Dive Brief:
- TripAdvisor on Wednesday launched Review Hub, a new portal that allows restaurant owners to view consumer ratings and reviews of their business from multiple sites and respond to them from one dashboard, according to a press release emailed to Restaurant Dive.
- Responses are automatically posted on the site or app where the review was originally submitted.
- Review Hub requires a subscription that restaurant owners and operators can sign up for on a monthly or annual basis.
Dive Insight:
By harnessing all reviews into one repository, regardless of whether they originated on Facebook, Google, Yelp or another site, restaurant operators should be able to gain a deeper perspective of any thematic issues surfacing about their brands. This type of tool also enables brands to respond quickly and with consistent messaging, a critical advantage as more diners rely on reviews to choose their eating destination.
As Inc. reports, 91% of people regularly or occasionally read online reviews while 84% trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation and 68% form an opinion after reading between one and six online reviews.
This trend perhaps explains why 96% of QSR locations now receive online reviews, versus just 27% in 2015, according to Yext research. QSRs are experiencing more growth in reviews than any other industry.
With such emphasis on reviews, it's critical that establishments have a clear communication strategy, especially when negative comments appear. According to a recent Uberall survey, 90% of respondents said they would be more likely to choose a business that responds, while nearly 80% believe responses should be personalized.
Having a plan in place to tackle reviews, however, can be time consuming and daunting. There are too many review sites to effectively manage manually, and that is why this product could provide an advantage, similar to how listening software pulls in social media conversations across a number of channels.
To be sure, this type of dashboard product isn't unusual. There are other sites, like ReviewTrackers, that aggregate business reviews. But this product may differentiate TripAdvisor from its review site competition, a space that has intensified. Yelp, for example, has been diversifying its portfolio after losing its spot atop the reviews throne to Google in 2015. Google itself just added reviews to its popular Maps app, making the process of gleaning reviews more seamless for consumers.
TripAdvisor is taking a different approach by focusing on restaurant operators. Of note, the service is subscription based, which means operators can use it on a monthly or annual basis, depending on volume, for example, or if they just want a more comprehensive perspective on a new product launch.
