Winning the digital shelf
Brands and retailers understand the importance of having great user-generated and brand content for their products to succeed in a hyper-competitive ecommerce channel. Great content drives more reach, shopper engagement, conversion and sales – and is the key to winning the “digital shelf.” One of the ways retailers compete in an hyper-competitive Amazon world is to work with brands to accept their syndicated content to ensure great coverage.
Reaching one billion ecommerce shoppers
PowerReviews has had a unique opportunity over the last four years to ensure that syndicating reviews and other user-generated content remain open, accessible and affordable. We created the PowerReviews Open Network to make it possible for brands and retailers of all sizes to reach more than one billion consumers wherever they shop each month.
This open and industry-friendly approach persuaded more than 800 brands to adopt the PowerReviews platform. At the same time, more than 25 of the world’s largest retailers joined hundreds of other retailers using the PowerReviews platform to participate in an open network.
Managing the transition to an open network
Recently, Bazaarvoice announced that on September 30, 2018, they will seek to require brands using PowerReviews to sign syndication agreements and pay exorbitant, unnecessary access fees to continue syndicating content to retailers using their platform.
PowerReviews has secured direct relationships with the largest retailers in the world not using our platform. PowerReviews will match content from brands that use our platform at no cost and provide retailers with an easy-to-ingest file. These direct relationships make signing new agreements and paying extra fees unnecessary. We can add new retailers quickly and easily upon request.
PowerReviews will also add additional value to brands by providing faster setup, up to 80% increases in product matching and enabling syndication of new content types such as Q&A and images.
Should Bazaarvoice attempt to block content against the wishes of their largest clients, it would be to the detriment of brands, retailers and consumers.
To be clear, let’s review the facts:
- PowerReviews has 1,000+ leading retailers and brands on our platform (including leading retailers such as Jet, Ulta, Dillard’s, Ace Hardware, and BJ’s Wholesale) accounting for billions in online sales and 500 million shopper visits.
- PowerReviews signed agreements with 25 of the largest retailers, reaching 1 billion shoppers using other review platforms (including in-house platforms) 18 months ago to directly syndicate content from brands using our platform.
- These retailers collectively reach more than one billion shoppers monthly, and represent the majority of the syndication network in terms of shopper visits and sales.
- PowerReviews has already started sending retailers fully matched and moderated files with millions of reviews from the 800+ PowerReviews brands.
- PowerReviews can onboard new retailers in 2 to 4 weeks, much faster than the current process.
This is a moment of truth for the market. Will Bazaarvoice defy the requests of their clients in a last-ditch effort to exert pricing control over a closed and proprietary network?
Will there be any disruption to network syndication?
Our goal is to minimize any disruption created by Bazaarvoice, particularly before the critical holiday shopping season. All retailers using PowerReviews will remain open and accessible to all brands without premium access fees. There are some retailers that are not yet accepting directly syndicated content. PowerReviews will work with any retailer to quickly onboard them at no cost on behalf of our brands and be fully transparent throughout this process.
Thank you
The team at PowerReviews is working tirelessly on behalf of our clients and the industry to ensure an open syndication network for all. Brands and retailers need a competitive and open network that delivers more content coverage, reach, and innovation. We’ve heard from many of you and I want to personally thank you for allowing us to advocate on your behalf. Here are FAQs to answer questions immediately. For any additional questions, please contact our VP of Network (Jim O’Brien) and VP of Client Success (Jessica Teji).
Matt Moog
matt.moog@powerreviews.com
