DISCUSSION
Will customer reviews boost online sales for Albertsons, Safeway and Vons?
Written by RetailWire Staff
Source: albertsons.com
Customers visiting the websites of Albertsons and some of its banner grocers will soon get to see what other customers thought about the products they are browsing.
Albertsons recently announced that it is implementing reviews and ratings online for 11 of its grocery chains in conjunction with review platform PowerReviews, according to a press release. The banners include Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco and Shaw’s.
Brands will also be able to syndicate their own user-generated review content onto the grocer’s websites.
One study says that 83 percent of online grocery shoppers are more likely to purchase a new grocery item if there are reviews for it.
Reviews have become a familiar fixture in online shopping, appearing for all types of products on online marketplaces like Amazon.com and increasingly for online grocery, though not all studies have been so bullish about their value.
Research by PowerReviews finds that online grocery shoppers are most interested in reviews on products in the personal care (79 percent), home care (72 percent), shelf-stable foods (49 percent), frozen foods (41 percent) and soft drink (37 percent) categories. Eighty-one percent of consumers are interested in accessing reviews with their phones while shopping in a supermarket.
“Customer-generated ratings and reviews empower purchase decisions,” Jill Pavlovich, SVP of digital customer experience at Albertsons Cos., said in a statement.
RetailWire visited Walmart.com and found that, while the grocer has customer reviews and ratings for CPG products, it does not have them for fresh produce. A visit to Target.com, on the other hand, found that the website has customer ratings and reviews for all or most products, including produce. And a visit to Aldi.com found that the grocer does not have ratings or reviews for fresh produce or CPG products, although it does have a recommendation engine for other groceries.
The announced introduction of reviews and ratings is not the only new feature Albertsons has added to its online presence. The grocer last year launched a shoppable video feature on its websites, and has also expressed an intent to let customers shop for groceries via livestream.
- PowerReviews and Albertsons Companies Partner to Launch Product Ratings and Reviews to the Grocer’s Retail Websites – Globe Newswire
- Meeting Grocery and CPG Shopper Digital Expectations in the Post Pandemic Era – PowerReviews
- The state of retail – Bazaarvoice
- Wal-Mart asking customers for product reviews as part of effort to boost online sales – Talk Business
- Is livestream grocery shopping on the way in the U.S.? – RetailWire