Business View Magazine | August 2020

7 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE AUGUST 2020 BAD ONLINE REVIEWS COST E-COMMERCE BRANDS $150K A YEAR M ore than half (62%) of US companies selling online have been the victims of negative reviews and star ratings in the last year, and the cost of managing the online flack is rising. The problem is now costing online brands an average of $150k a year to put right, a new study reveals. In a poll of 1,000 decision makers (and 2,000 shoppers), 28% said poor reviews are getting worse - and 4 in 10 (42%) business owners remain flummoxed by them - admitting they don’t know how to tackle the negative online reviews that they do receive. Most business owners - 76% - said online reviews and star ratings are very important to their financial status and reputation, and a third agreed that a single 1-star negative post could severely damage their business. The research was undertaken by Brightpearl, a retail operations platform, which also found that 71% of shopper respondents regularly check star ratings for online retailers before buying from them, and two in five consumers have been put off a brand or a retailer they might have shopped with – by a single unfavorable review. Online brands are now spending significant OPENING L INES