86% of consumers say it’s essential when making a purchase decision, however almost all bricks and motor retailers are failing to provide it.
It’s not a new tech innovation; you’ve all been utilising this online for a while now – reviews and ratings.
Reviews and ratings are not just a tool online marketers can leverage, real-time product ratings can also be presented at the shelf edge, without intervention from staff on the shop floor.
How? Electronic shelf labels.
The mock up above demonstrates how a liquor retailer could present customer ratings, the James Halliday industry rating and a product QR code using an electronic shelf label.
Electronic shelf labels give retailers the ability to display product information in real-time. This doesn’t need to be limited to price, displaying customer and industry ratings, as well as social data can be invaluable to converting a sale.
Presenting this clearly at the shelf edge also means that customers don’t need to jump on their phone to check further product information, a behaviour which can lead to showrooming.
Having said that, driving customers to your own online property, like your website or mobile app for example, is a good strategy. Here QR codes are used to take customers directly to their product of interest, where they can read full product descriptions, view videos and check complete reviews.
However, make sure that you’re online and offline prices are aligned, as you don’t want to send customers online only to find that there’s a lower price advertised. Luckily synchronising prices with electronic shelf labels is easy, and should be part of your overall omni-channel strategy.
The mock up above demonstrates how an electronics retailer could present customer ratings, Facebook products likes and a product QR code using an electronic shelf label.
“Only price impacts purchase decisions more than ratings and reviews.”
In 2015 PowerReviews found that 95% of consumers use reviews, whilst 86% say they are essential when making purchase decisions; and nearly one-third of consumers under the age of 45 consult reviews for every single purchase.
