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The future of e-commerce and virtual reality

Although most eCommerce companies choose to compete over prices and product ranges, it’s now proven that consumer experience is what will really help your business make the difference. Leaders in Consumer Experience deliver, on average, [17%](https://econsultancy.com/blog/68069-customer-experience-drives-revenue-growth-but-marketers-lack-cx-skills/) of revenue growth within 5 years, whereas poorer consumer experience departments deliver only 3% over the same period.

Improved consumer experiences have become one of the main key success factors for retailers to win and retain shoppers. Indeed, today, a totally satisfied customer contributes [2.6](http://infoquestcrm.co.uk/about/case-studies-2/) times as much revenue as a somewhat satisfied customer, and 14 times as much revenue as a somewhat dissatisfied customer.

So how do you make sure your shoppers’ expectations are met and exceeded?

Virtual Reality could be the answer...

### Virtual and Augmented Reality in a nutshell

According to the [Virtual Reality Society](https://www.vrs.org.uk/virtual-reality/what-is-virtual-reality.html), VR is the creation of a virtual, three-dimensional environment presented to our senses in such a way that we experience it as if we were really there. The environment can be experienced by a person, who instantly becomes part of this virtual world and is able to look around, manipulate objects, or perform a series of actions within that virtual world.

[Augmented reality](http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/augmented-reality-AR) is slightly different, as it integrates digital information with the user’s environment in real time. Unlike virtual reality, which creates a totally artificial environment, augmented reality uses the existing environment and overlays new information on top of it.

Virtual and Augmented Reality both use a host of technologies and are technically complex tools, but with the technology becoming cheaper and more widespread, its potential becomes endless and the VR and AR phenomenon keeps getting bigger and bigger.

### The numbers - and what it means for eCommerce

We all know virtual reality has dramatically impacted the entertainment industry: roller coasters, extreme experiences, cinema.... But could it be the next best tool for eCommerce businesses?

For the eCommerce space, this revolutionary technology is all about delivering users the best experience possible in the most convenient way, from their homes, sofas, or computers.

Industry analyst firm CCS Insight published a report predicting the VR market to be worth [$4 billion by 2018](http://www.forbes.com/sites/paullamkin/2015/06/18/virtual-reality-devices-4-billion-business-by-2018/#1f228bcafd92). A recent report put out by Walker Sands also showed that [35%](https://www.walkersands.com/images/files/image/pdf/Walker-Sands-2016-Future-of-Retail-Four-Key-Takeaways-for-Retailers-in-2016-and-Beyond-Whitepaper.pdf) of online shoppers said they would be more comfortable buying products if they could try them in a virtual world before purchasing, and approximately [40%](http://www.retailperceptions.com/2016/10/the-impact-of-augmented-reality-on-retail/) of consumers would be willing to spend more on a product if it offered an augmented reality experience. The worldwide market for Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality headsets grew 25.5% year over year in the second quarter of 2017 as shipments reached 2.1 million, according to the International Data Corporation ([IDC](http://www.idc.com/)). There could be more than [171 million](https://www.omnivirt.com/blog/virtual-reality-vr-statistics-stats/) active VR users by 2018, mainly due to better hardware and falling costs - making VR affordable and reliable to everyone, whether they’re consumers or businesses.

It seems like VR and AR will be for Generation Z what smartphones are to millennials.

But that’s not all. According to one of Google’s Consumer Surveys, [41%](https://www.vrfocus.com/2015/09/survey-finds-41-percent-of-adults-interested-in-trying-vr/) of adults are interested in giving virtual reality a try. And with over 190 different VR headsets on sale on Amazon, it seems like virtual reality is by far one of the biggest emerging technologies this year.  

With online retail being one of the most competitive markets, virtual reality might be the ideal way for businesses to improve their customer experience by letting shoppers interact with items in a much more personal way than usual. By offering shoppers a way to experience items in the way they want to, prior to purchase, it seems like virtual reality is the perfect fit for the eCommerce industry.

### Implementing Virtual or Augmented Reality to your eCommerce website

Consumers and shoppers are looking for as much transparency as possible when researching and buying products online. Giving them the opportunity to access more product information with virtual or augmented reality can encourage shoppers to make a purchase decision faster, which I experienced myself.

