What Google Rating Really Hurts Your Restaurant?

Key Takeaways

  • In every incremental decrease in your online reviews so too does the number of customers that will consider eating at your restaurant
  • Addressing poor reviews and working to correct them quickly is critical.

There aren’t many industries that receive more reviews and, in our opinion, more unfair reviews than the hospitality industry. It seems almost impossible to achieve a perfect 5-star rating when customers leave negative reviews because their milkshake contained dairy, their Coke wasn’t Pepsi, their mild wings weren’t spicy, there was salt on their saltines, and the list goes on.

Unfortunately, however, your restaurant’s reviews matter – the question is how much they matter. To provide some additional insight, we conducted a nationwide consumer research and insight report “Cracking The Code,” and asked 9,161 consumers the following:

Based on a Google rating system of 1–5 stars (1 being lowest, 5 being highest), which of the following applies to you?

I would only order from a restaurant with a Google rating of ___ or higher.

Although most consumers aren’t as selective as the 13% who reported they would only eat at a restaurant with a 5-star review, the number of customers who will consider patronizing your restaurant drops as your Google rating decreases.

What We Recommend

Pay attention, respond quickly to poor reviews, and work diligently to correct issues as soon as possible. If you can correct or resolve the issue with the customer who left a negative review, make sure you ask them to update their review based on the new outcome. Your future business could depend on it.

Download Cracking The Code Pizza Industry To Learn More About Your Restaurant’s Customers,

Access Mail Shark’s Latest Consumer Research And Insights Report.

 

What Else You’ll Learn:

  • How much does Covid still influence customers dining decisions?
  • From where do consumers report their favorite pizza is from?
  • How long do customers want to wait for their delivery orders?
  • How often do your customers want to hear from you?
  • What Google rating can hurt your business?
  • How do customers prefer to place orders?
  • Do consumers sign up for loyalty plans?
  • Are customers still using coupons?
  • & Much More!