction with shipping, the team was able to validate their belief. And, with this data, they are a introducing some programs and promotions that will better address their customers’ shipping preferences.

Hot Topic’s most widely applied use of the ratings & feedback tools is in understanding what their customers are saying about them and their shopping experience and customer service experiences. Joy Hussey, who’s been with the company for about 8 years, shared with me that the team also relies heavily on our VitalMail and VitalSigns products, both of which provide specific customer comments that are collected through the feedback form. In cases where customers grant permission (in the feedback form) to share their email address, Hot Topic proactively contacts their customers to follow-up with them about the comments they made.

I also asked Hot Topic what they’d like to see from us going forward. They identified four opportunities where we could better serve them. They are:

1. Offer the ability to customize questions on their customer feedback form
2. Better support on customers’ questions about survey incentives and promotions
3. Faster turn-around time on adding subscribers to VitalMail
4. Offer a visitor and cart abandonment survey product

I was able to address most of these areas of opportunity during our call.

Custom Questions: Merchants can customize question in their feedback form; this is offered as premium, fee-based service.

Better Support on Survey Incentives: We utilize various incentives and promotions, such as our popular Daily Cash Giveaway, to help drive response to the surveys. We have a dedicated customer service team that handles all inquires about these incentives and promotions. When your customers contact you with questions or issues related to these promotions, you may simply direct them to our customer service team; we’ll immediately and professionally follow-up with these respondents on your behalf and, then we’ll circle back with you on the resolution of the issue.

Faster Turn-Around on Adding Subscribers to VitalMail and QuickResponse: We’re aware that this is an issue. We hope to better address this in the coming year by offering self-service subscription management to these products.

Visitor & Cart Abandonment Survey: We are currently in beta with a product that offers precisely this. Currently, we have one well-known, branded retailer using the product. (In the coming weeks, we’ll reveal in this blog who it is and what their thoughts are about it).

So, while in our first user interview with Backcountry.com, we heard about how they rely on the BizRate Ratings to help boost their rankings in Google Product Search, in this second interview, learned about how Hot Topic uses our products to find out what their customers are saying about them.

Thank you Brita, Deanna, Joy, Tracy and Tricia for taking the time to speak with me.

Earlier this week, I had an opportunity to speak with Greg Goodson and Greg Davis, of Backcountry.com about how they’re using the BizRate Ratings & Customer Feedback Platform (we’re going to come up with a better name; if you’ve got any good ideas, let us know!).

As its website states, Backcountry.com is a pure online retailer focused on outdoor gear for the serious recreational athlete. Backcountry.com has been using the BizRate ratings platform for nine years, has collected over 100,000 points of customer feedback, is BizRate Customer Certified standing, and is a Circle of Excellence winner five years running! Their commitment to customer satisfaction is as genuine as their passion for the outdoors.

The primary purpose of our talk was to discuss how Backcountry.com used BizRate’s suite of customer insights & feedback tools. Their biggest application of our tools is in running monthly reports on trended views of customer satisfaction, and using the data to provide training and feedback to their Customer Service Representatives.

But, Greg Goodson expressed another really interesting benefit to using the BizRate Ratings platform: better ranking in Google Product Search. Backcountry.com, along with just about every other online retailer, uses Google Product Search to drive traffic to their site.

Google has done a great job of crawling, from various sources, customer-generated seller ratings. And, they seem to ascribe a decent amount of importance to seller ratings that are compiled from the BizRate platform. When shoppers search for products, the results also include a reference to those sellers’ ratings.

In Greg’s opinion (and he’s been at the traffic acquisition game for a couple of years), the seller ratings help boost the rank of a seller’s product search results, all things being equal. With an aggregate rating of 4.5 stars (out of 5) in Google Product Search, Backcountry.com seems to show up quite prominently. When I searched for a Kelty Villa Tent, they are in the third and fifth positions; and, when I filtered by stores with a rating of 4 stars or more, they occupy the first and third positions.

And, the Googlejuice didn’t seem to stop there. I search for Arc’Teryx, one of my favorite brands of ski apparel. For the term, Arc’Teryx Softshell Pant, Backcountry.com (and related properties) occupied positions 1 – 4 in Google Product Search.

In addition to helping boost positional rank in Google Product Search, both Gregs noted that their ratings also helped instill buyer confidence, which tends to result in better conversion rates.

So, if tapping into the voice of your customer and enabling a feedback loop isn’t reason enough to use BizRate Ratings & Customer Feedback Platform, perhaps getting a boost in Google Product Search and seeing better conversions on that traffic might appeal to you. In this economy, I’d say: Yes!