SAN FRANCISCO, CA (October 22, 2019) - Uberall, Inc., the location marketing solution for businesses competing to attract and win local brick-and-mortar customers, today announced the release of its first “Reputation Management Revolution Report,” a global benchmark report analyzing the impact of customer reviews on brands and consumers. For the report, Uberall analyzed the Google My Business (GMB) profiles of 64,000 global (+740 reviews per location), enterprise (+10 locations) and SMB (>10 locations) business locations in four countries -- US, UK, France, and Germany.
“Near me” searches – localized mobile searches for brands and products close by – have exploded. Today, 82% of people have tried a “near me” search on their mobile devices. Among millennials, “near me” adoption is even greater, at 92%.* More than ever, as search engine and smartphone technology has advanced, consumers are prioritizing proximity and convenience.
For brick-and-mortar brands, online customer reviews are a key part of the “near me” brand experience. When conducting “near me” searches, consumers often turn to reviews and star ratings of locations across platforms like Yelp, TripAdvisor, Facebook, Instagram, Google, and more. In fact, almost half of all consumers have left such a review online,** with 95% influenced by reviews in their buying decisions.***
With that in mind, key findings from Uberall’s “Reputation Management Revolution Report” include:
A Review Rating Increase of 0.1 Can Boost Conversion by up to 25% -- Unsurprisingly, the higher the star rating of a business location, the higher the conversion rate. Conversion rate is a combination of phone calls, requests for driving directions and website clicks. However, even a marginal increase has a dramatic impact. Uberall found that a star rating increase of just 0.1 could increase the conversion rates of a business location by 25%.
Getting to a 3.7-Star Rating is a Key Benchmark -- Locations that move from a 3.5 to a 3.7-star rating experience conversion growth of 120% — the highest percentage growth jump from any star rating. This means that a business location’s first priority should be to get all their locations above the 3.7-star rating threshold. Uberall also identified three specific review benchmarks businesses need to reach to achieve the best growth for their locations: 3.7 stars, 4.0 stars and 4.4 stars.
A Review Reply Rate of 30% Wins More Customers -- Global and enterprise business locations have the lowest review reply rate. Reply rates by business type were SMB (25%), enterprise (12%) and global brands (9%). However, Uberall found that a 30% reply rate is the benchmark for conversion growth to outstrip competitors. For example, when enterprise locations replied to at least 32% of reviews, they achieved 80% higher conversion rates than direct competitors and SMBs that replied to just 10% of reviews.
“A star rating increase of 0.1 can boost a listing’s conversion rate by 25%,” said Norman Rohr, SVP of Marketing at Uberall. “Consumers who are engaging with the brand are also extremely likely to visit a store within 24 hours, so a 25% rise in conversions could also mean a 25% increase in foot traffic every day. By focusing on review star rating and reply rate, brands can massively impact their overall conversion rates.”
Per Uberall’s analysis, when broken down by business size, SMBs are averaging higher conversion rates than the bigger brands until the 4.4-star rating mark. At that point, global and enterprise businesses start to outperform SMBs. A rating increase from 3.7 to 4.4 can increase a global brand’s conversion rate by 120%, while an enterprise location’s rates go up by 80%.
“SMBs, more so than bigger brands, rely on customer reviews to drive brand awareness and visibility,” added Rohr. “As a result of that, they are performing better than the enterprise and global brands, who typically have lower review rates and lower reply rates. To outperform both larger and smaller businesses in their area, SMBs need to be focused on replying to a large majority of reviews and keeping their rating above the third star rating benchmark of 4.4.”
For the full “Reputation Management Revolution Report,” visit: XXX.
About Uberall, Inc.
Uberall delivers a memorable ‘Near Me’ Brand Experience for SMB and enterprise resellers to offer clients along every step of today’s customer journey — from online interactions to offline sales.
Resellers can establish new, powerful revenue streams by helping clients stand out in a highly fragmented online space and giving consumers a seamless digital to brick and mortar experience.
Uberall solutions enable businesses to easily manage search and discovery, engagement and conversion in real-time on all online platforms — mobile, voice and desktop — across websites, mobile apps, store locators, search engines, maps, social platforms and advertising networks.
Uberall is headquartered in Berlin, with additional offices in San Francisco, London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Cape Town. Its clients include Fortune 500 companies and industry leaders from all over the world.
Learn more at https://uberall.com.
* Uberall, ‘Near Me’ Survey, 2018
** Uberall, Online Store Review Survey, 2018
***Northwestern University, 2018