To implement VR or AR to your business, you can opt for third-party extensions, allowing your customers to visualise their products in real time, and creating a seamless customer experience to help you eliminate doubt and increase conversions.

[‘Augment’](http://www.augment.com/) is a company helping online retailers implement augmented reality. Whether customers choose to visualise their product in their home, office or garden, customers can rotate around the product, and see what it would look like in a natural setting.

Augment lets users picture what products would look like in their home

VR image 1

VR and AR extensions and apps help customers make a purchase decision faster - will this look good in the kitchen? What colour should we get? Is the living room spacious enough?

The technology answers all of these questions. It also allows customers to personalise products and visualise them just as well as if they were in-store, increasing sales, and improving the overall customer satisfaction.

Delivering a more interactive customer experience gives consumers the impression of getting the offline experience and service they would get in-store, which obviously boosts on-site confidence.

### Conclusion

In a world where omni-channel strategies are the way forward, virtual and augmented reality seems to be the perfect technology to create a simple and seamless experience both online and offline.

In 2017, [75.6%](https://www.digitaldoughnut.com/articles/2017/may/cart-abandonment-rates-fall-to-75-6-for-q1-2017) of consumers abandoned their carts whilst shopping online. Giving consumers the possibility to check whether or not a product could be right for them is truly a game changer for big online retailers.

Virtually trying on a shirt or sunglasses, checking whether or not that table would fit in the living area, or what coffee machine would look best in the kitchen… All of these improve customer experience, customer satisfaction, and conversion rates, and can now be implemented to any customer buying journey.

Virtual and augmented reality technology is taking over eCommerce. Will you be implementing it in 2018?

The future of eCommerce and virtual reality

nicholas-green-324622

In today’s competitive digital environment, it is essential to have a business reputation strategy in order to acquire new customers who are more likely to become repeat visitors. Better still, if your reputation is so good it's is worth promoting, your customers can become your marketers, saving you time and earning you revenue.

Your online marketing can help you build your brand reputation, allowing you to stand out from the competition earlier in the funnel. However, it’s not easy as you might think. Consumers no longer believe in advertisements like they used to, and instead rely on other customers’ opinions and feedback to get an idea of what kind of service a brand can offer them.

With more and more people performing their own research as part of the purchase decision process, businesses now need to build their reputation directly on search engine results pages (SERPs) in order to stand out to a potential consumer. Businesses need to adapt to this new consumer behaviour trend or risk becoming irrelevant.

So how can you improve your brand reputation on search?

In this article, we’ll go through 3 of the best ways.

### Stay active on social accounts

Social media has become an essential tool to target customers, engage with them, and improve your customer service. While social channels might not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of customer service, it is one of the most visible ways of highlighting your company’s commitment to customer service. And the better the customer service, the better the engagement, the better the reputation.

Today, online reputation management is truly incomplete without social media channels. Social accounts are essential to building and maintaining an engaged audience and keeping your interactions active and public. When trying to influence your customers’ decisions, building trust and customer confidence in your brand is essential, and this is more likely to happen if you interact with your customers and show yourself as a friendly customer-centric brand on the channels they’re already using.

When trying to improve your brand reputation management on search, it’s important to know that your brand’s social accounts are very likely to appear on the first page of search engine results page, which means it’s absolutely essential for businesses to work on their social media strategies. While social signals aren’t one of Google’s search ranking factors, social channels and accounts are indexed and crawled like any other web page would.

In 2016, Starbucks was voted #1 Top Brand on Facebook

Facebook starbucks

Consider hiring a social media manager, or a community manager that will be trained to handle any situation, help customers, and continuously post relevant content to your accounts to increase your search visibility. This will help boost customer confidence at the top of the funnel, when consumers are still researching your business and reputation on search engines.

### Pay attention to what your customers are saying

Did you know that when researching your business and its reputation on search engines, [88% of online shoppers include reviews](https://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2015/12/28/how-important-are-customer-reviews-for-online-marketing/#20af11631928) into their purchase decisions?

Today, [92% of consumers trust their peers](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/who-do-you-trust-92-consumers-peer-recommendations-over-joey-little/) more than advertising when making a purchasing decision. And for many digital shoppers, an online review is the same as a peer recommendation, making it very likely that consumers will look at reviews when researching your brand.

