Bazaarvoice helps the world’s leading brands and retailers inspire confident consumer purchases with ratings and reviews, Q&As, visual and social content, and more.
Background:
Bazaarvoice, founded in 2005, arose amidst several sea changes influencing consumer shopping behavior. For decades, traditional advertising had been declining in its ability to influence consumers’ purchasing behaviors. At the same time, the birth of the Internet allowed consumers to easily share and access product ratings and reviews online. Online shoppers increasingly cited product reviews as a primary factor influencing their purchase decisions. Yet in the mid-2000s, many retailers still didn’t have the technical ability to offer reviews on their online platforms. The Bazaarvoice shopper- engagement platform gave brands and retailers the ability to collect, display and distribute user-generated content at a global scale.
Battery led the company’s series B financing in 2007. Battery’s thesis around the strategic importance of user-generated content such as ratings and reviews also led to the firm’s later investments in companies such as Angie’s List and Glassdoor.
Outcome:
Bazaarvoice went public in February 2012, listing on the NASDAQ under stock ticker symbol BV.
The presented case study investment was made in particular economic and market conditions. There can be no assurance that Battery Venture would elect, or be able, to exploit similar opportunities in a similar manner under similar or different economic and market conditions. More generally, there can be no assurances that the Battery vehicles will have comparable investment opportunities in the future. No assumptions should be made that any investments identified above were profitable. It should not be assumed that recommendations made in the future will be profitable or comparable to the portfolio company described in this case study. For a full list of all Battery Ventures investments, please click here.
A monthly newsletter to share new ideas, insights and introductions to help entrepreneurs grow their businesses.