Are Product Recommendations Influencing and converting customers?

As marketers we are constantly being sold new solutions to old world problems, but we still need to understand them and find effective solutions and Product Recommendations is an area of such importance where we may not necessarily being receiving the benefits we hoped we could get.   Recently an article published showed how so many recommendations are being created fraudulently that it is forcing conversation regarding the regulation of product recommendations in such a way as to Prove it is a genuine Product Recommendation given by an actual consumer not just a web strategy company loading your server with comments favorable to your brand.   The one thing that The Page Group believes that integrity in all things we present to our consumer is of the highest level of necessity.   To be identified by most consumers as a trustworthy and beneficial brand they want to know that what you present them is honest, fair, genuine, and meets their specific needs…If we do this we win in the product recommendation marketplace, but if we load up our recommendations with non-truths that don’t apply when the consumer participates in buying our goods, services, or interacts with our business then we have not lived up to our promise.   

BizReport : Ecommerce : June 17, 2015

Study: Product recommendations not converting

Product recommendations continue to carry weight with shoppers, but not necessarily enough weight to make them buy. That is a key takeaway from new Monetate data which shows that while product recommendations continue to drive shoppers to click-and-browse store sites, those clickers aren’t always converting.

by Kristina Knight

“Product recommendations are key to driving ecommerce performance. But to combat waning KPIs, a brand has to up its game,” said Lucinda Duncalfe, CEO, Monetate. “Our latest EQ offers real-world examples from Microsoft, Brownells and Kipling to illustrate the power of making more relevant recommendations within a variety of contexts, using all the data available.”

Some interesting findings from Monetate include:

• Bounce rates average 35%, a 6% YoY increase
• Average order values are $122.65, a decrease of 2.5% YoY
• Conversion rates average 2.32%

So, what is the key to product recommendations pushing conversions? It could be placement. The Monetate report notes that Kipling tested recommendation placement, and their test shows that with the recommendation grid at the bottom of the page rather than the top conversions increased just over 1.6%. Product recommendations at the top of the page resulted in a 7% conversion rate while the bottom placed grid resulted in a 9% conversion rate.