Austin, Anyone?

Sam Decker, a veteran marketing and e-commerce pro from Dell, wound up at Bazaarvoice in Austin, TX, and they’re hiring.

Bazaarvoice aims to help retailers easily implement ratings and reviews on their sites. Sam writes on his blog at www.deckermarketing.com:

Online businesses understand the value of word of mouth. Typically, online businesses have failed to deploy ratings and reviews because they lack the necessary IT resources, staff, and expertise. Only 26% of 137 high-profile retailers surveyed offered customer ratings and reviews, although 96% of them ranked ratings and reviews as an effective or very effective tactic in improving conversion. (Source: Shop.org and Forrester Research, "The State of Retailing Online 8.0", May 2005).

Bazaarvoice offers a fast, easy way for businesses to facilitate and listen to online customer-to-customer conversations, increasing sales, margins, and customer loyalty and retention.

Consumer feedback helped make Amazon the e-commerce giant that it is. It’s fueled CNET’s various properties, such as Download.com and its product reviews. When I was recently in the market for a new digital camera after mine was stolen (mid-flight no less, by the passenger sitting next to me), I couldn’t get enough of user reviews. Those reviews didn’t actually help me. I returned the Panasonic that I got from Amazon in favor of an upgrade of the Sony that served me well (outside of when it broke three and a half months in) since mid-2003. But the reviews are addictive nonetheless, even if most of the reviewers have no clue what they’re talking about.

Meanwhile, if you’re in Austin or thinking of spending some time there, Bazaarvoice is hiring.