A Snapshot of Market Trends by PowerReviews focused on a time period from Feb 24th 2020 and ending on May 24th 2020.  This snapshot was the latest of 3 specialized reports analyzing market trends throughout the 2020 pandemic.  This report specifically analyzed submission levels, review length and sentiment, overall conversions/sales and review consumption and collected very exciting feedback!

Ecommerce Fulfillment EDI

Overall PowerReviews are seeing stabilization in almost all the data they are collecting, as this new market emerges and adapts to a new “normal”.  Ecommerce sales volumes are around three times the pre-pandemic levels  and since their last Snapshot report was released in Spring 2020, they’ve even witnessed a small increase in web traffic .  The biggest and most significant change during these times has been and increase in reviews submitted, which more than doubled in May alone.

 

Biggest takeaways with Trends right now

  • Digital sales increase 206% between February and May, stabilizing at new high levels after climbing through April
  • Review submission levels up 2.3x from April to May, while overall consumer sentiment remains steady
  • Review content continues to be critical to converting browsers to buyers

Order transaction volumes stabilize at new high level but page visits climb

Based on what PowerReviews have seen throughout the month of May, it seems that ecommerce is now operating in a “new normal” environment.  But the extent of the growth (up 212% in less than two months) really underlined the huge shift that occurred.  With the data peaking up towards the end of the period, up 206%, highlighting no let-up in demand.

They report seeing a small increase in traffic though.  In late April, alone page visits peak to 63%.  And in the same increase was witnessed again one month late on May 17th at 79%.  They had noted that consumers were buying rather than shopping before and the data showing that this change suggests that they are becoming slightly less decisive as the pandemic continues.

 

Key Findings

  • Traffic up, while order volumes hit a “new normal”
  • Review submission levels more than double, while review content and sentiment remains consistent
  • Review volumes up 2.3x in May
  • Review Length stabilizes, ratings unchanged
  • Review content continues to be critical to driving purchase decisions
  • Review content continues to have big impact
  • Review engagement increases

Summary

The biggest change in all the metrics they  analyzed. was review submission volumes increased significantly in May.  With sales levels showing no signs of declining, we would expect this figure to either climb further still or at the very least remain at its currently high level. With this being the case, this period represents an excellent opportunity to generate deep and impactful review content from your customers.

Sales volumes continue to consistently be at around three times pre-pandemic levels. They did not significantly decrease or increase over the snapshot period. This implies normalization in the market and begs the question on how much of this holds once stores reopen.

Consumers continue to rely on ratings and review content to justify purchase decisions, providing the validation and social proof necessary to drive sales. Review engagement among purchasers is now at around 70% higher than more typical times and total review engagement has steadily increased in the last three months.

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