A recent Bizrate Insights/Forrester Research survey finds that online consumers believe that marketplaces are providing them with the opportunity to find and purchase products from a multitude of retailers in one convenient location.  Married with trust in the checkout and order fulfillment processes, today’s marketplaces could become the much coveted “universal shopping cart” some shoppers dream about.

One-stop, trusted shopping is the key benefit of a good marketplace

33% of online shoppers have purchased from a marketplace.  Most of these shoppers cite an appreciation of the convenience offered by marketplaces and the ability to find items and retailers they may not have otherwise found.  However, what is most instrumental is that a well-established marketplace can help give online consumers the confidence to purchase from an unfamiliar retailer.

Ratings and reviews influence purchase decisions from unfamiliar retailers

Supporting the notions of trust and confidence in retailers, most online customers familiar with marketplaces note that ratings and reviews of retailers in the marketplace influence purchase decisions; 88% of this group actively look for ratings as a part of their purchase decision.

Marketplaces add enough value to garner repeat visitation

Of those consumers who had recently made a purchase through a marketplace, nearly 3 in 5 would repurchase through the same marketplace again when considering the purchase of the same item in the future.  Only 11% would go directly to the retailer site to purchase and 26% are not sure where they would go next.

For more information, please download the free PDF report here.

About the Survey

The 2012 Bizrate Insights/Forrester Research Marketplaces Survey was conducted in partnership with Sucharita Mulpuru at Forrester Research.  Data was collected via the Bizrate Insights survey platform and offered to online buyers immediately after purchasing from the Bizrate Insights Network of over 5,000 ecommerce retailers in the US and Canada.  Data from this study was collected from 11,736 online buyers from March 7– March 18, 2012.

For over 12 years, Bizrate Insights has helped retailers listen to their customers in a way that is fast and measurable, resulting in insights, action, conversation, and customer loyalty.  The Bizrate Insights customer feedback and ratings platform allows retailers to collect seller ratings directly from verified customers.  Standard ratings are published across the leading comparison shopping site, Bizrate.com, and syndicated across the web’s largest search engines to help drive conversion and traffic.  Collecting over 16 million surveys annually, Bizrate Insights is one of the largest sources of consumer-generated review content in the world, delivering actionable insights and valuable shopper data to key decision makers in e-commerce.

Use this certification to give customers confidence and to support conversion. Prominently display the Bizrate Customer Certified medal on your site.

Click here to find out more about the Customer Certified medal and how to implement it on your site!

Another way to bolster customer confidence and conversion is to publish individual customer comments. Take advantage of the free Bizrate Insights Testimonials widget for an automated, formatted and packaged presentation.

Here is a sample of AnytimeCostumes.com testimonials:

See more ratings for AnytimeCostumes.com at Bizrate.com

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The packaged Testimonials are available in 5 different sizes – please click here for additional information and examples of each size. Please also see our Publishing Guidelines for guidance on other publication ideas you may have.

Congratulations on your achievement, and please contact us if you have any questions about how to get sta

Use this certification to give customers confidence and to support conversion. Prominently display the Bizrate Customer Certified medal on your site.

Click here to find out more about the Customer Certified medal and how to implement it on your site!

Another way to bolster customer confidence and conversion is to publish individual customer comments. Take advantage of the free Bizrate Insights Testimonials widget for an automated, formatted and packaged presentation.

Here is a sample of Club Monaco-Canada’s testimonials:

See more ratings for Club Monaco-Canada at Bizrate.com

Brought to you by

The packaged Testimonials are available in 5 different sizes – please click here for additional information and examples of each size. Please also see our Publishing Guidelines for guidance on other publication ideas you may have.

Congratulations on your achievement, and please contact us if you have any questions about how to get sta

Use this certification to give customers confidence and to support conversion. Prominently display the Bizrate Customer Certified medal on your site.

Click here to find out more about the Customer Certified medal and how to implement it on your site!

Another way to bolster customer confidence and conversion is to publish individual customer comments. Take advantage of the free Bizrate Insights Testimonials widget for an automated, formatted and packaged presentation.

Here is a sample of Vistaprint’s testimonials:

See more ratings for Vistaprint at Bizrate.com

Brought to you by

The packaged Testimonials are available in 5 different sizes – please click here for additional information and examples of each size. Please also see our Publishing Guidelines for guidance on other publication ideas you may have.

Congratulations on your achievement, and please contact us if you have any questions about how to get sta

Use this certification to give customers confidence and to support conversion. Prominently display the Bizrate Customer Certified medal on your site.

Click here to find out more about the Customer Certified medal and how to implement it on your site!

Another way to bolster customer confidence and conversion is to publish individual customer comments. Take advantage of the free Bizrate Insights Testimonials widget for an automated, formatted and packaged presentation.

