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Bazaarvoice, the online ratings and reviews technology provider, has seen its London office grow substantially since January this year. A string of high profile client wins, including nationwide brands Boden, Early Learning Centre, Halfords, QVC UK, Screwfix and Wickes, has propelled team growth 500%, largely in client service roles.
Justin Crandall was recently appointed as UK Managing Director. Crandall originally joined Bazaarvoice as US Sales Director in 2006, and previously held the post of Commercial Director in the UK.
Crandall leads a London-based team of Community Managers, Implementation Managers, Business Development and Sales and Marketing staff. His team’s focus is to continue growing the UK market while providing guidance and support to Bazaarvoice’s clients to help them leverage user-generated content to drive measurable results.
Launched in the UK in February 2007, Bazaarvoice’s products include flagship platform Ratings and Reviews, customer to customer helpdesk application Ask & Answer and Stories. Most recently, Bazaarvoice won a ClickZ Marketing Excellence Award for its Ask & Answer application, which was called “the killer app for all websites” by the judges. The company has posted more than 20 case studies online, proving the measurable value of its products.
Bazaarvoice looks after more than 270 top brands worldwide, helping them incorporate the customer voice into their businesses. In the UK, Bazaarvoice now works with 30 companies across 11 industries, and serves over 100,000,000 UK product reviews each month. The company will be holding its first client summit on 4 November to discuss social commerce strategies with clients and partners, as well as hosting premier speakers such as Emma Jenkins from Proctor & Gamble UK, Internet Retailing editor in chief Ian Jindal and New Media Age editor in chief Michael Nutley.
Recent research from IMRG* forecasts the credit crunch will drive Christmas shoppers online to seek out product information and competitive prices; with up to 68% of consumers using online stores.
An E-consultancy report** released in August shows that 62% of consumers are more likely to use online reviews, written by fellow shoppers, before making a purchase decision in the future.
“UK retailers have heard the message from consumers that product reviews and opinions from their peers are extremely valuable and becoming a standard site feature they expect to see,” said Justin Crandall, UK MD of Bazaarvoice. “That trend will only grow during challenging economic times when people need assurance from the experiences of other customers to give them the confidence to buy.”
*IMRG research
IMRG Research Reveals Online Christmas Shopping is Set to Grow Strongly in 2008 4 - September 2008
** E-consultancy: Online Shopping and Credit Crunch Survey Report - August 2008
About Bazaarvoice
Bazaarvoice (bazaarvoice.co.uk) is a social commerce technology company. It helps over 270 brands globally including Boots, Halfords, Wickes, Thomas Cook, QVC, Fnac, 3 Suisses and Boden to harness and amplify customer online word of mouth.
Bazaarvoice’s products - Ratings & Reviews, Ask & Answer™ and Stories™ - are social commerce applications that drive sales. They enable customers to review products, ask and answer questions and share stories online; enhancing the online shopping experience and allowing them to make more informed and rewarding purchase decisions. Benefits for the retailer include content ownership, seamless customisation, increased search engine optimisation impact, advanced analytics and syndication across the web. Retailers can also leverage the content generated across on and offline marketing channels.
Founded in 2005, Bazaarvoice has offices in the UK, US, France and Singapore. The company was named in 2007’s Red Herring Global 100.
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