Mouthshut.com
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[MouthShut.com] is India’s top-rated peer-to-peer consumer review information exchange, a thriving online community of consumers with an interest in products and services offered in India. MouthShut has found a deep resonance with the Indian consumer community that previously felt stifled for lack of a medium to express, positively or negatively, candid thoughts on products and services.
MouthShut has grown rapidly through word-of-mouth buzz and inadvertent marketing resulting from numerous articles in various media outlets – both print and broadcast.
MouthShut does not have any immediate competitor in the Indian landscape (current as of 2006), but does compete with Epinions.com and Ciao.com on a global level. However, MouthShut's unique focus on a blend of consumer reviews and the community that contributes these reviews has made it equally popular with consumer and corporates. It's easy to use and clear interface has made it easier for people to read, rate, write reviews on any item.
A search in google as well as reading the About Mouthshut section reveals that the site was founded by Faisal Farooqui, an alum of SUNY-Binghamton, also known as Binghamton University, in the year 2000.
A lot has been written by the media of how Faisal and his team managed to cut costs and keep MouthShut afloat and grow in the crucial period following the dotcom meltdown in early 2000. Looks like MouthShut is the subject of multiple academic and journal articles that record these strategies of Faisal and his team. In one of the interviews broadcast on CNBC, Faisal attributes these to 3 things: a. Focus on technology b. word-of-mouth and c. loyal members who received top priority over others, from MouthShut.
As web 2.0 is gaining ground, one can see plethora of new features and offerings revolving around reviews and feedback, on MouthShut.com
MouthShut's Trusted Circle:
Mouthshut I guess, foresaw the advent of social networks that would influence consumer purchase behaviors. In 2000, they launched the trusted circle- a term defined by them to display relevant reviews to every member. An individual member can add people to his/her trusted circle which would influence the order of display of reviews. If A trusts B and B trusts C and there are 10 reviews on a particular item, when A is logged in and searching for reviews on that particular item, the system will first display review written by B and then C....the idea is that Trusted Circle is given preference over reviewers who are not part of that circle.
