CONSUMERS trust recommendations from friends and customer reviews the most when making online purchases, a new survey suggests.
Data, collected by online reviews company Reevoo, shows that 52% of consumers consider their friends’ recommendations to be “influential”, and 48% think customer comments are important.
However, the survey also found that only 24% rated advertising to be important, while just 22% were interested in the recommendations of sales assistants.
Also, the vast majority of people (88%) said they always consult reviews when making online purchases, and 60% said the presence of reviews meant they were more likely to buy in general.
“Our research reveals an increasing sophistication in consumers’ use of multi-channel and social shopping tools,” said Richard Anson, founder of Reevoo.
“As well as the tools and technologies becoming more innovative, people’s browsing and buying behaviour is also changing.
“Whereas when social commerce was in its infancy people were happy to take reviews at face value, now consumers are becoming more discerning about who they’ll trust and which information sources they find most valuable for them.”
However, some sectors were more affected by reviews than others. The travel and automotive sectors were most affected, with roughly a third of consumers for each category saying they always check reviews before purchasing.
The survey also found that the number of people using their mobiles to shop has increased from 38% to 46% in the past year.
