Online Review Statistics you need to know for 2024

• The rating economy works! 51% of customers feel that they get more value for money thanks to ratings. (Simon-Kucher)
• 76% of surveyed consumers have already placed a rating at least once. (Simon-Kucher)
• If a product receives five reviews, the likelihood of purchase increases by 270%. (Northwestern University (Chicago))
• 89% of consumers read responses to reviews. (Brightlocal)
• 94% of consumers expect a brand to answer their questions and respond to their negative posts. (Territory Influence / Bertelsmann, 2020)
• 65% of U.S. consumers surveyed, find that a positive customer experience with a brand is more influential than good advertising. (PWC)

The impact of online reviews

Often overlooked is the fact that online reviews also have a big impact on offline purchases in a traditional retail store. Although it is difficult to measure, the brick-and-mortar store also benefits from online reviews. Especially for large purchases, the buying process begins online – for research purposes – and often ends in the “brick and mortar” store with a physical purchase. (McKinsey)

• The rating economy works! 51% of customers feel that they get more value for money thanks to ratings. (Simon-Kucher)
• 76% of surveyed consumers have already placed a rating at least once. (Simon-Kucher)
• 71% of surveyed companies say that ratings are important or very important. (Simon-Kucher)
• Higher ratings equal higher sales. Small changes in star ratings can drive explosive sales growth for products – anywhere from 30% to 200% depending on the category. (McKinsey)
• A company’s revenue increases by 5-9% for every star its rating on Yelp increases. (Harvard Business Review)
• When a product receives five reviews, the likelihood of purchase increases by 270%. (Northwestern University (Chicago))
• Conversion rates increase by 380% when reviews are displayed for higher priced products. (Northwestern University (Chicago))
• Online reviews contribute to about 17% of search engine rankings for local businesses. (Brightlocal)
• It costs companies 6-7 times more to acquire new customers than to retain an existing customer through good customer experience. (Hubspot)
• U.S. consumers say they are willing to pay 17% more money if a company provides excellent service. (AMEX)
• Ratings are the 3^rd most important factor when making buying decisions. (Simon-Kucher)
• Around 76% of people frequently read online reviews when searching for local businesses. (Source: BrightLocal)
• 78% of people tend to read reviews when products become more expensive. (Source: Power Reviews)
• 27% of consumers say they trust online reviews as much as professional reviews. (Source: BrightLocal)

The power of negative reviews

• 32% of all consumers surveyed would stop buying from a brand after a bad experience. Even if they were a fan of that brand. (PWC)
• 64% of U.S. consumers and 59% of all consumers believe companies have lost touch with the human element of the customer experience. (PWC)
• 80% of consumers surveyed say they no longer purchase products or services from that company because of a bad experience. (Hubspot)
• Negative reviews keep an average of 40% of shoppers from buying from a company. (Brightlocal)
• 72% of B2B buyers agree that negative reviews provide deeper insight into a product or service. (G2 and Heinz Marketing)
• 54% of shoppers avoid businesses with an online rating of less than four stars. (BrightLocal)
• 53% of consumers want a response to a negative review within a week of it being posted (Exploding Topics)
• Negative reviews can be costly, as a business can lose up to 30 customers due to a single bad review (Exploding Topics)

Why interaction with online reviews is important

• 94% of consumers expect a brand to answer their questions and respond to their negative posts. (Territory Influence / Bertelsmann, 2020)
• 53% of customers expect a company to respond to their online reviews within seven days. (ReviewTrackers)
• 41% of respondents say they feel noticed by companies that respond to their online reviews. This gives customers the feeling that the company actually cares about its customers. (Bazaarvoice)
• 89% of consumers read responses to reviews. (Brightlocal)
• Customer churn rates can increase by 15% if businesses don’t respond to customer reviews (Chatmeter)
• Almost half of consumers are more likely to visit businesses that respond to negative reviews (ReviewTrackers)
• 3% of customers say reviews need to be relevant and up-to-date to be trusted (Podium)

Adding value through great customer service

• 97% of customers are more likely to spread their positive opinion if they received value during a service interaction. (Gartner)
• 65% of U.S. consumers surveyed find that a positive customer experience with a brand is more influential than good advertising. (PWC)
• 79% of consumers say customer service is very important when deciding where to shop. (Kustomer)
• Companies that react to at least 25% of their valuations generate 35% more profit than companies that do not react. (Source: Exploding Topics)

• 31% of corporate teams surveyed believe that customer service is just a cost factor. Customer service is not seen as a growth opportunity. (Hubspot)
• Tickets are resolved three times faster when companies offer omnichannel support. Customers also spend 75% less time waiting for employees to respond. (Zendesk)
• Customer service is the most important driver of customer experience quality in most markets. (Forrester)
• 85% of all consumers surveyed consider reviews older than three months irrelevant. (Brightlocal)
• Across all categories evaluated, 95 percent of units sold had 3.5 or more stars. Sales of items with three or four stars were three times those of items with one star. (McKinsey)

The impact of excellent customer experience

• Customers tend to be more willing to try additional services or products if the brand offers an excellent customer experience. (PWC)
• 94% of customers who rate a company’s customer experience as “very good” are likely to buy additional products or services from that company. (Qualtrics)
• Customer Experience is responsible for more than two-thirds of customer loyalty, surpassing the relevance of brand and price. (Gartner)
• 58% of consumers would be willing to pay more or travel further to visit businesses with good reviews. (findstack)
• 93% of customers would be likely to shop with a brand again after a positive customer service experience (Hubspot)

• 68% of all consumers provide a review for a local business after being asked to do so. (Brightlocal)
• Up to 80% of all reviews come from follow-up emails urging shoppers to rate their purchase. (Spiegel)
• 66% of buyers use sources other than vendor materials during the research phase. (CMI and SmartBrief)
• 82% of customers research products online before buying in-store. (bazaarvoice)
• The most common way to ask for reviews is via email (Brightlocal). Email was the most common method for any business to request a review, followed by requests on receipts, in-person requests and text messages. Some businesses also ask for reviews via social media.

• 74% of customers trust a company more because of its positive reviews. (ReputationX)
• 82% of people specifically look for bad reviews so they can get a better idea of what to expect from the product or service. (LocaliQ)
• 97% of people who read reviews will also read your responses to reviews. (BrightLocal)
• Customers are 21% more likely to leave a review after a negative experience than after a positive experience. (Reviewtrackers)
• 96% of dissatisfied customers won’t bother to leave a bad review. (Getvoip)
• 63% of people say a company has never responded to their review. (Reviewtrackers)