Back in the mid-90s, Staples scored with their back-to-school ad campaign, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”. The ad perfectly captured the dread kids feel in those last days leading up to the first bell of the year, as an elated dad drags his kids to shop for supplies to halt their endless summer. This year, however, back to school is hitting a little bit differently. Kids across the country who have been homeschooled since the start of the pandemic, or a hybrid mix of at-school and at-home learning, are more than ready to head back to class. And they’re ready to shop, too. To trade their sweatpants for new street apparel, to grab new sneaks, backpacks, and supplies that will have them feeling fresh as they reunite with their friends and teachers for the first time in a long time.
This year, the back to school season spans from late June to early September, with most families planning to wrap up shopping by the end of July, according to Deloitte. With spending expected to rise 16% YoY—from $28.1 billion in 2020 to $32.1 billion this year—almost half of shoppers plan to buy online only. As the country begins to recover from the pandemic, the back-to-school season will quickly transition into the busy holiday shopping season. And for e-commerce retailers, it’s the perfect time to schooled in product reviews to help drive revenue and get passing marks with savvy digital shoppers.
As parents and students head online to buy supplies, they will dig into reviews to ensure the products they’re after are the best choices. They’ll trust the recommendations of their peers and hit the Buy Button on those items that cross all the tees—that have the highest star ratings and best comments. And this is where most e-commerce retailers are failing. These conversations give instant insight into the mind of the buyer and of product performance. But, by relying on reviews solely from your own e-commerce site, you’re missing out the full picture of consumer sentiment. In fact, you’re only seeing about 15% of your review landscape—and that’s a grade that will get you nowhere! A study by Womply shows that businesses with an above-average number of reviews brought in 54% more in annual revenue than other brands. So you may be thinking: can I get the CliffsNotes on this?
And here it is: at Channel Signal, we aggregate reviews from major e-commerce sites and bring that data directly into a platform that seamlessly integrates with your Business Intelligence platform. With the full picture of your review landscape—with cleaned and verified reviews —you can tap into more of what your customers are saying. Easily access data for each of your products – and track it over time – discover your top/bottom performing products, compare data, and build an essential “cheat sheet” to share with your sales, marketing, product development and executive teams that will put you at the top of the class.
In honor of the most wonderful time of the year, we’d love to show you how you can turn reviews into revenue with Channel Signal. Take advantage of our summer promo—sign up by August 13, 2021 and get your first month free—and get set up for success before holiday products start hitting your e-commerce shelves.