Are you getting worried about what a consumer might find? Don’t be!

If someone is talking negatively about your brand, it’s better to know what they’re saying and understand why they’re saying it. If people leave bad reviews, this is a great opportunity for you to fix the broken relationship and improve your business’s reputation.

Instead of ignoring the negative comments you receive, reach out to your customers and try to understand how you can help them. Take their opinions into consideration and use the insights to learn how you could be improving your customer experience and service. Everyone deserves a second chance and customers are more forgiving than you might think. If you’re helping your frustrated or unhappy customers, they’re more likely to reuse your service or buy from you again.

Argos handles negative feedback the right way

feedback argos

The valuable information your customers give you through online reviews will help you build a better product, a better customer service, and therefore a better reputation, and this will considerably improve your reputation management on search when consumers are specifically looking for what your customers have said about you.

You can’t delete or avoid negative reviews, no matter how awesome your company is. Part of the challenge is responding and showing potential consumers how you deal with negative reviews. Maybe the problem your customer had is fixed already. Perhaps it was just a misunderstanding. Responding to the problem publicly offers more context than an isolated complaint.

Transparency leads to better customer relationships, more trust, credibility, and loyalty. And all of that always leads to better business.

### Boost your online visibility

Online reviews are one of the best ways to increase traffic through search engines and improve PPC and SEO results. How?

Online reviews are a form of quality content that can improve your search visibility and ranking while showcasing your business reputation on search results. Depending on how you collect reviews, your business can start displaying rich snippet stars on organic search results, and Google Seller Ratings stars for Google Ads.

These benefits affect the way browsers find you and view your business. If you have positive business’s ratings, review snippet stars and Google Seller Ratings will display and help you build trust early on in the customer journey, leading to a positive impact on your click-through rate and your traffic. These advantages have been measured in countless case studies that show review snippets and Google Seller Ratings improving CTR and increasing quality traffic.

Review snippets is structured data markup consisting of your customer feedback, allowing search engines to display yellow stars that show useful information to the person researching. These often include the company rating and the number of reviews left about a company.

Reviews snippet stars make a search engine result more attractive to users

rich snippets+(2)

Reviews snippet stars

Google Seller Ratings is an automated Google Ads extension that demonstrates that other people’s experiences and trust in your business directly on search engine results page. Seller Ratings are stars that display under your ad’s URLs, just like the ones in the example below:

Google Seller Ratings display when a company has 150 verified reviews

GSRs+(2)

Today, customer feedback is the [5th](https://moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors) most important ranking factor and Moz, a marketing analytics software, recently attributed [13%](https://moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors) of traffic value to online reviews. Without a review management strategy, you’re missing out on a major contributor to your reputation management.

### Taking your brand reputation to the next level

Following these 3 steps to great search engine reputation management can put your business in a stronger position and help you make the most of every comment your customers make, whether negative or positive.

By managing your online reviews properly, interacting with your customers, and delivering great service, you can improve your reputation, which will impact your visibility directly on search.

A great brand reputation is not about trying to avoid any negative feedback; it’s about learning to handle criticism and bad reviews the right way. Managing your reputation through customer relationships, great customer service and online reviews is easier than you think. Don’t abandon your social accounts, update your blog, listen to your customers’ feedback, talk to them and take their opinions into consideration to prove that you’re constantly trying to improve, and the rest will follow.

[How can we help](https://business.trustpilot.com/plans?cta=plans-page_blog)? Trustpilot reviews can help you manage your reputation directly on search engine results pages by showcasing your review score through Google Seller Ratings in Google Ads, and Review Snippet Stars on organic results.

Start build your reputation on search today, request a demo with one of our review experts.

3 Ways to improve your online trust today

Two women sitting in a shopping mall with their purchases

two-women-in-shopping-mall-with-a-black-bag

### How reputation marketing using customer advocacy positively impacts your performance

Customer advocacy is a customer-focused strategy that can be integrated into a business’s marketing plan, in which companies leverage their most loyal customers as brand ambassadors to build awareness and trust, drive sales, and strengthen customer relationships. Customer Advocacy has recently become very popular, due to today’s intensely competitive world and need for differentiation.

