By Aimee Chanthadavong
It’s now a common process for consumers to do their research before they decide to make a purchase, especially on large ticketed items.
Part of this process involves looking at peer reviews on websites like productreview.com.au or womo.com.au that are devoted to providing consumer feedback on products and services available in Australia.
One company that has seen this success is the local arm of European company ErgoFlex, an e-tailer that sells memory foam mattresses.
Ergoflex director Matthew White said consumer purchasing preferences are rapidly changing and are now influenced considerably by real user-generated recommendations.
“Approximately 90 to 95 per cent of consumers are navigating the internet before they make a purchase, especially because there’s so much concern when it comes to big ticket items like a mattress as it’s something they’ll be using for many years,” he said.
“And so as an e-tailer we had to cross a big hurdle. But what the reviews on our products did was reassure our customers. Without the reviews you’d have to really stretch your reach.
“But for any retailer you need to have a really great product and we’re grateful we have that. We’re also grateful our customers took the time to sit down and write those reviews.
“Those reviews really support the words we say and it makes customers feel comfortable they’re making the right purchasing decision and that’s the changing consumer behaviour we’re seeing where they’re taking the advice of others.”
Unfortunately, all reviews aren’t necessarily always positive, White said, but the company deals with them accordingly.
“We have learnt there are some people who write negative reviews but we also believe those who do write it aren’t our customers,” he said.
“When we do get a negative review we respond to those people to have them contact us to find out what why the product is not performing to their expectation and address the issue.”
But receiving positive reviews only makes up one part of a successful business.
“You might have the right product, but it’s got to be priced right and the quality of delivery service is essential,” White said.
“You also need to get your other marketing elements right like being present and appearing in all the right social media channels.”
As for the where the company is headed next. White said they might potentially look at bringing the experience offline but in the meantime “the current model works very well at the moment”.