Here is a sample of Dover Saddlery’s testimonials:

See more ratings for Dover Saddlery at Bizrate.com

Brought to you by

The packaged Testimonials are available in 5 different sizes – please click here for additional information and examples of each size. Please also see our Publishing Guidelines for guidance on other publication ideas you may have.

Congratulations on your achievement, and please contact us if you have any questions about how to get started!

Use this certification to give customers confidence and to support conversion. Prominently display the Bizrate Customer Certified medal on your site.

Click here to find out more about the Customer Certified medal and how to implement it on your site!

Another way to bolster customer confidence and conversion is to publish individual customer comments. Take advantage of the free Bizrate Insights Testimonials widget for an automated, formatted and packaged presentation.

Here is a sample of Club Monaco’s testimonials:

See more ratings for Club Monaco at Bizrate.com

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Congratulations on your achievement, and please contact us if you have any questions about how to get started!

This is the first in a series of Consumer Pulses on Social Image Sharing and Online Shopping by Bizrate Insights.

The rise of Pinterest has brought much attention to the growing community of social image sharers, folks who collect and share images from around the web through social image sharing sites.  Retailers are searching for how to leverage the new tool for customer acquisition and engagement.   Bizrate Insights recently launched a new series of studies investigating how online consumers are shopping through this emerging channel.

Social image sharing sites such as Pinterest are inspiring product consideration and purchases

Over 37% of online consumers have heard of at least one of the most popular social image sharing sites*.  Pinterest leads in both awareness and visitation, with 36% aware and 19% visiting.  Of those who have visited at least one of the most popular social image sharing sites, over 1 in 4 have made a purchase based off of images found on the site.  An additional 37% have found items they have wanted to purchase but did not at that time.

*Social image sharing sites include: Pinterest, Juxtapost, Discoveredd, Fancy, Polyvore.

Next up in our series: Who visits and/or buys more, women or men?

Please email us to make sure you get on our report distribution list for our second installment.

For more information, please download the free PDF report here.

About the Survey

The Bizrate Insights Social Image Sharing and Online Shopping Series is a set of surveys conducted via the Bizrate Insights survey platform and offered to online buyers immediately after purchasing from the Bizrate Insights Network of over 5,000 ecommerce retailers in the US and Canada.  Data from this study was collected from 3,741 online buyers from March 22– March 26, 2012.

For over 12 years, Bizrate Insights has helped retailers listen to their customers in a way that is fast and measurable, resulting in insights, action, conversation, and customer loyalty.  The Bizrate Insights customer feedback and ratings platform allows retailers to collect seller ratings directly from verified customers.  Standard ratings are published across the leading comparison shopping site, Bizrate.com, and syndicated across the web’s largest search engines to help drive conversion and traffic.  Collecting over 16 million surveys annually, Bizrate Insights is one of the largest sources of consumer-generated review content in the world, delivering actionable insights and valuable shopper data to key decision makers in e-commerce.

Use this certification to give customers confidence and to support conversion. Prominently display the Bizrate Customer Certified medal on your site.

Click here to find out more about the Customer Certified medal and how to implement it on your site!

Another way to bolster customer confidence and conversion is to publish individual customer comments. Take advantage of the free Bizrate Insights Testimonials widget for an automated, formatted and packaged presentation.

Here is a sample of Orthotic Shop’s testimonials:

See more ratings for Orthotic Shop at Bizrate.com

Brought to you by

The packaged Testimonials are available in 5 different sizes – please click here for additional information and examples of each size. Please also see our Publishing Guidelines for guidance on other publication ideas you may have.

Congratulations on your achievement, and please contact us if you have any questions about how to get started!

Use this certification to give customers confidence and to support conversion. Prominently display the Bizrate Customer Certified medal on your site.

Click here to find out more about the Customer Certified medal and how to implement it on your site!

Another way to bolster customer confidence and conversion is to publish individual customer comments. Take advantage of the free Bizrate Insights Testimonials widget for an automated, formatted and packaged presentation.

Here is a sample of Boatstore.com’s testimonials:

See more ratings for Boatstore.com at Bizrate.com

Brought to you by

The packaged Testimonials are available in 5 different sizes – please click here for additional information and examples of each size. Please also see our Publishing Guidelines for guidance on other publication ideas you may have.

Congratulations on your achievement, and please contact us if you have any questions about how to get started!

Use this certification to give customers confidence and to support conversion. Prominently display the Bizrate Customer Certified medal on your site.

Click here to find out more about the Customer Certified medal and how to implement it on your site!

Another way to bolster customer confidence and conversion is to publish individual customer comments. Take advantage of the free Bizrate Insights Testimonials widget for an automated, formatted and packaged presentation.

Here is a sample of Grainger’s testimonials:

See more ratings for Grainger at Bizrate.com

Brought to you by

The packaged Testimonials are available in 5 different sizes – please click here for additional information and examples of each size. Please also see our Publishing Guidelines for guidance on other publication ideas you may have.

Congratulations on your achievement, and please contact us if you have any questions about how to get started!