For QVC UK — Online Ratings and Reviews Are Just Like Neighbors Talking over the Backyard Fence

The poverbial backyard fence — that’s what TV on-air testimonials are meant to stand in for.  And now, with the QVC UK website racking up 3.5 million monthly session, online ratings and reviews simply brings that helpful, neighborly advice into the digital space.  The reviews are moderated, of course, but the retailer cares a great deal about its customers’ actual opinions.  Products are marketed, re-tooled, and even discontinued altogether based on user feedback.  Promotional events like the QVC Beauty Awards have been created out of whole cloth, based on ratings and reviews.Recently, QVC UK upped the interactivity quotient, introducing “Ask & Answer” functionality that allows customers to talk to each other about products.  This, too, is moderated — but that’s not possible on Facebook, where the company’s thousands of fans deliver, at times, “eye-opening” feedback.  Link below is to a very interesting piece about how QVC UK has reaped demonstrable benefits from mining customer feedback in systematic ways.  1 to 1 Media (a division of Peppers & Rogers Group) May 17, 2010