Features in Detail

Merchant controls of the Feefo system

  • Customer FeedbackMerchant can select feedback for service only or service and product feedback
  • Feedback is requested a number of days after an order is completed, specified by the merchant, product feedback can be additionally solicited again at a later date, after the buyer has more experience of the product
  • When the service is first engaged, feedback can be solicited for the last three months of orders, for which there is no charge. This allows the feedback system to start with a good amount of feedback already in place
  • The merchant decides whether and where to display feedback on their site, selected through the Actinic user interface. They can choose service feedback, product feedback, both or none. This allows feedback to be collected and assessed before the decision to publish is made
Highly practical and sensible system
  • Customer FeedbackOnly customers can provide feedback and they are therefore identifiable. This makes it almost impossible for competitors to game the system
  • Customers are emailed a copy of their own feedback
  • An independent system draws buyer’s criticisms to the feedback system, where it can be dealt with and responded to, rather than on blogs or other forums on the web where there may be no right of reply
  • The merchant can post responses to all feedback (and are strongly advised to do so promptly). The merchant can decide individually or globally on the right of reply to this response
  • The merchant can choose at any time to be emailed copies of negative feedback, all feedback or no feedback
  • The merchant has legal ownership of the feedback, but licenses its use to Feefo and must use it within the service agreement, preserving independence
  • The merchant can turn off feedback on their site at any time
Increased orders
  • Over a forty day period of Charles Tyrwhitt's use of Feefo, those who looked at reviews were three times as likely to buy as those who did not. Buyers who had looked at reviews, on average, made two orders over that period, while those who did not made 1.1 orders.
  • An A/B test, with three randomly selected products, was run on eSpares.co.uk, the UK’s largest electrical appliance spare parts retailer. It served site visitors with either product information that contained review content or not. The test lasted five months to reach a statistically relevant size. Customer product reviews increased the conversion rate by 14.2% on one product.
  • In a survey conducted by Feefo on Feefo's own landing page after feedback had been given, the question "How important were the reviews by other customers in your buying decision?" obtained the following answers:
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    • Critical 4%
    • Very Important 33%
    • Were taken in consideration 41%
    • Unimportant 21% (The most common comment here was 'I already know this supplier so don’t need other people's opinions')
  • 78% of buyers leaving feedback say they take feedback into account when making a purchasing decision, and many of those that don’t are repeat buyers
Customer retention and customer satisfaction
  • Unhappy customers are encouraged to quickly inform the merchant, something that would otherwise often not happen
  • This provides the ability to resolve issues promptly, retaining customers that would otherwise be lost. For example see the feedback on Feefo's website.
  • This also demonstrates commitment to good customer service
Feefo expertise maximises feedback
  • Feefo has been soliciting feedback since 2006 giving them unparalleled experience in the field
  • Feefo has already solicited feedback from more than a million different UK consumers and this number is rising by more than five thousand a day
  • Feefo’s skill set is around all aspects of feedback, including how to approach customers. As a result, response rates to orders have been as high as 30%, the lowest ever experienced is 9% and the average 17%. This is far higher than any other review system.
  • Feefo is fully compliant with all email, data protection and other legislation. Feefo is a sub-contractor in the supply of goods and is legally entitled to email customers and store their details.
  • Feefo is contractually bound to protect the feedback data and cannot use it for any purpose not designated by the merchant
  • Buyers can opt out of receiving any further requests for feedback
Truly independent feedback
  • See a Youtube video where Nick Wheeler of Charles Tyrwhitt explains the benefits of independent feedback
  • Independent feedback gains a higher level of response than merchant-controlled systems
  • Independent feedback is more trusted by buyers and therefore has a larger impact on sales
  • The merchant cannot edit, delete or selectively publish feedback. This promotes trust in the feedback provided
  • Negative and stupid feedback validates the independence of the feedback system. Dealing politely with nonsense comments enables the merchant to demonstrate that they care, and provides information on how service failures are dealt with. This improves the merchant’s image as the vast majority of people understand that things sometimes go wrong
  • Customer FeedbackFeedback is stored on the Feefo site and is linked to from the merchant site
  • Feefo has the right to display the feedback for 3 months after cancellation and will hold the feedback for 24 months after the service is terminated. This protects the independence of the system and honours the effort that the provider of feedback has made
  • The merchant can request (via Actinic) that feedback which is obscene, factually incorrect, illegal, defamatory or identifies individuals is edited. This will be identified as “Edited by Feefo”. Experience has shown that only a miniscule number of feedbacks require this remedy.
  • Feefo automatically traps obscenities and provides the supplier of feedback with the opportunity to change it. Further feedback from that email address is then monitored by Feefo to check for attempts to introduce obscenity through miss-spellings
Simple set up
  • Feefo is pre-integrated with Actinic from v10 onwards
  • Configuration just requires the selection of a few options in the Actinic user interface, combined with selecting options on a single page at the Feefo site.
Full support
  • Telephone support is included from Actinic for operational support of the service. Requests to change feedback are made through an online form.

The Gentleman's ShopWe started using Feefo last November and have been amazed at the results. We have seen our conversion rate rise by 20% and order value by 23%.

To date we have received feedback from 429 customers with a 99% satisfaction rating. You will always get some customers that are not completely happy what is important is how you deal with them. If potential customers read a bad review but a decent explanation of how it was resolved, it shows honesty. No company is 100% perfect, so the reviews are representative of the service customers receive and the reader can judge for themselves whether to shop.

Having Feefo has allowed us to gain valuable insight into what our customer really want rather than what we perceive they want. For example, it has transpired that many customers would prefer the option of having parcels delivered by the Royal Mail even if it is slower than using a courier. This is because it offers the convenience of collecting parcels from their local Post Office if no one was in to sign for the delivery.

We have also just implemented a Facebook app to show our feedback there so it will be interesting to see if this generates additional visits to our site.

Having a retail background I really enjoy engaging with customers, it has been the one thing missing from the online experience until now. I honestly believe that listening to our feedback has not only helped us monitor customer satisfaction but also make the right decisions to address the needs of our customers. Best of all, it is already integrated within Actinic and only costs a small monthly fee for all these great benefits.

Robert Johnston, Director, The Gentleman's Shop Ltd