Challenge
Raiffeisen Waren-Zentrale Rhein-Main AG (RWZ) has a broad product and service portfolio for business and private customers—and numerous company profiles that need to be maintained with up-to-date location data.
Solution
RWZ was looking for a software provider to streamline its listings and reviews management and support with the local SEO expertise to optimize its online presence,
Result
With Uberall, RWZ centrally manages their local business listings and customer reviews, and particularly professionalizes their presence on the most important search engine: Google
Click By Click: How Raiffeisen Waren-Zentrale Rhein-Main AG Revamps Its Google Maps Entries
The Raiffeisen Waren-Zentrale Rhein-Main AG (RWZ) is one of the oldest and largest agricultural trading houses in Germany, focusing on western federal states as well as activities in neighboring countries. As a group, RWZ achieves an annual turnover of around 3 billion euros with approximately 2,300 employees at around 180 locations.
From harvest products to agricultural technology
As a wholesaler, RWZ offers a wide range of products and services for agriculture, viticulture, horticulture, and forestry. End consumers, on the other hand, can shop in the home and garden markets. As a dealer of cars and commercial vehicles, operator of home and garden markets, and provider of fuel and construction materials, the company additionally has a broad portfolio for private customers in rural areas.
Sow today, reap tomorrow
RWZ pursues its vision of a good life—that everyone can feed themselves consciously—along the entire agricultural value chain. To reach this goal, the company’s strategy builds on five strategic core elements: customers, sustainability, digitalization, organization, and employees.
Besides agriculture, RWZ has plenty of expertise in online marketing. But one never stops learning, which is why the RWZ searched for a partner to optimize its online presence; preferably one that also covers efficient data management.
How Can RWZ Optimize Its Online Presence?
The Google Business Profile is the undisputed number 1 in online searches. It typically dictates how and where companies are displayed on search engine results page (SERP) though other important ranking factors such as citation building or reviews are crucial for companies to be found by customers, too.
Before Uberall, RWZ struggled at centrally controlling its local business listings–and the company’s goal was just as obvious: to professionalize the Google online presence, starting with the question of what that actually means.
When searching for a software provider, it was precisely this question that led RWZ to an informed decision: Uberall was able to prevail due to its expertise, with an intuitive use of the platform and the extensive directory network as important add-ons.
Seeding Visibility: A Cultivated Online Presence
In the search for the right platform for local digital marketing, RWZ chose Uberall and has since been able to benefit not only from its extensive directory, but also customer network. Additionally, Uberall has the necessary industry knowledge to set the right priorities and deliver quick wins.
With Uberall Listings, RWZ manages its business listings in the most important directories to increase online visibility and conversion rates.
With Uberall Reviews, RWZ responds to customer reviews to strengthen customer trust and gather important customer feedback.
With Uberall Locator & Local Pages, RWZ creates its store locator and local landing pages with relevant information to navigate customers to physical stores.
For approximately 1.5 years, Lennard Jaeschke has been focusing on theGoogle Business Profile, and soon discovered that Google rewards diligence. Collaborating with the Uberall team, he regularly discusses current performance, best practices, and additional measures for optimization.
Initially, RWZ elevated the location profiles to what Lennard Jaeschke describes as an acceptable standard—ensuring accurate location details without any duplicates. The company successfully accomplished this for over 7,000 listings, achieving a profile completeness of over 85 percent.
The data clean up has put the company in a good position to benefit from the second major ranking factor:reviews.
"We haven't been particularly focused on reviews until now. Our engagement is being noticed by our customers, leading to positive feedback in the digital world. This encourages us to continue in the same vein, just with a bit more awareness. Online reviews have a significant impact on our reputation as a whole.”
It all started with automated responses to reviews, always aiming to improve customer service.
RWZ now actively seeks feedback from its customers. On one hand, this increases the number of reviews as an important ranking factor in local search results. On the other hand, it allows RWZ to gather more feedback and improve its products and services
"We prioritize customer satisfaction and recognize the increasing significance of online reputation. Our dealership staff proactively informs customers about the option to leave reviews during their daily interactions. To facilitate this, we provide flyers with QR codes linking to review platforms, mirror hangers with QR codes on vehicles, and review cards accompanied by chocolate hearts.”
Lennard Jaeschke, René Herrmann—and we—agree that review generation contributes to improving online reputation and enhancing online visibility. Engaging on-site employees and bridging the gap between physical locations and their digital profiles ensures that customers enjoy a seamless purchasing experience.
Speaking of connections: RWZ further facilitates its customers' journey to the local store through a store locator and local landing pages. On these sites, they can easily search for the nearest branch and even filter by segments such as 'agricultural trade,' 'agricultural technology,' 'energy,' and more.
A click on the preferred location leads customers to a local landing page, which displays detailed information such as opening hours, product range, or services. These pages can, by the way, rank independently in online search results, too.
Harvest Time: Especially on Google Maps
Raiffeisen Waren-Zentrale Rhein-Main AG has been working with Uberall since 2022, and a direct comparison with the following calendar year shows that the effort has more than paid off—and required less effort than expected: 35 percent more visibility on Google Maps, 29 percent more clicks on directions, and 330 reviews automatically responded to.
Increased Visibility and Engagement
With Uberall, RWZ has exceeded its goal, as the company's professional Google presence has resulted in higher online visibility and stronger customer engagement. Overall, most clicks (39 percent) are actually on directions, indicating that customers want to head directly to the location.
Higher Operational Efficiency
Thanks to Uberall's AI-powered platform, RWZ can optimize its limited internal resources. On one hand, location data is automatically transmitted to key directories such as Google, Apple Maps, Bing, and Facebook. On the other hand, the company receives important insights into how its individual branches perform, which location stands out, and where improvements are needed.
Optimized review management
Reviews were already exceptionally good before partnering with Uberall, but with optimized review management, RWZ now fully leverages its brand image for local SEO.
In the future, RWZ plans to enhance its business listings with images and FAQs, and to utilize the integrated Google Posts feature on the platform more frequently. This promises even more customer engagement!
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