Nelsen has released a new consumer survey, which was commissioned by Yelp, which argues that review sites are driving higher conversions than social media and search. 2,000 US adults were surveyed, and they found that 92 percent of respondents said that they made a purchase after visiting Yelp “at least sometimes, frequently or almost always.”
This is understandable as reviews have a strong influence on consumer buying behavior. For the most part, review sites can, and are, a part of consumers’ path to purchase. According to the survey, a good portion of the people who made a purchase after visiting Yelp did so in a week or less.
Consumers using Yelp would appear to be low in the funnel:
Consumers who use online consumer review sites and claim they make a purchase after visiting Yelp are also reporting they do so faster than before, compared to a Nielsen study from 2014. The number of consumers who report purchasing something within a few hours increased by 212 percent, and the number of consumers who say they make a purchase after a day or less increased by 55 percent.
The following are some of the survey’s additional findings:
- 74 percent of the consumers that search online for a local business will turn to consumer online review sites at least monthly.
- Yelp was ranked above other online review sites as the “most trusted, most influential and most useful.”
- 79 percent of Yelp users say they want a business they can visit multiple times.
- 55 percent of Yelp users that search for restaurants ordered takeout or delivery from a restaurant they found on Yelp.
