Arasp Biparva BMGT350 Petco Case Petco s integration of a customer review section for its products on its website is a strong indicator of a customer centric strategy especially as one of the first major retailers to adopt such reviews By providing a forum for customers to interact with the pet product giant Petco has the opportunity to learn much about its customers Once the customer reviews got rolling they could instantly manage knowledge about their best customers The interaction between the customer and the company on a public forum has a viral effect Also those who feel compelled enough to write a review who may even write one great 4 paw review for every seven 1 2 paw reviews are Petco s most valuable customers They rate products and enhance the costumer web experience at little cost to Petco The CEO has even said that the enhanced experience results in less returns as browsers can see which products their peers preferred This in turn leads to less returns by dissatisfied customers which covers the cost of developing the review system and leads to more satisfied loyal customers Upon glancing at different products across different categories there appear to be many more positive reviews than negative ones From dog grooming products to cat travel bags to chinchilla cages to ferret habitats to any type of animal food there seemed to be at least one marketable customer review that could be pulled from a 4 paw review An e mail newsletter could feature a review for a product from each of the aforementioned categories in order to attract a wide variety of Petco customers A Nielsen BuzzMetrics study found that the majority of people who write product reviews on the web are empty nesters aged 55 64 and young transitionals under 35 In order to appeal to these customers and attract further market segments Petco could offer a variety of promotions through their website Initially point of sale promotions in store can invite the customer to the website by offering a nominal discount for their e mail address in order to add them to a newsletter or a deferred rebate upon completing an online review for each of the products they purchased that day These incentives can apply point of sale online as well Other strategies that can be directly implemented online could be incentives for writing reviews discounts on purchases over a certain minimum or free shipping or price match guarantees All these promotions are incentives for customers to continue loyalty and will attract more simultaneously For those companies that are hesitant to implement a customer review forum or posts for individual products I would persuade them by pointing to a number of advantages First in a world where Facebook and other social media are taking over consumers want to constantly be in touch with their peers While in 2003 only a fifth of people surveyed by the Edelman Trust Barometer said they trust their peers over experts that number jumped to over half in 2007 Another 2007 study published by Marketing Sherpa stated that 58 of respondents said the strongly prefer sites with customer reviews Voight Today s number is surely higher as nearly every major online retailer and most traditionally brick and mortar retailers have moved to post customer product reviews on their websites A company hesitant to implement reviews is lagging and at a comparative disadvantage Secondly the opinions of customers can be actively compiled into a knowledge database which can be used by the company to improve products enhance the customer experience and build loyalty and relationships Third like Petco s CEO stated the enhanced experience and availability in reviews leads to a drop in returns Less returns means more profits Finally I as a consumer never buy a product online without consulting multiple sites to find a good price however I actively check reviews to see if I am actually looking at a good product worth what I am paying As more and more companies across the retail industry adopt customer reviews my consumer experience has improved
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