Shopfloor FOCUS: THE POWER OF ONLINE


38 Thinking critically:


Tapping into the value of customer reviews By Mike Fantis | VP and Managing Partner, DAC Group


I’m a cliché. There’s no point denying it. I’m a middle-aged man who likes sports and gadgets. I’m already thinking ahead to the World Cup in November and have set aside some budget to upgrade my TV. My plan is to watch it on the biggest screen possible. Tere will be plenty of others thinking along the same lines and electrical retailers


are, no doubt, eagerly preparing for kick-off. Tat means stocking up, preparing your marketing and getting sales teams up to speed on the comparative merits of OLED, QLED, Neo QLED and so-on. However, all this effort and investment could go to waste if your online reviews are


poor, or more specifically, poorly managed. A staggering 98 per cent of consumers say reviews and ratings are the most influential factor in making a purchase decision – making reputation even more important than pricing and shipping. Tis is especially true for ‘big ticket’ purchases – and a 70-inch TV falls squarely into that category.


Trust as a revenue driver It’s only natural that consumers trust the wisdom of their peers, it’s the marketing concept ‘social proof ’ in action. People instinctively understand that ratings and reviews are windows into the truth behind a brand promise. While recent scandals have tarnished trust in marketplace reviews, they have not


significantly dented attitudes towards business-level reviews, such as Google Reviews or Trustpilot. In fact, Google’s search algorithm pushes businesses with positive reviews up page results, something which is particularly valuable when aligned with location- based searches. (Online) brand-to-local approaches are well suited to electricals retailing. While


most customer purchase journeys start online, those shoppers still want to see the quality of something like a TV picture in-store before they take the plunge. Reviews are an important window onto a store before a visit. It’s notable that a


business like Richer Sounds, which has built its brand on customer service, makes a big effort to engage with reviews and demonstrate its expertise.


Turn that frown upside down Tree-quarters of marketers recognise online reputation as a significant business driver, so it’s surprising to see brands not responding to reviews consistently. Businesses literally cannot afford to ignore them. Customers who seek out reviews have a clear intent – usually with a view of buying. Seeing what another customer has said, and how a brand has or hasn’t responded, is oſten the deciding factor between one and its competitor. Brands need to respond to positive reviews, and offer prompt and consistent


responses to bad ones. Ignoring a poor review doesn’t make it go away. It only makes things worse as the body of negative online sentiment grows. Best practice is to develop a playbook on how to respond to disgruntled customers so you can find a mutually positive outcome. In some instances, users edit or update a negative review once the issue is dealt with. It’s one way to turn the situation around.


Not (just) marketing’s problem Answering reviews is just the starting point. Each piece of feedback is valuable insight. Reviews can – and should – inform the entire business strategy. A question facing many businesses is, who should manage a reviews strategy? In


most cases, it makes sense for marketing to own it. Aſter all, reviews are free market research and what you learn can inform both proactive and reactive marketing and comms strategies. Any insights, however, are not the sole property of marketing. Tis is valuable


information that should cut across all departments, from customer support, to operations, HR, procurement and everything in between. Listening to what your customers say is an essential piece in making on-to-offline experiences work better. And an essential piece for informing longer term growth strategies. Taking responsibility means listening, responding and acting. If you review the data


but don’t share it to address customer pain points with action, then why review it at all? In our digital-first age, we know that customers look online first. Any negative


feedback they find is a permanent reminder of your business’s failings. Yes, managing reviews needs time and investment but any time spent on managing brand reputation is time well spent!


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