Retailers are being urged to prepare for the ‘tablet revolution’, as new research shows that online shopping via iPads and similar tablet devices is set to rocket in popularity – just as it has done in the US.

Although the iPad was only launched 12 months ago, new European findings by the shopping search engine Shopzilla reveal that 6% of shoppers already own a tablet and a further 20% are considering purchasing one over the next year. The majority of owners say it is as easy to use for online purchases as a personal computer.

The trend is set to mirror the US where the iPad is driving a revolution in

e-commerce.  A recent Shopzilla study in the US shows that 12% of consumers now have a tablet device, and a further quarter plan to buy one in the next year. In the European survey, published today, an overwhelming 5-to-1 ratio name the iPad as their tablet of choice.

The research by Shopzilla of almost 5,000 online shoppers – conducted to launch new destination shopping site Beso.co.uk – also reveals:

-       Nearly two thirds (61%) of iPad or tablet users say it is as easy to shop online with their hand-held device as with their personal computer

-       The majority, 71%, have bought or would buy online using their device

-       Dual-screen technology means 70% of tablet users even watch TV while browsing shopping sites simultaneously

-       53% of iPad or tablet users surveyed use their device to browse shopping sites with friends

-       27% of online shoppers currently use a smartphone to browse shopping sites with friends

Rachel Smith, Business Services Senior Director at Shopzilla, said:

“Since their launch in April last year, an astonishing 25 million iPads have been sold worldwide, and with one in five online shoppers telling us they plan to buy a tablet in the next 12 months, this is clearly set to be a huge trend for UK shoppers.

“iPads and other tablet devices are also helping to drive the popularity of ‘social commerce’, with 53% of online consumers using their tablet to share online shopping activities with friends - whether it’s hunting for bargains, browsing reviews or making purchases.”

The Shopzilla research was conducted in Europe’s three largest online retail markets: the UK, France and Germany.  It also reveals that almost 80% of current tablet owners view their device as an addition to their technology arsenal rather than as a replacement for an existing device.

And with many retailers still learning how consumers are interacting with these new devices, it is vital that they are prepared for the tablet revolution.

Rachel Smith, Business Services Senior Director at Shopzilla, added: “The year of mobile commerce, which has been predicted for some time, is finally here. With the explosion of the tablet market we are seeing a seismic change, and the opportunity will be for the retailers who are first to get it right.”

For more information, visit www.shopzillasolutions.co.uk to find out how Shopzilla can help retailers to sell more online.

Media enquiries: hbeckett@shopzilla.com

07551 005877

Sample: Shopzilla surveyed 4,721 consumers in the UK, France and Germany, May 2011.

The research report will be available on info.shopzillasolutions.co.uk/content/ipad from Friday 24 June 2011.

LONDON – This week Shopzilla Europe, the shopping search engine, brings Beso (pronounced bee-soh) to the UK, France and Germany. Beso is a successful destination shopping site where shoppers who want to discover new products can browse clothing, accessories and home furnishings for men, women and children.

Scott Macon, COO of Shopzilla said, “Beso provides a customer experience that is similar to walking through an attractive shopping centre or down the high street, but without getting cold hands and wet feet. Our customer reviews will help fashion-lovers when they are browsing this site with friends. 

“Fashionistas can find the big name retailers such as Abercrombie & Fitch, net-a-porter.com, UGG, Diesel and Kurt Geiger in the UK.”

Beso has dedicated sites in the UK, France and Germany: www.beso.co.uk; www.beso.fr; www.beso.de  

David Weinrot, Senior Vice President, Operations and Business Development said: "The Beso experience is one that attracts over  three million monthly unique shoppers in the US (comScore) and we’re confident it will enjoy just as much success in Europe."

Shopzilla helps retailers listen to their customers by providing free tools and reports about the customer experience on their own websites. The feedback and ratings programme amplifies the consumer voice and is fast and measurable, resulting in insights, action, and consumer loyalty.  

About Shopzilla, Inc.

Shopzilla, Inc. launched in Europe in 2005. Shopzilla connects shoppers with more than 100 million products from tens of thousands of retailers. Reaching a global audience of over 40 million shoppers each month through both its destination websites and affiliate network, Shopzilla has offices in London, Los Angeles and San Diego. The company operates sites and business services in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the United States.  Shopzilla, Inc. is owned by Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE:SNI).

LONDON – Shopzilla Europe, the shopping search engine, has unveiled the European winners of its annual Circle of Excellence Awards. The awards recognise the top performing online retailers that provided outstanding online customer experiences throughout this past year, as rated by their customers. 

The 2010 Shopzilla Circle of Excellence winners are:

UK:

ActiveBeauty.co.uk; beautyflash.co.uk; Cartridge Save; CheapSmells.com; Crucial.com; Livefoods Direct Ltd; Paws247.com; Surfdome.com; theplasmacentre.co.uk; WatchShop.com

France:

1001 Bijoux; AboutBatteries.com; AllezDiscount.com; Cloggs; CoudreetBroder.com; Crazyphonic; Digit-Photo.com; La cabane en ligne; LEPAPE; MacWay; Madeinsport.com; Maison Tasset; Maisonic

Mikalo; Ruedespiles; Session Music; Spartoo; Tinkco; UBALDI.com; Univers Broderie; zooplus

Germany: 

buttinette; Session Music

These retailers can now proudly display the Shopzilla Circle of Excellence badge on their websites for the next year.

