Consumer Reviews Online

Anyone who has done any online shopping is familiar with the consumer-written reviews and ratings that are available on many of the major websites. Amazon. com comes to mind first of all, but other businesses have jumped on the band wagon and with good reason.

According to JupiterResearch, a business intelligence company, consumer-written reviews and ratings are having quite an influence on online businesses. They quote Bazaarvoice's research as showing that 77% of online shoppers refer to consumer-written reviews and ratings to aid them in making purchase decisions.

Not only are consumer-written reviews and ratings available on many of the online merchant's sites, but there are a great number of websites dedicated to just consumer reviews and related information. Put "consumer+reviews+online" into your favorite search engine and you can see the array of sites available to you.

In addition to the three sites described in detail below, sites were found that provide consumer reviews for: online business tools, gardening gifts, psychotherapists and counselors, bed and breakfast establishments, work-at-home business opportunities, sites for New Zealand and the UK, and a number of others. Chances are if you are looking for a consumer-written review on a product or service, you will be able to find it online.

Here are three sites I found easily which provide the consumer generated reviews and ratings for a wide variety of products and categories:

Epinions.com The reviews and ratings here are all consumer-written. In addition to the products and services being rated, so are the reviews and reviewers themselves. The site is easy to navigate. There is a Top 10 list of various categories as rated by the reviewers. Included in the Top 10's list: washers, used cars, new cars, strollers, digitial cameras, microwave ovens. The site is free to join and reviewers can earn cash for writing reviews.

In addition, the reviews at Epinions are utilized at the two of the other sites listed here, which elevates the comprehensiveness and veracity of those reviews in my opinion.

consumerworld.com Again, an easy-to-navigate site. This site offers a "Price Checker" feature which allows you to enter the general category of the product you seek, then the specific brand, title, model number, etc. Click the "search" button and in a few seconds have prices from a myriad of merchants. Once at the merchant page, you have the option of providing your zip code in order to see the tax and shipping costs in order to get a total price.

They offer a free weekly email newsletter. And in addition to the many other links available to consumer-related articles and news, etc. there is a link to find coupons for online stores. Consumer reviews are provided by Epinions. This site is free.

consumerreview.com This site bills itself as "the leading source of user-generated buying advice for outdoor sporting goods and consumer electronics." The home page is a list of product categories with sub-category links. Click on a link and you are taken to a page that provides a brief description of each of the various products. Viewer then has options to narrow search by price range, brand, etc.

Once you select an item about which you wants to find more information, your taken to a page with full product description, various merchants and their prices. Consumer reviews provided by Epinions can also be accessed. Viewer can buy an item directly at this site. This site is also free.

All in all, the consumer has a lot of information at their fingertips. Purchase decisions can be made with a little more confidence than in the days before consumer-written reviews, but it is still at the discretion of the consumer to determine which reviews are trustworthy and useful to them.