Australian social marketplace for parents Tell Me Baby is joining forces with product reviews and user-generated content (UGC) solutions provider Bazaarvoice.
Tell Me Baby currently features more than 50,000 authentic consumer reviews of infant products.
The partnership will enable Bazaarvoice’s Australian retail and brand customers to display Tell Me Baby’s review content on their own site, to enhance shopper engagement, boost SEO and increase sales.
Tell Me Baby CEO Mat Colbron says the partnership will help brands hear directly from their consumers.
“Unfortunately, many brands offering baby products have had to close the doors of their bricks-and- mortar stores throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, some of them permanently," Colbron says.
"Tell Me Baby’s partnership with Bazaarvoice offers those brands the chance to amplify parent-to-parent recommendations on their websites, providing them with an invaluable influence over their customer’s purchase decision that traditional marketing struggles to provide.”
Despite the economic downturn, the $2.9 billion Australian baby retail sector is booming.
Bazaarvoice’s data from thousands of retail and brand partners around the world shows the baby vertical segment experienced a 71% boost in online sales for the year ending April 30, 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated eCommerce adoption and with this, the increasing significance of consumer reviews in shaping purchase decisions.
A recent survey from Tell Me Baby found that consumer reviews are the single most trustworthy source of information, ahead of recommendations from retail staff or reviews from influencers and bloggers.
Nearly all Australian parents (98%) said consumer reviews influence their buying decisions when choosing baby products and 88% read three reviews, or more, before making a purchase.
One in five Australian parents are reading more consumer reviews now than they were pre COVID-19.
Bazaarvoice managing director APAC Kate Musgrove says the reliance by consumers on their peers’ opinions was here to stay.
“When it comes to buying products for infants, parents ultimately want to hear from other parents. User-generated content has a profound influence on shoppers’ decision making," Musgrove says.
"When shoppers engage with reviews our clients see an average of 138% lift in conversion."
The partnership with Bazaarvoice will extend the reach of Tell Me Baby’s platform to assist retailers in driving conversions, allow brands that sell through these retailers to connect directly with their customers and also continue to support parents in making buying decisions easier with the help of trusted reviews from other parents.
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