Petmate accelerates review collection with sampling

Petmate activates the voice of its customers to reach more consumers and instill trust

Now more than ever, consumers want to hear more from fellow shoppers than brands, and they seek the authentic opinions of others like them through reviews, questions and answers, and other forms of user-generated content (UGC). In fact, 95% of shoppers rely on reviews to learn more about products, according to a study by Baymard Institute in 2019.

Petmate and its brands, including Chuckit, JW, and Vittles Vault, leverage a variety of Bazaarvoice solutions to empower shoppers to buy pet products with confidence across its own sites and retail sites.

“Whether visiting our sites or retail sites, we want shoppers to make well-informed decisions and be happy with their purchase. Capturing and sharing customer sentiment through UGC plays an influential role in helping them choose which products to buy,” said Chad Siegert, Director of Consumer Marketing at Petmate.

UGC is especially powerful in this industry, as pet owners treat their dogs and cats as members of their families, and the level of consideration they put towards their purchases is growing.

“There’s often hesitancy when buying certain products, like health-related ones, high-dollar items, or products like kennels, which get repetitive use. We can tell a story about our brands and products all day long, but that story is best conveyed through customer sentiment and letting shoppers hear it from their peers,” said Siegert.

Driving success in the retail channel

Petmate distributes the reviews it collects to retail sites in the Bazaarvoice Network. The brand has syndicated more than 8,500 reviews across more than 50 retailers so far. A majority of Petmate products on retail sites would have zero reviews if not for syndication, which is fueling retail channel sales and strengthening its ties with partners.

“This content is supporting our relationships with retailers. It’s a strong message to share when we can tell our channel partners that we have driven a significant increase in reviews on product pages,” said Siegert.

Petmate employs a variety of tactics to collect reviews. For example, In-Mail Submission allows Petmate customers to rate and review products directly in their email, and Multi-Product Submission lets customers review all recent purchases through one submission form.

“The moment we enabled these two features, our review volume skyrocketed,” said Siegert.

The submission rate of reviews from customers rose 380% after Petmate activated In-Mail and Multi-Product Submission compared to the month prior. These review collection features now account for two-thirds of all review volume.

Petmate also accelerates review collection by getting products into the hands of consumers using Bazaarvoice Sampling solutions. Petmate sent products to hundreds of targeted consumers in the Bazaarvoice Influenster community and asked for a review. This led to a significant boost in review volume and coverage, as nearly all of those who received a free product submitted a high-quality review.

The lift in the number of reviews also plays a role in boosting organic traffic and conversion on Petmate’s site. Petmate saw a 17% increase in pageviews, 185% increase in conversion, and 157% increase in revenue per visitor during the three months after the sampling campaign compared to the three months prior.

Engaging with retail shoppers at scale

Petmate also excels in interacting with consumers on retail sites efficiently by responding to reviews and answering their questions about its products using Bazaarvoice Connections.

Publicly responding to reviews increases the brand’s presence on retail sites and proves to the thousands of other shoppers who see the responses that the brand listens and cares to resolve any issues.

Petmate has answered a majority of the 2,000 questions from retail consumers, which removes any information gaps and ensures shoppers know what to expect from a product before making a purchasing decision.

Customer feedback guides important product decisions

Reviews serve as an invaluable means for gathering insights, and mining the content provides Petmate with a powerful way to better understand customers and identify new opportunities for business growth.

“Capturing customer sentiment through reviews lets us continue improving our products. Various products have undergone changes or are in the process of being revamped based on what end-users tell us. It’s another reason why we consider UGC the most valuable type of content,” said Siegert.

Doing more with less

Petmate’s success is even more impressive considering the size of the team dedicated to the UGC program, which is small in comparison to many large pet brands with more resources and budget.

“Continuing to manage and grow a successful program doesn’t take monumental efforts. If you spend a little time understanding the capabilities and optimizing the program, it makes a big difference,” said Siegert.