In competitive markets, the emphasis you place on service can make all the difference. That’s what Trueshopping Ltd – a UK based online retailer specialising in home & lifestyle products – has realised. After collecting and sharing online reviews actively, they have seen remarkable results across the majority of their 18 different websites. That includes an 8.33% overall website conversion rate and a huge increase in the number of brand searches after achieving Seller Rating Extensions on their Google ads.

“People expect to see reviews these days”

It all started with the need to give their potential customers the information they are really looking for.

Peter Lilley, Director at Trueshopping Ltd says:

“People now expect to see reviews. Simply publishing reviews on the websites leaves a positive impression and increases overall trust. We’re confident in our service offering and are happy to share our reviews, which is why we started collecting reviews. Trustpilot Business really stood out when we were researching for a vendor for our online reviews back in 2011, and this solution seemed to tie in with Google really well.”

Top ratings on six websites

Getting up and running with Trustpilot Business happened quickly. Trueshopping Ltd used Kickstart Credits to get started and they received their first reviews within a few days. That proved the concept, so they began collecting reviews across several of their websites. Today, they are working with fixed goals for all the sites they are collecting reviews for. They aim for a TrustScore of 9 on all their sites, which is the equivalent to a five-star rating. So far, they enjoy five-star ratings on six of their websites, and they’re still going strong.

However, the most remarkable results come from distributing their online reviews.

“We have added the TrustBox displaying reviews on our websites and on our Facebook pages. We are proud of our reviews, so we share them wherever we can,”

Peter Lilley says.

Shared reviews almost doubles brand searches

Trustpilot has a licensing agreement with Google, so reviews may appear in Google Shopping Merchant Reviews and Google AdWords Merchant Reviews, which adds a star rating next to the ad. Trueshopping Ltd achieved those star ratings – also known as Google Seller Rating Extensions – and saw results on their AdWords campaigns improve the following ways:

• The overall CTR on their ads improved by 3.85 %
• Organic brand searches almost doubled (went from 4.8% to 7.96%)

Ultimately that means more business for Trueshopping Ltd:

Peter Lilley
Director, Trueshopping Ltd

“After implementing widgets displaying the most recent reviews directly on our websites, we achieved a remarkable result: Overall website conversion rate increased by 8.33%”

Reviews make the company more customer-focused

At Trueshopping Ltd, Trustpilot reviews fall under the jurisdiction of both the Marketing and Customer Service departments. Daily management of reviews is handled by Customer Service, while Marketing ensures that reviews are shared in the right places. One of the upsides of this arrangement is that the company becomes more customer-focused.

“I do enjoy using Trustpilot – the fact that all of our customers are given the opportunity to give us ‘no holds barred’ feedback is definitely a very positive thing in my opinion. I love the transparency it gives to our business, and we are very concerned about maintaining the ‘shop window’ for the business and putting things right when customers have told us something’s wrong. The fact that we generally have good scores across our sites is something that makes me very proud,”

Peter Lilley, Director, says while stressing another benefit:

“Being a pure play online retailer makes it more challenging to engage with your customers directly. By getting reviews in every day, you are continuously reminded what your customers need and what you are in business for in the first place.”

Posted on http://business.trustpilot.com/customers/case-studies/trueshopping/