The Shopzilla customer feedback platform and tools have the power to enhance retailers’ success and customer loyalty. The 2010 Shopzilla Circle of Excellence award was earned by 32 online retailers in Europe, representing the top 0.57% of Shopzilla Europe’s retail network. Circle of Excellence recipients range from Livefoods Direct, which sells animal food such as locusts and meal worms, to Active Beauty which sells cosmetics and other beauty products. Many have won the Circle of Excellence award for the second or third consecutive year, and find the feedback platform essential in maintaining superior customer service and gaining consumer insights. 

"We're very proud of the Surfdome team for earning the Circle of Excellenc Award once again. The detailed customer feedback we receive through Shopzilla is reviewed daily to ensure we are performing as expected, reacting quickly when required and ultimately making our business stronger," said Justin Stone, Managing Director, http://www.surfdome.com

Scott Macon, MD of Shopzilla Europe said, “Shopzilla reaches more than 40 million shoppers per month across the globe and by crowd-sourcing their feedback we can provide retailers with insights which they may never receive through other forms of retail.”

Shopzilla helps retailers listen to their customers by providing free tools and reports about the customer experience on their own websites. The feedback and ratings programme amplifies the consumer voice and is fast and measurable, resulting in insights, action, and consumer loyalty.  

Online retailers earning this award received significantly higher customer ratings than the average scores for their country across seven key satisfaction indicators:

Overall satisfaction at the point of sales

Product selection

Ease of finding what the customer is looking for

Repurchase intent after order receipt

Product met expectations after order receipt

On-time delivery

Customer support

About Shopzilla

Shopzilla, Inc. launched in Europe in 2005. Shopzilla connects shoppers with more than 100 million products from tens of thousands of retailers. Reaching a global audience of over 40 million shoppers each month through both its destination websites and affiliate network, Shopzilla has offices in London, Los Angeles and San Diego. The company operates sites and business services in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the United States.  Shopzilla, Inc. is owned by Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE:SNI).

But we’re not the only ones to recognise the benefits of this system to retailers and customers. Last month, it was announced that Shopzilla and Google had partnered in the US to include Shopzilla’s ratings and reviews in Google’s Seller Ratings. We’re pleased to tell you that this functionality is coming to Europe very soon.

This partnership means that the star ratings given to retailers through the Consumer Insights programme will show up in search results for Google Product Search, and in Google AdWords ads for those retailers. Depending on the format, full length reviews will also by displayed by Google.

To hear Google’s take on the worldwide partnership with Shopzilla’s Consumer Insights programme (called Bizrate Insights in the US), you can read Google’s post on the official Google Merchant Blog .

The positive impact of increased exposure of ratings has already been felt by retailers in the US, with higher click-through rates in AdWords and higher conversion rates from Google Product Reviews.

The best thing about this partnership is that all these benefits come to retailers participating in the Shopzilla Consumer Insights programme at zero cost, and the huge reach of Google makes for enormous potential advantages for retailers.

This service will be available very soon, and we’ll let you know as soon as you are able to take advantage. If you’re not part of the Consumer Insights programme yet but would like to be involved, call us on 0207 029 3300 and we’ll tell you how to make it happen.

New Facebook Features Come to Shopzilla Product Reviews

New Bidding Tools, New Reporting Tools

Encouraging word-of-mouth and getting retailers’ products out to a wider audience is an important aim of Shopzilla Product Reviews. It’s the reason we introduced our Social Megaphone feature, designed to allow customers to easily repost their reviews to Twitter, Facebook and various blogs.

The new addition of Facebook OnSite combines the selling power of customer reviews with the massive reach of Facebook and its friend-to-friend recommendations.

Facebook OnSite does more than other social tools that only allow for one-way interaction. Rather than just push user-generated content out to Facebook, Facebook Onsite allows retailers to integrate the world’s largest social network into their product pages.

Facebook OnSite brings with it many features including:

• Verify with Facebook Customers are given the option to post their review to their Facebook Wall, shared by default with all friends. This authenticates their review with their Facebook profile. It includes a product picture, the star rating, a snippet from the review, and a link back to the retailer’s product page.
• Reviewer profiles on the product page Facebook details such as profile picture ‘About Me’ content and location are brought to the retailer’s product page, allowing grouping of the review history of a Facebook user directly on the site.
• “Comment on Facebook” links Available after each review on the product page, these links allow users to make comments on a review which are published on Facebook, further extending the reach of that content.

All these enhancements are designed to increase customer engagement, give customers more ways to make their voices heard and to drive traffic and conversion rates for retailers.

Shopzilla Product Reviews is a world-class customer review platform with pricing suitable for retailers of any size. To sign up today, or to find out why you should, call 0207 029 3300 or email sales@shopzilla.com today.

Shopzilla Store Ratings Coming to Google Adwords and Product Search

New Bidding Tools, New Reporting Tools

Are the improvements finished? Or is there more to come?
This is the biggest update we’ve made to our tools in some time, but we’re always striving to make our tools as effective and easy to use as possible. During the peak holiday season, speed and stability are of utmost importance to retailers so we won’t make many more changes for the remainder of the year. In the meantime, we’re always listening for feedback and suggestions.

If you’d like to let us know what you think of these changes, or want to let us know what you’d like to see in future, send us an email at merchantservices-uk@shopzilla.com .

If you’ve never listed your products on the Shopzilla Marketplace, or want to see how it can improve your sales in the busy Christmas period, call us on 0207 029 3300 or email sales@shopzilla.com . There are no set-up fees or long-term contracts, and you can easily set a budget so you don’t overspend.

Shopzilla Store Ratings coming to Google Adwords and Product Search

New Facebook Features Come to Shopzilla Product Reviews