Page 53 - AmericasMart: Market Magazine July 2018

“97 percent of consumers turn to online review sites for local businesses and 85 percent of those consumers trus”t online reviews as much as a personal recommendation.
Attention! Attention!
People are talking about your business... whether you like it or not. They’re sharing candid thoughts on if they had a good experience, if they didn’t and why.
The catch? Folks nowadays don’t just share feedback with friends and family but instead, they turn online to offer insight on brands, businesses and
more that they want to speak up about. Often, their insight is positive and adds value to these same companies yet other times, their feedback is negative and can hurt company reputations.
Keeping this in mind, retailers must embrace the reality of online reviews more so than ever before. No longer can they turn their heads to what customers might say about them online and likewise, introduce to other consumers viewing these same reviews. Because of this, there’s no time to spare. To amp up your understanding of online reviews and
the impact they have on your business, consider the following.
Online reviews are trusted
as much as personal recommendations
Emily Washocovick of Yelp explains
that “97 percent of consumers turn
to online review sites for local businesses and 85 percent of those consumers trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation.” This data, shared by the BrightLocal Consumer Review Study, is among some key findings confirming that online reviews are powerful influencers
EMILY WASHOCOVICK
of how consumers choose to spend their dollars. Additional findings from this same study revealed that positive reviews make 73 percent of consumers trust
a local business more, while 49 percent
of consumers need at least a four-
star rating before they choose to use
a business. Additionally, BrightLocal reported that responding to reviews is more important than ever for businesses— with 30 percent naming this as key when judging local businesses.
Online reviews help to
generate in-store visits
“As a consumer, I instinctively look
to Yelp or Facebook—or both—for customer insight on places I want to shop. This is particularly important for me when narrowing in on a specific product or category of inventory I am looking for. Gaining customer thoughts based on firsthand experience is always valuable
to me, and I no longer need to depend
on just my friends and family to gain this from,” shares Laura Rahilly, a Chicago- based real estate agent who prefers to support local businesses to big box brands.
Rahilly isn’t alone in her efforts of using online review destinations to gain valuable retailer insight. BrightLocal reports that
97 percent of consumers used the internet to find a local business, up from 95 percent in 2016. This confirms what retailers likely already know...which is that the internet is part of customer shopping journeys. What they might not realize, however, is that the internet isn’t always
a dead-end to purchasing in-store. Thanks to online reviews, retailers can
benefit from strong reputations and increased store visits as a result.
The catch? They must pay attention
to what reviews are being shared online about them—and respond to reviews
to keep customers engaged and potential customers interested in learning more about their businesses.
Online reviews can help strengthen company reputations
Finally, remember that managing your online reviews is one thing but recognizing how they benefit your business is another. The power of online reviews is strong—but only if you welcome it as an avenue to communicate with existing and potential customers alike. From Yelp to Facebook
to the Better Business Bureau and other online destinations where your company has a presence, take control by staying engaged. It’s this constant TLC that will help position your company to truly benefit from the power of online reviews. ■
Nicole Leinbach Reyhle is the founder and publisher of Retail Minded, the co-founder
of the Independent Retailer Conference and a regular contributor to various publications that include Entrepreuner.com. Additionally, Reyhle is the Author of the book “Retail 101: The Guide to Managing and Marketing Your Retail Business” from McGraw-Hill and has been the Spokesperson for Small Business Saturday from American Express since 2014. Follow Reyhle on Twitter at @RetailMinded.
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