Does your froyo shop have lots of positive online reviews? Do reviews matter? We’re here to answer your questions about reviews.
Importance of Reviews
Yes, you may have a loyal customer base who may not read your reviews but reviews still matter. Since most people own smartphones that they have with them all day, accessing online reviews has become incredibly easy. Many people trust online reviews from real people. These reviews often provide additional information about restaurants that help consumers find new restaurants and reduce the risk of trying new restaurants. They’re using review sites to find restaurants with good reviews.
Conversely, a single bad review can cause some people to avoid your restaurant. With multiple negative reviews, the impact is even greater, particularly if there aren’t a lot of positive reviews to counter the negative ones.
Let’s look at some evidence about the influence of reviews on diners.
A paper by Michael Luca (Harvard Business School) looked at actual Yelp reviews and found that a one-star increase in ratings led to a roughly 5%- 9% increase in revenue for independent restaurants. The same effect was not found for chain restaurants.
In 2018, CVENT surveyed over 9,500 diners in Europe and the US. The respondents were registered with Tripadvisor and so they were likely heavier users of Tripadvisor compared to other review sites. The survey found that on average, over 90% of respondents say that online reviews influenced their dining decisions and over 50% report that photos influence their dining decisions. In the US, 90% reported that Tripadvisor inspires them to try new restaurants.
According to ReviewTrackers’ 2018 Online Reviews Survey, 94% of respondents have avoided a business with negative reviews. These businesses are seen as untrustworthy.
Which Review Sites Matter the Most
The importance of online reviews has led to a proliferation of review sites. Which ones are the most important today? There are different ways to measure the importance of a review site, including site traffic, number of reviews, number of businesses reviewed, number of registered users, site trustworthiness, etc. According to Lightspeed, the best review sites are #1 Google, #2 Facebook, #3 Yelp, #4 Tripadvisor, #5 Zomato, #6 Opentable, #7 Zagat and #8 The Infatuation. Then there’s Grubhub, Seamless, Foursquare, Gayot, etc.
According to ReviewTrackers’ 2018 Online Reviews Survey, 63.6% of respondents check reviews on Google before visiting a business, more than any other review site. Due to the popularity of Google’s search engine, Google is able to show its reviews in local business search results first. While Google has more reviews, Yelp reviews tend to be more detailed and informative.
The consensus seems to be that Google, Facebook, and Yelp are the top three sites for restaurant reviews right now. Be sure to claim your business profile on each of these and use each to engage with consumers and manage your online reputation.
Online review websites provide a means for restaurants to manage their online reputation, get honest feedback, and to grow their reputation. This typically involves some effort on the restaurant’s part. Even if everyone loves your restaurant, it’s viewed positively if you are proactive and responsive to what people are saying about your business. Negative reviews are not uncommon and they usually have a bigger impact than positive reviews. To counter these, provide a polite, personalized response. According to ReviewTrackers’ 2018 Online Reviews Survey, 53.5% expect a business to respond to a negative review within 7 days. According to a survey by Uberall, 65% of respondents feel that businesses should respond to a review and 90% said they’d be more likely to frequent a business that responds to reviews.
