120+ Online Review Statistics You Need to Know in 2020
Updated May 4, 2020
Online review statistics show that customer reviews narrate a brand’s story and shoppers take note. Consumers read, write, and expect replies to reviews making them a valuable asset to your business. To illustrate just how important reviews are to consumers we did research, conducted surveys, and a whole lot of digging to uncover more than 100 online review statistics you need to know.

Buyers require an average 40 online reviews before believing a business’s star rating is accurate (up from 34 in 2017) 3
Shoppers are most likely to read restaurant reviews on:
29.2% Yelp
28.1% Google
16.2% Facebook
14.2% Trip Advisor
9.8% Open Table 7
Low ratings on Google and TripAdvisor have the largest negative impact on revenue for small businesses. 30
Businesses appearing in Google’s top 3 local positions have an average of 47 Google Reviews 17
Review volume increased by 12% and ratings went up by an average of 0.12 stars just because the brand started responding to reviews. 27

A complaint can be a buying signal that a customer wants to continue to do business with you but is feeling so much pain they are not sure they can. 25
Online Review Statistics Citations
1. Why Product Experiences are What Win Consumer Trust in the Digital Age. (2018) Retrieved from https://www.salsify.com/download/2018-consumer-research-report
2. On Google, Hyperlocal Listing Strategy is Key to Brick-and-Mortar Success (2018, June 7) Retrieved from https://streetfightmag.com/2018/11/07/on-google-hyperlocal-listing-strategy-is-key-to-brick-and-mortar-success/
3. Local Consumer Review Survey (2018, December 7) Retrieved from https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey/
4. Study: 69% Of Shoppers Leave A Site If Product Info Is Subpar (2019, March 25) Retrieved from https://www.retailtouchpoints.com/topics/e-commerce/study-69-of-shoppers-leave-a-site-if-product-info-is-subpar
5. Customer Experience Leads to Recommendations (Charts For 20 Industries) (2017, February 23) Retrieved from https://experiencematters.blog/2017/02/23/customer-experience-leads-to-recommendations-charts-for-20-industries/
6. How Online Reviews Influence Sales (n.a.) Retrieved from https://spiegel.medill.northwestern.edu/online-reviews/
7. Online Reviews Study: Restaurants & Reviews (2018, November 5) Retrieved from https://gatherup.com/blog/online-reviews-study-restaurants-reviews/
8. Which Sites Do Consumers Use To Find A Local Business? Why Yp.Com Is Facing Headwinds (2014, February 17) Retrieved from http://blumenthals.com/blog/2014/02/17/which-sites-do-consumers-use-to-find-a-local-business-why-yp-com-is-facing-headwinds/
9. No online customer reviews means BIG problems in 2017 (2017) Retrieved from https://fanandfuel.com/no-online-customer-reviews-means-big-problems-2017/
10. SURVEY: Why Do Consumers Leave Reviews? (2015, September 14) Retrieved from https://gatherup.com/blog/survey-why-do-consumers-leave-reviews/
11 SURVEY: Where Do Customers Choose To Leave Reviews? (2016, October 21) Received from https://gatherup.com/blog/survey-customers-choose-leave-reviews/
12. Survey: 8 Things That Really Cause Consumers to Complain (2016, June 6) Retrieved from https://gatherup.com/blog/what-makes-consumers-complain/
13. Big Surveys Are A Big Mistake (2018, August 7) Retrieved from https://gatherup.com/blog/big-surveys-big-mistake/
14. Do Positive Reviews Motivate Consumers? (2014, April 22) Retrieved from http://blumenthals.com/blog/2014/04/22/do-positive-reviews-motivate-consumers/
15. 2018 Local Search Ranking Factors (2018) Retrieved from https://moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors
16. Are Younger Consumers More Tolerant Of Bad Reviews? Or Do They Just Understand Them Better? (2014, April 24) Retrieved from http://blumenthals.com/blog/2014/04/24/are-younger-consumers-more-tolerant-of-bad-reviews-or-do-they-just-understand-them-better/
17. Google Reviews Study: How Many Reviews Do Local Businesses Need? (2018, October 31) Retrieved from https://www.brightlocal.com/research/google-reviews-study/
18. The impact of customer service on customer lifetime value 2013 (n.a.) Retrieved from https://www.zendesk.com/resources/customer-service-and-lifetime-customer-value/
19. Location3 Case Study Positive Google Reviews Improve Paid Search Conversion Rates (2018) Retrieved at https://www.location3.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Location3-case-study_PPC-Reviews-Correlation-2018.pdf
20. Time to Act: Review Responses Just Evolved from “Extra” to “Expected” (2018, May 16) Retrieved from https://moz.com/blog/review-responses-expected
21. Study: Replying to Customer Reviews Results in Better Ratings (2018, February 14) Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2018/02/study-replying-to-customer-reviews-results-in-better-ratings
22. Google Confirms Responding to Reviews Improves your Local SEO (n.a.) Retrieved from https://www.chatmeter.com/blog/google-confirms-responding-to-reviews-improves-your-local-seo/
23. SURVEY: How Quickly Should A Business Respond to a Complaint? (2016, June 20) Retrieved from https://gatherup.com/blog/quickly-business-respond-complaint/
24. The Secret Ratio That Proves Why Customer Reviews Are So Important (n.a.) Retrieved from https://www.inc.com/andrew-thomas/the-hidden-ratio-that-could-make-or-break-your-company.html
25. 5 Good Things About Customer Complaints (2016, June 1) Retrieved from https://gatherup.com/blog/5-good-things-customer-complaint/
26. Customer experience: New capabilities, new audiences, new opportunities (2017, June) Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/featured%20insights/Customer%20Experience/CX%20Compendium%202017/Customer-experience-compendium-July-2017.ashx
27. The Quantitative Evidence That Reputation Management Works (2018, September) Retrieved from https://streetfightmag.com/2018/09/11/the-quantitative-evidence-that-reputation-management-works/
28. Chatter Matters: The 2018 Word of Mouth Report (2018) Retrieved from https://www.talktriggers.com/cm
29. The patient perspective 2019: Online reputation survey (2019) Retrieved from https://www.patientpop.com/blog/online-reputation-reviews/patient-perspective-online-reputation-survey-report/
30. How online reviews impact small business revenue (2018) Retrieved from https://www.womply.com/impact-of-online-reviews-on-small-business-revenue/
31. STUDY: For Brick-And-Mortar Businesses, a Small Increase in Online Star Ratings Boosts Conversion by 25% (2019) Retrieved from https://uberall.com/en-us/company/press-releases/study-brick-and-mortar-businesses-small-increase-in-online-ratings-boosts-conversion-by-25-percent
32. A Bad Reputation Costs a Company at Least 10% More Per Hire (2016) Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2016/03/a-bad-reputation-costs-company-at-least-10-more-per-hire
33. TripAdvisor Study Reveals 77% of Travelers More Likely to Book When Business Owners Respond to Reviews (2019) Retrieved from http://ir.tripadvisor.com/news-releases/news-release-details/tripadvisor-study-reveals-77-travelers-more-likely-book-when
34. 2020 NMHC/ Kingsley Apartment Resident Preferences Report (2019) Retrieved from https://www.nmhc.org/research-insight/research-report/nmhc-kingsley-apartment-resident-preferences-report/