Advocates are more than just loyal customers or repeat buyers -they are the lifeblood of your business. Unlike influencers, who already have an established presence online, customer advocates are your everyday customers, who are much more relatable. Having a customer advocacy strategy can be a game changer for a business that is trying to stand out with their reputation. But how do you transform leads into highly satisfied customers who will happily share their thoughts about your services?

We’ve put together 3 simple steps that will help you build a customer advocacy strategy and acquire new customers thanks to the strong influence advocates have on your audience.

### Exceeding customer expectations every time

[60% of consumers](http://blog.welcomecommerce.com/blog/2016/9/28/7-stats-that-pave-the-way-to-exceeding-shopper-expectations) have higher expectations for customer service now than they did just one year ago. Businesses with the highest level of service will know how to identify those expectations and meet them to the customer’s satisfaction. It’s how great companies beat the competition.

A lot of businesses try to get away with just being average. But it’s the ones that put in the extra effort to meet and exceed customer expectations that create raving fans who purchase more often and share their experience with others.

screenshot-from-twitter-feed

But what do customers expect exactly? Fortunately, their expectations are pretty reasonable. The average customer expects friendly and knowledgeable communication, as well as [fast shipping, and a good return policy](https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/se/Documents/technology/Omni-channel-2015.pdf).

However, to truly create brand advocates and leverage your reputation in your marketing, you have to understand your customers and their needs. The easiest way to exceed your customer expectations is to listen to what they have to say and incorporate that into your business.

### Understanding your customers: the difference between hearing and listening

Hearing is not the same as listening. Hearing is passive while listening is active. Companies that listen take your customers’ feedback into consideration. Listening is the key to get to know your customers better, understand their needs, and get to the core of their problems. It also helps businesses offer a better service by working on what can be improved until they reach a point where the company exceeds customer expectations every time.

Listening shows respect. It’s a secret weapon very few brands have.

Collecting customer feedback will give you all sorts of insights into what your customers want and expect from you: faster delivery, better communication, and a good customer experience. Matching customer feedback with your business’s data will help you get a much clearer picture of the situation, improve your customer experience, and go after the right opportunities. Observing a dip in numbers and receiving negative feedback from your customers could help you understand where your business needs to invest more efforts and what can be improved for future customers.

Listening will show your customers how much you care about them. [76% of consumers](https://www.salesforce.com/research/customer-expectations/) say they view customer service as the true test of how much a company values them.

Here are 4 great ways to collect feedback from your customers:

1. Surveys
2. Reviews
3. Reaching out directly
4. User activity from your analytics

Involving customers in a deeper, more sustainable relationship with your brand will make the difference in turning customers into advocates to help your business stand out among the competitors. Collecting feedback consistently will help you get in the right direction.

### Letting your customers tell your story

Allowing your customers to share their stories helps them connect with your business and with other potential customers. You might be surprised at just how much people like to share!

But why is it so important? While traditional advertising is still a big part of building brand awareness, letting customers promote your brand or products for you can have an amazing impact on your online reputation, and on sales revenue too. It also takes advantage of social media platforms where the majority of your presence can come from customers.

Focusing on building a good reputation, positive reviews, and great customer success stories is key to promoting your online reputation. Your customers’ stamp of approval can mean a lot more than your self-proclaimed excellence. [84% of consumers](http://t.sidekickopen61.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7t5XX4653gw4MRzRwnRJnsgW3LPXXH56dRhkf8DvfRH02?t=http%3A%2F%2Fgo.toutapp.com%2F6cf0dca5b6b29d2404&si=4536089718554624&pi=976559c5-9c0b-49fa-f87d-c20b4ee13961) do not trust advertisements anymore. People are now seeking third-party validation more than ever when making an online purchase.

Engaging with your happy customers to promote their stories will help you build trusted and long-lasting relationships, improving your customer retention rate, and increasing your revenue over the long term. Good customer relationships will make your customers feel appreciated and encourage them to sing your praises to the rest of the world.

User-generated content and customer advocacy is transforming B2C marketing. The benefits are clear, customers love it, and great companies who are ahead of the curve, have already incorporating a UGC and customer advocacy strategy in their business..

Now is the time to incorporate it into your strategy. Are you ready?

Build a Trusted Brand

The future of eCommerce and virtual reality

3 Ways to improve your online trust today

Why reputation marketing via customer advocacy is essential for your business