Bazaarvoice Helps Customers Choose Which Canon Product is Right for Them with MobileVoice.

With MobileVoice, Consumers Can Now Immediately Access User-Generated Reviews on Thousands of Canon Products Wherever They Are Sold at m.usa.canon.com

AUSTIN, Texas -- Bazaarvoice, the market and technology leader in hosted social commerce applications that drive sales, today announced that Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging, has launched Bazaarvoice MobileVoice to deliver consumer-generated product ratings and reviews directly to shoppers' cell phones and mobile devices. Now any shopper in any retail store nationwide can go to m.usa.canon.com to quickly retrieve reviews on thousands of Canon digital imaging and home office business products in order to make the best possible purchase decision. Shoppers can either browse reviews by category or look up a specific keyword or SKU, adding value to the in-store experience and building confidence in purchase decisions.

"Canon is a great example of a manufacturer who understands the new rules of channel marketing," said Brett Hurt, founder and CEO of Bazaarvoice. "The bottom line is that shoppers trust the opinions of their friends and their peers more than any form of advertising, and we now live in a world where 80% of US shoppers seek customer reviews when shopping. By supercharging the store experience with the mobile access directly to the voice of other customers, Canon is able to stand out in the channel and give consumers the information they need to make the smartest purchase, resulting in increased sales, reduced returns, and a better customer experience."

Canon U.S.A implemented Bazaarvoice with Ratings & Reviews[TM] earlier this year to enable consumers to rate and review products on www.usa.canon.com. With Ratings & Reviews and now MobileVoice, Canon is able to provide its customers with immediate access to credible and authentic user-generated content to help them during the research and purchase process and to better serve the majority of buyers who are eager to get detailed information on product attributes and read in-depth reviews from their peers before making a purchase, either online or in-store.

"We're happy to expand our Bazaarvoice implementation to offer a new service to our customers that will help them make more informed product choices when they are shopping offline for Canon products," stated Yuichi Ishizuka, senior vice president and general manager, Consumer Imaging Group, Canon U.S.A.

Bazaarvoice MobileVoice builds on the proven influence of online ratings and reviews by extending them to the mobile channel. With MobileVoice, customers can access reviews in real-time, anywhere, via their web-enabled phone to help make an informed purchase decision. This includes consumers shopping in a store or via print materials such as catalogs or circular promotions. For retailers and manufacturers, MobileVoice extends the proven benefits of a Bazaarvoice Ratings & Reviews implementation into the offline channel. MobileVoice clients gain sales by improving customer satisfaction, increasing brand authority, and further leveraging their word of mouth investment. They can also offset some of the most significant challenges associated with in-store merchandising, including the limited opportunity to message product information beyond the package and an overwhelming multitude of product choices.

About Bazaarvoice

Bazaarvoice's Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions have served more than 60 billion pieces of customer-generated content on more than 575 brand web sites like Best Buy, Costco, Dell, Macy's, Overstock, P&G, Panasonic, QVC, and USAA in 36 countries. The company connects organizations to their influencers through a unique network that reaches hundreds of millions of consumers around the globe, enabling authentic customer-powered marketing. Through syndication, analytics, partnerships, and consulting, Bazaarvoice brings the voice of the customer to the center of their clients' business strategy, proving "social" can drive measured revenue growth and cost savings for manufacturing, retail, travel, and financial services companies. Headquartered in Austin, the company has offices in London, Paris, and Singapore. For more information and access to client success stories, visit www.bazaarvoice.com, read the blog at www.bazaarblog.com, and follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/bazaarvoice.