Anyone involved in an online community understands how important regular interaction with fellow community members really is.
An important aspect of these communities is the blog. An engaging and relevant blog post acts as a cohesive element that helps community members bond, provides topics for chat and relevant to its members.
Community members rely on these posts for interaction and reputable recommendations for products and services.
Ecommerce and Online Communities
A growing trend shows that consumers rely on blog posts to help them with shopping.
Ecommerce in a nutshell is the act of trading goods and services through an electronic media using a platform like Shopify, 3Dcart, and Big Cartel. Ecommerce has been changing how we shop. It’s no longer strictly up to retailer advertising efforts to promote sales.
Enter online communities. Consumers trust each other to do research and make recommendations that are relevant to them.
This phenomenon was examined by a blogger for Momentology, noting that one research study found as many as 84% of the participants used blog posts to guide their online and retail shopping choices.
Consumers are looking for unbiased input, someone without a horse in the race, to help them evaluate purchases before shopping.
Cracking Down on Fake Reviews
Although there are many great reviews online at many ecommerce sites such as Amazon, eBay and other electronic shopping platforms, consumers are slow to trust these, and for good reason.
Some retailers were, and still are, turning to sites such as Fiverr, where they pay five dollars for a positive review of their product regardless of whether the person writing that review has used that product or not.
In October 2015 USA Today reported that Amazon would be cracking down on these fake reviews.
It is this type of disingenuous marketing that has consumers seeking trusted advice from blog posts and comments section before committing to their next online purchase.
Retailers Rely on Bloggers
Consumers recognize and trust that blogs provide honest opinions, especially since the blogger typically has no monetary gain from posting a positive post.
Blog posts are shaping the future of shopping, guiding consumers with engaging, relevant content for ecommerce.
Retailers hope to utilize the power of online communities as online engagement with consumers increases.
There’s blogs dedicated to reviewing and analyzing goods and services where consumers can get unbiased, thoughtful reviews and advice to help guide their retail purchases.
Bloggers continue to fuel ecommerce engagement and help navigate online buying with honest product reviews. Most ecommerce sites I work with like prefer to have their own blog to help engage with their consumers.
What do you think? Do you do online investigating before investing in your next purchase?
Let me know in the comments section below. 👇👇
