Online restaurant reviews are worth 30% of revenues: a compass for writing them wisely

The success of a restaurant also depends on the management of its communication on social networks and the reviews it receives online.Negative posts can mean considerable reputational (and revenue) damage. Obviously all the more so if they are unfounded. And perhaps left without a proper response from the manager, who in some cases 'snubs' these tools. An attitude that is generally wrong: at the very least, in order to be able to afford it, one would have to have the security of always being able to optimise attendance at the venue with only regular (or passing) customers.

After all, it has become a habit for (almost) everyone to browse online through the reviews left by customers of restaurants and hotels, especially if one is undecided whether to try a new place. Often, however, the result is unsatisfactory as one is usually confronted with very conflicting opinions: fair or exorbitant price? Unforgettable dishes or, well, microwaved pre-cooked dishes? Everyone obviously gets an idea of the most reliable reviews and tries to make an average between criticism and compliments. One piece of advice that experts give is to go looking for individual aspects in which one is interested, where one can find more specific and timely information; and thus less subject to the (legitimate) variability of personal opinions on the goodness or otherwise of a dish or, worse, the friendliness of the manager.

Controversies raised by restaurateurs reporting false reviews with defamatory intent that have led to lawsuits are not new. The problem is that the damages come well before the time it takes to remove exaggerated or unfounded criticism.
"Almost 83% of restaurateurs consider reviews particularly important for their business. This is because more than 65% of potential customers increasingly rely on digital channels to guide their purchasing choices, with significant impacts on turnover: up to 30% in those establishments that do not boast a particularly loyal clientele. For this reason," comments Luciano Sbraga, director of the Fipe-Confcommercio Study Centre, "it is essential to shine a light on the veracity of reviews and on a certain tendency towards defamation that pervades the system today. EU and national rules are clear on this. Platforms must put in place all measures to guarantee that behind a review there is a real lived experience. Unfortunately, this guarantee is not there and this is the Trojan horse of what has become a true market of reviews. So we need to intervene upstream by creating a system that directly connects the buying experience with the release of a review. There is a need for more quality and less quantity'.

The fact remains that if most online users tried to follow some common rules on how to make reviews (and respond to them) there would be a common compass with which to orient themselves. An attempt comes from a vademecum published by TheFork, a Tripadvisor brand and one of the main players in the sector, with over 15 million reviews and more than 36 million votes published, with an average of over 700,000 reviews in Italy alone in 2023.

"Review Responsibly" is aimed at users and consumers to write balanced and useful reviews for both the community and restaurant managers. "A guide that TheFork has decided to invest in through an advertising campaign on YouTube as well as on all its communication channels," explain the platform, "to reiterate its commitment not only to ensuring verified reviews, but also to educating the community on the use of this tool.