Web Exclusive: Q&A Tool Produces Clickthroughs and Conversions for Sierra Trading Post

Problem: Sierra Trading Post, a cross-channel retailer of discounted outdoor gear, shoes, men’s and women’s clothing, accessories, and home furnishings, sought to enhance customer satisfaction and boost sales conversions.
Solution: Implemented an online question-and-answer (Q&A) solution.
Results: Within one month of rolling out the tool, 1,000 answers to consumers’ questions were posted. Emails notifying visitors that their questions had been answered generated 300 percent and 50 percent increases in clickthrough rates and conversions, respectively, vs. traditional email campaigns.

Like most every other marketer these days, Sierra Trading Post strives to make each interaction with consumers — no matter the channel — a positive one. This includes its e-commerce site, where the discount apparel and home furnishings retailer has recently launched a Q&A tool from PowerReviews, a provider of customer reviews and social commerce solutions, designed to aid perplexed consumers.

Using the AnswerBox solution, visitors to Sierra Trading Post's product pages can post product questions on the site to be answered by other visitors, staff members or subject matter experts. It's part live chat, part social shopping. As soon as a question is answered, an email is sent to the visitor who posed it.

It's those emails which have proven the real value for Sierra Trading Post. In many cases, the answer provided solves a purchase-blocking question. Consider the following:

• Within one month of implementing AnswerBox, more than 1,000 answers to consumer questions were posted.
• Clickthrough rates for the answer notification emails were 300 percent higher than traditional email campaigns, and conversion rates trended 50 percent higher, too.

“AnswerBox is not only a valuable sales tool for us, but it’s also incredible for customer engagement,” said Mike Tran, web technology specialist at Sierra Trading Post, in a PowerReviews’ press release. “It gives us insight into the types of questions our customers have, and let’s us know where our product information may be lacking. And the total revenue generated solely from this tool continues to rise.”