Electrolux empowers shoppers to buy confidently with review collection and syndication

Electrolux Australia uses UGC to increase sales at retailers online and in stores

Today’s consumers research products in a variety of channels, though a majority of sales happen at retail – both online and at brick-and-mortar stores. Savvy brand marketers drive consideration, awareness and conversion among shoppers in the digital and in-store aisle with authentic, voice-of-the-customer content.

Electrolux, one of the world’s largest appliance manufacturers, empowers shoppers to buy confidently by collecting user-generated content (UGC) using Bazaarvoice Ratings & Reviews and distributing it to retail sites online.

Our research in shopper behaviour has confirmed that reviews have been a strong influencer of consumers in their shopper journey, said Michelle Rossier, Marketing Manager of Consumer and Ownership Experience at Electrolux.

The company has gathered more than 6,000 reviews across its brands in Australia, including Westinghouse, AEG, Simpson, and Kelvinator. This volume is especially impressive considering the sites are non-ecommerce, which always presents a challenge for brands.

To collect the reviews for the broad range of products, including refrigerators, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, and other home appliances, the brands send customers a post-interaction email asking for a review when they register a product on the brands’ sites. In one instance, AEG collected more than 1,400 reviews in one week from a post-interaction email. As a result, the product coverage increased from 57% to 72%, meaning a vast majority of products at AEG now have reviews. In addition, the number of 4-star and 5-star reviews rose from 91% to 95%.

Leveraging the Bazaarvoice Network of more than 5,700 brand and retail sites, the Electrolux brands distribute these reviews to key retail sites. As a result, thousands of reviews appear where most of the products are actually purchased. For example, retailer Harvey Norman has gathered nearly 5,000 reviews and Appliances Online more than 1,000 reviews from content initially collected on the Australian brand sites. A majority of reviews on those retail sites came from the brands.

The key value has been amplifying our reviews for retail channel success. Consumers typically visit retailer sites when doing research as part of the purchase cycle. Having distributed reviews has helped showcase our quality, and in some cases, our brand differentiation, said Rossier.

The reviews are also fueling offline sales success. Approximately 60% of appliance shoppers first read reviews online before purchasing in-store, according to Bazaarvoice research based on 4.5 million data points across dozens of global retailers. This number continues to grow year-after-year, especially as consumers increasingly rely on their mobile devices as a shopping tool while in-aisle.

With an omnichannel approach to UGC, Electrolux ensures customers have the kind of information they want to buy with confidence wherever they shop.