SHOPADVIZOR x ARISTID: Integrating Customer Reviews into Promotional Materials

The promotional catalogue, a cornerstone tool in retail, keeps reinventing itself. Thanks to ShopAdvizor and ARISTID technologies, Carrefour can now display customer reviews directly on its catalogues, e-catalogues and in-store signage. Another reason to be tempted by a promotion and trigger a store visit.

Customer reviews: a conversion asset

In an environment where consumers are increasingly wary of traditional advertising messages, other customers' opinions are of paramount importance.

• Customer reviews serve as social proof. When consumers see that others have been satisfied with their experience, they are more likely to trust the advertised product, which demonstrates transparency.
• Customer reviews help consumers make more informed purchasing decisions by providing valuable information about a product's advantages and disadvantages.

The presence of positive reviews has a direct and immediate impact on a product's conversion rate. Until now, this strategic data was absent from retailers' promotional communications.

According to Harris Interactive study for FEVAD - April 2024

• 70% of 15-24 year-olds and 58% of French people say they consult reviews before buying
• 39% of French people also consider reviews for in-store purchases
• 83% of French people have developed the habit of researching before making purchases

Carrefour and ShopAdvizor: building a community to encourage feedback

Since 2013, the “MonAvisLeRendGratuit” (My Opinion Makes It Free) programme has encouraged Carrefour customers to contribute massively to the 30 million ratings and reviews on more than 100,000 products and 1,500 brands (national brands, private labels, local products). In total, 300,000 new reviews are published every month on Shopadvizor by 500,000 users. This recent and rich data reinforces the credibility of the ratings, especially in the CPG market where generating reviews is very challenging. The products involved are from Shopadvizor's multinational brand partners such as Unilever, P&G, Mondelez, Danone, L'Oréal, Pepsico and Ferrero, representing more than 100 national brands, as well as Carrefour's private label products that are heavily involved in the programme.

“Recommended by my community” reviews on every promotional material

The optimisation of Carrefour's commercial-offer construction process, run by ARISTID for 6 years, aims to place promotional data at the heart of commercial communication. This centralisation now makes it possible to associate as many additional descriptors as desired by the retailer with each promotion. Each promotion is thus “enhanced”, and complementary information can be displayed selectively according to automation rules.

This “data-centric” technological approach allows ARISTID to produce unlimited communication materials, enriched with complementary data, and to feed every customer touchpoint omnichannel.

Community reviews from Shopadvizor and Drive order customer feedback are automatically displayed next to promoted products when their rating is above 4/5, earning them the “recommended by the Carrefour community” label. The number of reviews (minimum 50) is also indicated, as it is one of the rating credibility criteria. They are now visible on Carrefour's website and app, in print catalogues, e-catalogues and in-store signage!

📄 Read Olivier Dauvers' article on this topic

A real differentiator for partner brands

Major industrial groups that are historical partners of the community gain a significant advantage within their category by displaying customer reviews. ShopAdvizor estimates a +10%* impact on sales for products with in-store signage featuring a review. These initial results should convince other manufacturers to join the feedback programme!

*(source: Iri/Mediaperformance for Shopadvizor)

There is still a long way to go in the consumer goods sector for consumer opinions and reviews to be consulted throughout the omnichannel experience. This innovation is very motivating for our teams and creates value for the three pillars of the ecosystem: consumers, retailers and brands!

— Diego CHORNY, ShopAdvizor CEO

Enhancing promotional attributes is one of the key challenges in digitalising sales operations. Consumers are used to relying on customer reviews, and these additional indications increase their level of confidence and generate drive-to-store. At ARISTID, we explore all the new avenues made possible by the structuring of promotional data, for an ever more relevant customer experience!

— Vittorio GEROSA, Head of International Development, EMEA