Before the internet, when customers were looking to purchase a major item, or were on a budget and wanted to make the most of their hard-earned dollars, they would wander from shop to shop, comparing various features of a product, including price, any special offers, and the reputation of a brand's name.
Today, all of this information is available at the touch of a button, but whether we’re prospective customers or long-term, loyal consumers, we're still engaging in comparisons so that we can get the best bang for our buck.
Word of Mouth
A potential consumer or customer may know someone that’s used a service or a product before them and decide to ask their opinion about it. Word of mouth is an important and powerful marketing tool, so customer satisfaction is vital if a business wants its clientele to positively talk about them and its product or service. Customer service and customer experience need to be memorable and shoulders above that of offerings by competitors.
For this to happen, the business has to have that added value that sets itself apart from other businesses. One way this can be achieved is a referral program that is beneficial for both the existing and new customers will be a deal-breaker when it comes to word-of-mouth advertising.
Comparison Sites
Comparison sites are great for customers for many reasons. Whether it’s buying a vehicle or intending to play at an online casino, what comparison sites will do is look at the features of various brands that are providing the same product or service, and use a ranking system to put them in some form of order.
Some sites allow customers to filter what’s available, according to what they're looking for, to narrow down their search. So, for example, if a person is looking for a car, they may have a price range as well as prefer a convertible over one with a roof. By selecting these options, anything that doesn’t match their preference won’t be displayed in their filtered search results.
Others will group businesses with common features together. So, for instance, if someone is looking to play at an online casino, they may decide that free spins are more important to them than a welcome bonus or not needing a deposit to play. Usually, sites will provide some offer that will provide the potential customer with some form of monetary value, like these offers. The customer will get to select the one that’ll help them make the most of their time at an online casino. A comparison site will help them find the best online casinos that have a range of offers that best suit what they’re looking for.
Review Sites
Review sites are becoming more popular, especially if a potential customer or consumer doesn’t know anyone who has bought the product or used the service they’re interested in. There are several trusted sites, both national and international, that many people will turn to.
These review sites often include customer experiences of the business as well as the product or service they’ve paid for. People read through the review to look for common themes before they make their decision about which product or service to go for. These review sites are often used in addition to word of mouth to get an overall view of what the product or service is like.
It’s never been easier to find the best site for what we’re looking for, whether it’s the best deal for a tablet or the best welcome bonus for a casino. The internet has opened up comparing products and services in a way never seen before, and it will only get better. As customers and consumers rely more on comparison sites to pool the information together, a lot more of us will have the best options available to us in one place.