Foreword

Commerce has reached a tipping point. Gone are the days when brands and advertisers are in control. The voice of the consumer is in the driver’s seat once again, as study after study shows consumers trust each other over brands. It’s all about peer-to-peer selling now.

But while this tipping point may seem like a disadvantage, it’s actually an incredible opportunity for brands and retailers that use it to their advantage. How? Rather than creating loads of branded content and buying ads with suboptimal conversion rates, brands and retailers can tap into the authentic voice of the customer — their #bazaarvoice — and leverage this earned content to supercharge their commerce engines.

And by stepping back from the impersonal, mass advertising ways of marketing and leaning into the voice of consumers, we become more authentic and trustworthy in the eyes of shoppers. More personal. More experiential.