Order Data Options & Considerations

We recommend defining and reviewing your high-level business objectives and considerations, and then evaluating these delivery options in that context. Below are some considerations to get you started. Please contact your Implementation Team or Account Team with any questions or to discuss further.

• What resources do you have available to do the work (web developers and/or data analysts/engineers)? If web developers are limited, consider an Order Feed. If data analysts are limited, the Checkout Beacon may be a better fit.
• Does your business require 100% order accuracy, or the ability to only send review solicitation emails to customers who received the product (and did not return/cancel their order)? If yes, consider an Order Feed.
• What eCommerce platform are you using? Some can seamlessly send the required information via the JavaScript Checkout Beacon while others, such as Squarespace, natively cannot.

Order Feed vs. Checkout Beacon: Technical Considerations

Order Feed

Pros

• You have total control of the flat file that is passed to PowerReviews, so you may inject in-store (non-eCommerce) orders for Follow-Up Email review solicitation, or otherwise compile the orders as you see fit.
• This is a fully auditable process combined with PowerReviews Portal tools, which enables 100% control of the orders entering the PowerReviews solution for Follow-Up Email review solicitation.

Considerations

• This method requires coordination of potentially separate resources beyond your web development team to automate the file creation and delivery to the SFTP server.
• If you use an Order Feed as your only data delivery option, the Sales Influence report is unavailable in the PowerReviews Portal.
• Best Practice: If 100% control is needed for your Order Data and you also want access to the Sales Influence report, you can implement both the Order Feed and the Checkout Beacon (where the Checkout Beacon is configured to not trigger your Follow-Up Emails). This enables you to get both full control over orders passed to PowerReviews as well as conversion reporting benefits.

Checkout Beacon

Pros

• This is a more hands-off approach in the longterm, requiring asynchronous JavaScript code implementation on your order confirmation page by your web development team.
• The Sales Influence report that shows the Number of Orders and Conversion Rates with vs. without reviews is only available via the JavaScript Checkout Beacon method.
• Customer orders are collected in your PowerReviews solution at the point of purchase, and can be audited via the PowerReviews Portal.

Considerations

• The Checkout Beacon does not allow for order deletions (ie., returns or cancellations), or in-store orders, as the data is passed at the point of purchase on your website.
• Historically, PowerReviews has seen some orders not captured due to timeouts, etc. (while the capture-rate is high, it's not 100%).