Ciao's Social Media News

Wrapping Up Internet World

It’s been a busy week for the Ciao team, as we attended Internet World 2011 in London once again.

Internet World is always a buzzing event full of cutting-edge products, services and experts from the online world – and this year didn’t disappoint. With the UK’s top 50 brands exhibiting, plus over 12,000 visitors over three days, it’s a busy – and hugely exciting – event to be involved in. This year we were pleased to have two of the team giving talks to packed-out conference halls.

Day one saw Vincenzo Calenne, our Team Lead of E-Commerce Sales in Italy and UK, covering ‘Online Reputation in the E-Commerce Arena’. He spoke about the importance of online reputation in relation to e-commerce, discussing the impact of the power shift from advertiser to the consumer resulting from the rise in online review sites.

On the second day Alexander Miller, Team Lead Advertising Sales Ciao UK, spoke about ‘Social Advertising: what is it, who is doing it and why does it work?’. Discussing the notion that consumers are the most influential source of advice for people making purchases online, he looked at what this means for companies looking to build effective social media campaigns.

Alexander explained that ‘now the socialisation of the internet is in full swing’, brands need to engage with consumers online without being too intrusive. He argued that adverts placed on Ciao achieve high hit rates because they are so relevant to an audience that is already looking to make a purchase.

As Alexander explained, the success of this approach was proven recently by HP’s successful advertising campaign, which ran earlier this year on Ciao. We’re pleased to report that over 65,000 click-throughs were generated to a dedicated campaign microsite (http://www.ciao-special.co.uk/HP/estation/ph3/), and creative on Ciao drove over 45,000 clicks to the custom built microsite throughout the campaign.

Click here to watch the full presentation.

PS - You’ll never see squirrels the same way again!

Notting Hill Carnival-a Caribbean experience in the heart of London

Every year thousands of people meet over the August bank holiday weekend to celebrate what is one of the most popular street events in Europe. On a tree mile route, Notting Hill Carnival offers guarantee fun for everyone, ranging from steel bands, food stalls and an amazing array of music and rhythms.

So what better option if you have no other plans for the long weekend? Ciao has a great range of hotels across London and for this occasion convenient and affordable bed and breakfast in Paddington and Notting Hill so you won’t miss a thing.

Don't miss the opportunity to have an amazing weekend in one of the most entertaining activities in the UK, a great and unforgettable event for all.

If you have been to Notthing Hill Carnival already and want to share your experience with other members head over to Ciao and write your own review!

Research results: Mixed impact of recession on Europe

We wanted to know what impact the recession has had on shopping habits so we created a survey to find out.

The results show that in the 5 Ciao countries across Europe, there are major differences in the way people have reacted.

Across the board people are spending more time researching before making a purchase. In the UK, one in five will no longer make a purchase without extensive online research. In Germany, this figure rises to 27%. In France it is 13%, while in Spain and Italy one in ten people said that their research had increased.

Most affected overall by the credit crunch are Brits and the Italians. 82% and 86% respectively said that they felt the economy had affected them personally. The most resilient nation is France, where an impressive 63% said that they had yet to really feel the downturn. This is very much the exception: for most people, the priority is in saving money and using the internet to do so.

The good news for Brits is that we’re getting a better long-term view: 54% of people are making a conscious effort to save more money. In Germany, only 29% are focusing on savings, a figure that rises to 57% in Spain and 41% in France and 65% in Italy.

Here are some more facts we found interesting:

• The credit crunch is actually improving the nation’s health: one in three Brits is saving  money by cutting back on their smoking habits.
• The Germans are cocooning themselves away from the economic impact: one in ten Germans has prioritised home decoration as their top money spending activity (more than twice the number of any other European country).
• One in four Italians are spending their time volunteering instead of shopping.
• 36% in France said they are responding to the credit crunch by spending more time partying with their friends!

How do these facts measure up against your reaction to the financial situation in 2009?

Cocktail parties…A simple and stylish way to impress your friends!

The weekend is fast approaching and if you’re short of ideas for how to kick back and relax over the next couple days why not try something a little bit different and host a cocktail party?!

Cocktail parties are a great way to entertain and impress your friends and are pretty simple to organise too. And if you fancy whipping up something a little more exciting than a cosmopolitan for your guests, why not check out the Ciao website for a few recipe suggestions? We have a great range of cocktail books reviewed by our community to cater for types of occasion, and if you’re super speedy and find one you fancy, make sure you place your order today and with any luck your book will be with you in time for tomorrow!

For those of you with something to celebrate or if you just feel like going all out, why not check our cocktail making accessories too?  From shakers and mixers to cups and decorations we have all you need to help you party in style this weekend.

Don’t forget to let us know your favourite cocktail books and accessories too. By getting involved and adding your recommendations to the site you can become part of the Ciao community.

Favourite ice-creams for summertime

It's not always sunny in the UK but it's certainly been hot this year. It's also time for people to take a break and enjoy summer holidays.

Summertime is boomtime for ice cream and frozen lollies, so we thought it would be fun to share the Ciao community's favourites with you:

Ben & Jerry's Phish food
Wall's Vienetta
The Skinny Cow
Nestle Fab
Haagen-Dazs Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

You can leave a review on ciao.co.uk if you agree, or review your favourite if it's not listed.

Ciao keeps on growing

Once you get past the millions of products it's clear that the most important thing about Ciao is our community of reviewers.

In June we were pleased that the community keeps on growing: we now have 1.2 million product reviews in the UK and are continuously expanding our range of products. The Ciao community has also grown to 760,000  members in the UK. These all contribute to making Ciao the biggest shopping community in Europe. Thank you to all of our members for making Ciao a great community.

We believe that, when spending is being watched closely, people think more about what they buy. Reviews by real users in a trusted community can help - whether you are choosing a new yoghurt or the latest high-tech digital camera.

