Social Places Survey Shows That Online Reviews Continue To Grow Exponentially

Social Places has released the statistics from the second edition of their annual online Local landscape survey, which show that online reviews continue to grow exponentially and how businesses are managing these reviews have a direct impact on a business’s bottom line.

These statistics offer insight into how South African consumers engage with businesses online, how their behaviour has changed due to Covid and if aspects such as listings, reviews or star ratings should matter if you are a business owner. The inaugural report garnered over 3500 respondents from across the South African Landscape.

‘Keeping information up to date across channels is also a key factor in converting customers – 63.8% of consumers found incorrect information on Google during lockdown. It is becoming crucial for brands to manage their local presence as customers now expect business details to be correct across multiple digital verticals. In fact, 59,6% of consumers are turning to Google and Facebook to find the most up to date information on a business.

‘Further to this, consumers are expecting a more personal interaction from brands online – over 80% of consumers enjoy interacting with local businesses rather than brand head offices and it is becoming critical for brands (especially franchises and multi-location), to refine their strategies and develop authentic interactions with their customers,’ said Social Places co-founder, Ashleigh Wainstein.

Key findings: