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Enabling customers to write honest, unedited product reviews is practically required on ecommerce sites today. Consumers want to hear from people like them, and they have plenty to say about the products they purchase. Smart online retailers analyse reviews’ impact on sales conversion, average order value, return rates, and more.

But to stop at these results would mean missing out on the entire potential of customer reviews – and of the customer’s voice in general.

Customer reviews are known to help engender trust among consumers, and can increase conversion rates for retailers. But what are the challenges? What kind of benefits can they deliver to e-commerce companies?

We spoke to Brett Hurt to find out more. He is the founder and CEO of customer reviews specialist Bazaarvoice. Some of you may remember him from our What's New In Online Marketing event earlier this year. He has some pretty interesting observations...

Customer reviews specialist Reevoo is lobbying for increased regulation around online reviews, despite the fact that it is a near-impossible task.

Measuring the validity of all online reviews is difficult and I can’t work out who might want to police this...

A new survey from Deloitte & Touche has provided more evidence of the influence of user-generated reviews on consumers, as well as their growing significance for brands and etailers.

The study focused on US shoppers, and found that of the 62% of respondents that read user reviews, more than 80% had been ‘directly influenced’ by them – i.e. the reviews had either confirmed their initial choice or changed their mind.

Bazaarvoice, the provider of consumer reviews to online retailers, has secured a new round of funding from investors, according to this article on TechCrunch.

The $8.8m round was led by Battery Ventures and will see its general partner Neeraj Agrawal joining the company’s board.

Emap's consumer media department has acquired YoSpace, a technology firm which specialises in user-generated content.

The deal is worth £8.7m, with a further £5.7m payable based on performance targets. YoSpace's clients include O2, Vodafone, Orange and 3.