Blog
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Caroline Trudeau
Changing Online Shopping Habits
February 11th, 2010
In the last couple of months, I’ve noticed that my online shopping habits have changed. Oh, I still shop online as much as ever, and look for benchmark prices or availability of certain items before I head to an actual store. No…that’s not what’s changed. I’ve noticed that I’m doing more research before I actually select the item I want to purchase. And by research, I mean read user reviews about products and services before I commit to purchasing something.
This behavior isn’t exactly new for me. I’ve consumed reviews for a long time, for example, about movies and books and before that I used to watch Siskel & Ebert. I am also in Oprah’s Book Club. The concept of reading reviews before making a purchase decision isn’t new. In one way or another, people have been sharing their satisfaction or dissatisfaction about things since there has been choices of products to consume. But what really has me excited is how easy it now is to access unbiased opinions, thanks to the upsurge of social components and crowd sourcing on the Web. The people writing these reviews aren’t paid by the company to write a nice review. They aren’t trying to sell me the product on some fake feature. They are speaking their truth!
Most recently, I read all 27 reviews for a specific jacket on patagonia.com – I was about to make an investment in winter warmness and with so many choices out there, I wanted to know what people thought of the jacket I was considering. After all, these folks actually own it and have specific feedback to contribute about it. I invested time in this research and learned: ”This jacket runs big, buy a size down unless you live somewhere really cold and plan to heavy layer”, ”If the hood was a little deeper, my snowboarding helmet would completely fit under it”, and on, and on. I felt empowered and grateful with the information these consumers provided me. I knew that the inner shell sleeves were a little longer than the outer shell, and I decided I could live with that. So I bought the jacket, and those people were right! This experience even motivated me to write my own review. The people at Patagonia need to know that the pocket zippers should zip up to open and down to close – but I still gave the jacket a 5 star rating!
Fast-forward a couple of weeks when my family’s vacuum cleaner finally reached the end of its useful life. I complained to my group of friends that buying a vacuum cleaner has to be the least exciting purchase of all time. Then, one of them volunteers to do some research for me. His methodology is a little more scientific than mine was with the jacket purchase: consumer reports, vacuum cleaner advisor, etc. A few days later, “For the features you are looking for, this Bissell model is getting the best user reviews on the Web.” I wasn’t the only one listening! My Mom picks up the vacuum cleaner a few days later and is very happy with it. She is so happy that I feel compelled to contribute a review on the Web about this vacuum cleaner.
With the integration of social media on consumer sites, companies are essentially encouraging us to openly discuss our opinions about their products. I am starting to think that it is our responsibility to do just that. We are all experts! Go ahead, comment away. I’ll be reading!
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