Do you agree? Leave us a comment below - we look forward to all your quirky stories!

Germany named the least popular holiday destination

New research from the Ciao community shows how Europeans really feel about each other's countries.

We asked our members in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain how they really feel about visiting each other’s countries. The results were clear: Germany is Europe’s least favourite holiday destination, and it’s all thanks to the people!

Key facts

• The most popular countries in Europe are Spain (28.8%), Italy (25.4%), France (21.2%), the UK (15.4%) and Germany (9.2%)
• The things people liked most about their chosen country are the landscape (43%), the weather (19%), the people (16.8%), the food (16.6%) and the nightlife (4.6%)
• Asked for the least popular holiday destinations people chose Germany (30.4%) the UK (26.6%), Italy (22%), France (13.8%) and Spain (7.2%)
• Things people do not like in the country they chose not to go to are the weather (31.6%), the people (31.4%) the food, (17.6%), the nightlife (12%) and the landscape (7.4%)

30% of respondents across Europe named Germany as their least favourite destination and claimed that the unfriendly people were the reason for their choice. The only exception was made by the Germans, 40% of whom named the UK as their least favourite destination and claimed the weather was the reason.

Respondents from Britain, France and Spain rated their own countries as their favourite place for a European holiday. For the Brits and the Spanish it’s the beautiful landscapes and rolling hills that make them want to stay at home – while perhaps unsurprisingly the French rate their own cooking more highly than the rest of Europe and would much rather stick with what they know!

The countryside was rated as a high driver in the holiday decision making process and may explain why the Germans and Italians prefer to go abroad: the Germans to Italy and the Italians to Spain.

What do you think? What is your favourite holiday destination? Leave us a comment below or head over to Ciao for reviews of your holiday favourites

Listen up UK! French outshine fellow Europeans by taking Mother’s Day most seriously

With Father’s Day coming up on June 21st, there are some shocking results for UK parents in our recent Ciao community survey: most Europeans shower mums with gifts to say sorry for lack of face time on Mother’s Day while the French are the most dedicated in terms of spending this important annual occasion with their mums.

Our members in France, Spain, Italy and Germany bought gifts to compensate for face-to-face time when it comes to Mother’s Day, which occurs on different days between March to June across Europe. French children take Mother’s Day most seriously, outshining European peers:

• 46% spend the day with their mums
• 71% surprise them with a gift
• 26% invest more than 50 Euros to show their mums how much they care, far more than children across the rest of Europe.

Bringing up the rear are the Germans – only one in three of them saw their mum on the day itself.

When it comes to the type of gift, there were two clear favourites:

• 45% planned to buy their mum a creative gift and
• 41% planned to buy flowers.
• Chocolates , beauty products and vouchers are the least favourite presents.

Harald Schiffauer, our Sales Director E-Commerce Europe, gave his opinion: "We know that family culture is important in Europe and it seems that the French are taking this important occasion more seriously than anybody else in Europe. It’s official, French mums are Europe’s most cared for!”

Let this be advance warning for Father’s Day – head over to Ciao to check out popular items before the day to make your dad smile.

Ciao becomes part of Bing – the new search experience from Microsoft

We are delighted to announce an exciting change at ciao.co.uk.

From now on Ciao will play an integral part in Microsoft’s new search engine Bing and will take the role of primary product search in UK. Additionally Ciao will be introduced as the new shopping engine on the UK MSN portal.

What does this mean for our members?
Apart from a modernized and updated design for the new, integrated Ciao, all the functionalities members enjoy will stay exactly the same. Additionally users can now expose their personal shopping knowledge and experience (as product, service or retailer reviews as well as product videos or product list) to an even wider range of consumers accessing Ciao’s passionate and engaged International community directly via Bing and MSN.

You might also notice new links in the header which allow you to search the new Bing (for web results, images, news or other results) and directly access MSN.

We hope you like the new design and look forward to hearing your thoughts! If you have any questions please contact us via the comments below!

Results of our latest user survey: 76% prefer online reviews

In our latest research into purchasing influences we wanted to spot the impact of the current economic uncertainties on people’s purchase decision.

The results have highlighted the impact of online peer reviews on sales, with 76% of respondents admitting changing purchase decisions after reading online reviews of the product they were looking to buy.

The survey, which polled 1,223 users, also brought bad news for shop assistants who were deemed as having the least influence on purchases. Only 2% of respondents citing them as having an impact on what products they selected.

There’s an interesting preference for online reviews even over those from your friends: 34% of people said they would choose reviews by people who owned the product over recommendations from friends (19%) when purchasing goods.

Brand names are still an important factor in buying products though, especially in beauty and electrical goods. 80% of women will only purchase branded beauty products, and 83% cited the strength of the brand as a guide when deciding to purchase electronic products such as DVD players and Satellite Navigation devices.

Some more quick facts from the survey:

• 61% choose to purchase CDs, DVD and Books online to take advantage of cheaper prices
• 22% use online shops for clothes, compared to 67% of users in high-street stores
• Overall online spending was still strong, with 25% of Ciao users in UK spending on average £1000 or more per year, followed by 22% spending £500 to £999, 35% £100 to £499 and 18% spending less than £10.

Expert comment: Tom Hyde, E-commerce team leader at Ciao
"People are becoming savvier than ever when it comes to purchasing a product. User review sites are a great way to get impartial information from people who have genuine first-hand experience of the product or service. The fact people are changing their purchase decisions because of what they read in reviews is testament to their success. Brands now more than ever need to be aware of what customers are saying about them online, and take advantage of online communities to interact and engage directly with consumers to address any issues or concerns and secure better reviews in future."

You can download the full report as a PDF if you'd like to know more. We'd also love to hear from you in the comments.