Written by Matt Wyer (Founder)
2. Judge.me
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Shop with confidence on Dogghead with the Judge.me review application
Most of us do it. Whether we're commuting to work or chillin' in front of the tele, we now -generally speaking- find ourselves randomly scrolling on websites and apps reading random 'news' articles or flicking through pages of products trying to work out what we can buy with our next pay check. I know my Amazon basket can agree!
However if you're not shopping at one of E-Commerce powerhouses such as Amazon, then "That looks wicked", "That's a good price" and "I'm gonna buy that" can very quickly be replaced with "I don't trust this website" and "This doesn't feel right". I mean, a big reason why these reputable marketplaces are so successful is because of the security they provide.
It's important to trust your gut. If you're not happy with where your money is going then it can cause a huge deal of anxiety or make you overly critical of the product you receive. Having confidence in the product and where you're buying from is an integral part of a great shopping experience.
With that in mind and as someone who is trying to sell you things, it's my responsibility to reassure you regarding any worries you have when purchasing items from Dogghead. I have already written a general article about our origins on our 'About Us' page which I hope has given you some insight to my/our legitimacy as I want to be as transparent as possible. That being said, a story about why I set up Dogghead may not give you the assurances you need in order to shop with us and that's perfectly fine. What we can do though is give you more information so you can make an informed decision before purchasing. Our latest offering is the integration of Judge.me, a product reviewing application which runs alongside EVERY product we sell.
So what is Judge.me and how does it work?
Well before we get in to that, I would like to say that this blog is in no way sponsored by Judge.me, any affiliated company or representative. This post is purely here to explain how this reviewing system works and how it can help ease any worries you have regarding purchasing goods from our store.
So let's get in to it! When a customer decides they want to purchase a product from Dogghead, then that customer is emailed a link to review the item roughly 2 weeks after the product has been ordered, or 14 days after the order has been marked as 'fulfilled'. That email contains a link referencing their order and encourages the customer to a specific link to review the item they purchased, which will then be marked as a 'Verified' review. This ensures that reviews are not generated by 'bots' and that there is a genuine relationship between the product, the review and the customer.
The customer is also able to go outside this process and drop a review directly on to the product as it appears on the website however these reviews will not be marked as 'Verified'. This can still be considered valuable feedback (especially when considered alongside verified reviews) as it can show that the customer has specifically sort out the item to review as they may have lost the email with the direct link due to filtering or other email setups.
But the product I'm looking to purchase doesn't have any reviews?
So there will be a couple of reasons for this which are:
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We are still a young company - I pulled all our products off of marketplace websites in order to go solo with Dogghead and have more freedom. Whilst it was definitely the right idea, it creates it's own problems such as reduced website traffic and sales. Since the soft integration of Judge.me a couple of months ago, we only have a handful of reviews that have been left by brave souls that put there trust in me and the brand and did not have the reassurances of a review system to base their purchases on. However as more people buy, more people review, then more peace of mind will be created. It is simply something that will happen over time.
- The product is very niche - Something we're very proud of at Dogghead is that we provide specific products that are in limited numbers. These can be either Limited Edition devices or modded 'one-of-a-kind' pieces. As a result, this may mean that the product may be THE FIRST of it's kind to become available on the store, meaning there will be no review history.
Should either of these points apply to something that you're interested in purchasing, then I would encourage you look at the overall performance on the review platform for Dogghead. Whilst this may not be specific to the product, it should accurately represent the level of service that we provide.
Why else is this review system important for Dogghead?
Using Judge.me offers more then simply being a tool used by the customer for peace of mind. We are able to use this ourselves to pinpoint problems and errors that may be occurring with particular products or services. I have been taught to embrace ALL feedback whether it be positive or negative. Whilst positive feedback is always great to hear, negative feedback gives us an opportunity to learn and change things that may not be working properly. If we are receiving a load of poor feedback on a product, then we can pull the item from sale and investigate why this is the case. If we are receiving poor feedback regarding products being delayed in transit, then we investigate postal and courier services as to why this happening. All this means we are able to create the best product possible, meaning you -the customer- get the best experience with Dogghead.
So what happens now?
Simply speaking, not a lot as Judge.me is already live and in full swing on the Dogghead Tech site. We may be fine tuning a few things so we can maximise it's full potential, such as introducing SMS alerts for customers we would like reviews from, as well as streamlining the reminder emails to give people a gentle nudge. There may also be some incentives in the future to make it worth your while!
Also, I always ears for general feedback on anything we do. If you would like to send me any feedback directly, then do not hesitate to float me an email at matt@dogghead.co.uk. If you fab folks at Judge.me need me to take down your logos, then do let me know!!
Check out the reviews and don't forget to leave yours if you buy anything!