Companies put their faith in Web 2.0 authors as sales advisers

Reviews from the Web community have a positive effect on a company’s image
70 per cent of Internet users read user tips

The majority of Internet users go to forums for information.

Social commerce increasingly important
User forums on the Web are extremely popular. Some 70 per cent of Internet users at least occasionally consult them for advice and suggestions on products and services that have been posted there by other Web users. Three out of four surfers read other customers’ ratings before buying. Brand manufacturers and online retailers can profit actively from customer recommendations. Experience reports and blogs frequently beat other promotion activities hands down for credibility. In effect, this gives Web 2.0 authors sales adviser status. These are the findings of the trend survey "Vernetzte Kunden - Wie Web 2.0 das Online-Shopping verändert” (Online consumers - how Web 2.0 is changing online shopping) conducted by novomind AG in collaboration with wiwo.de and handelsblatt.com.
 
Opportunity for exchanging notes with other Web users makes online shops more attractive
The important thing for companies is to provide visitors to their Website with the broadest possible forum for interactive exchange. Some 80 per cent of respondent Internet users consider online reviews to be an important facility of an online shop. Both sides can profit from forum dialogue. It is much easier for companies, for example, to develop and offer the right products and services in consultation with their customers. Other advantages are that access to such customer information is virtually free and that additional visitors are attracted to the online shop. The users of such forums can obtain different independent opinions about products before deciding whether or not to buy.
 
Companies can take advantage of the forums’ greater credibility
Sellers and retailers benefit most of all from the great credibility of user recommendations. Some 30 per cent of the Internet community consider the tips of other Internet users to be reliable. By contrast, product information straight from producers and retailers is perceived as being less credible. What’s more, recommendations from other customers and blog entries are frequently not only more recent than some product information supplied by the producer, but also written in a way that is much easier to understand. This means that Internet users take on the role of multipliers by informing others about available products. Critical reviews also have their place, however. Consistently good ratings would make visitors sceptical and probably drive them away to independent forums.
 
Classic customer communication remains unaffected
Classic customer communication channels will not disappear because of Web 2.0 offers. Nearly 90 per cent of respondent Internet users consider e-mail correspondence with the customer service agent to be important. Nearly one-third would like to see live real-time chat introduced for putting specific questions to sellers. Since nearly every second customer expects to receive an answer within an hour, speed is of the essence. E-mail management systems, such as novomind iMailTM, for example, can do much to relieve the companies’ load by automatically analysing and routing incoming mail. An e-mail management system therefore improves service quality and ensures speedy and personalised communication with the customer.
 
Background information
The report on the trend survey "Vernetzte Kunden - Wie Web 2.0 das Online-Shopping verändert" presents the findings of an online survey conducted for novomind AG in collaboration with wiwo.de and handelsblatt.com. The survey investigated where the latest trends lie with Web 2.0 applications and how customers use them. The survey was conducted during the period from 30 January to 28 February 2007. Altogether 374 end consumers took part.
 
novomind AG: innovative software for professional customer communications
novomind is a software developer in Hamburg and the fastest-growing company in the field of electronic customer communications and mail management. As the leading provider of innovative solutions for digital customer communications, novomind AG provides software for service-oriented and personalised customer dealings. The software not only optimises efficiency in customer administration significantly, it also gives the user a faster return on investment. The portfolio of the Products division includes the novomind Self-Service SuiteTM. The software package contains all the communication modules necessary for a customer service centre on a central knowledge basis: e-mail management, virtual customer consulting and systems for interactive, real-time communication. The novomind AG Services division implements complex e-business applications. More than 40 major companies have already decided in favour of novomind technology, among them Citibank, Otto, Yello Strom and the German pension institution Deutsche Rentenversicherung Bund. Club Bertelsmann, EnBW and Mexx as well as public-sector users, such as the German Bundestag (parliament) and the German Department of Trade and Industry, have already successfully introduced novomind systems to optimise their customer communications, turnover and PR.

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