Consumer reviews Look beyond star ratings
U
ser reviews emerged in the 1990s to become a stock feature of online retailing but have moved way beyond that, with customer
feedback now shaping all areas of business, sales and service online and in store. The expansion of B2B customer-feedback
technology firm Feefo reflects the scale of the reviews sector. The company has a presence across multiple sectors in 50-plus countries and Feefo chief executive Matt West says its chief focus today is “turning targeted insights into action”. He suggests this represents “a significant
transition from how the travel industry has known Feefo”. West explains: “Companies have reviews from customers, but how is this helping the business? We delve into what people are saying. That is what is becoming important.” Feefo was established in 2010, with West
joining in 2016 and taking over as chief executive in 2018 upon completion of a management buyout backed by London- based private equity firm Vespa Capital. West says: “We’re building a business to
operate at scale. Travel is just 13% to 14% of our business. We’re in multiple sectors, in 56 countries and take a lot of international learnings.” Retail comprises the biggest proportion
FIGURE 56: FREQUENCY OF LEAVING REVIEW: HOLIDAYS/TRAVEL
%
10 20 30 40 50 60
0 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 All
Regularly buy
online
Regularly buy
instore % all who leave reviews % all respondents 54% 58% 49% 46% 39%
Rarely 24%
Sometimes 38%
Source: Feefo 50% 52% 51%
Rarely/never 33%
Never 9%
Always 6%
Mostly 23%
Regularly 29%
%
10 15 20 25 30 35
0 5
*Leave reviews ‘every’ or ‘most of time’
18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 Base: 2,000
Source: Feefo, 2018 35% 30% 28% 28% 24% % all respondents
of Feefo business at about 40%, involving “bricks and clicks” according to West. He says: “We work with retailers which have a high street presence. The retail experience and the tools to build the retail experience are highly relevant to travel.” The company also has a significant
presence in the property, recruitment, financial services and automotive sectors.
User feedback increasingly shapes business decisions, says Feefo chief executive Matt West
‘Look beyond star ratings’ Businesses “have to understand the expectations of their customer base”, says West, who argues consumer expectations are changing significantly with the personalisation enabled by ecommerce. This, in turn, has transformed the reviews
sector, he says, explaining: “We have moved beyond ‘Someone has booked a holiday, send them a review request and let’s get some gold stars’. “We need to look beyond star ratings. We
OLDER adults appear more likely to post reviews of travel
experiences than the young, with little difference between those purchasing online or instore
(Figure 56). A minority post reviews
regularly (Figure 57). Younger adults are more likely to post non-travel- related reviews (Figure 58)
have invested so we can identify sentiments and trends. We’ve introduced survey capabilities to reach people when they are most receptive.” The technology means Feefo can
“understand more what people are saying, instead of just showing a score. We look at sentiment, at natural language processing.” For example, he says: “Someone might
FIGURE 57: FREQUENCY OF LEAVING REVIEWS
FIGURE 58: REGULARLY LEAVE REVIEWS*: BY AGE
Travel Weekly Europe Report 2019 | 37
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