End Of Warm Weather Impacts Positive Pub Experiences

New statistics from Feed It Back’s monthly social review tracker has revealed that the pub and bar sector’s average social review score across Facebook, Google and TripAdvisor has plateaued after three months of consecutive increases, with the results correlating to a drop in warm weather.

The statistics, which were taken from thousands of social reviews across the restaurant, quick service restaurant and pub industries, revealed that the pub and bar sector’s average social review remained flat at 4.2 in October. Similarly, the average score for the restaurant and casual dining sectors remained flat at 4.1.

The slight positive increase for pubs and bars over October, came from Facebook where scores moved from an average of 4.4 out of 5.0, to 4.5. An increase that can be partly attributed to the platforms polarised methodology change in August. Meanwhile, Google Reviews remained flat at 4.2; and TripAdvisor, which saw a positive spike in September, remained flat at 4.0.

Looking at the restaurant and casual dining sectors, Google scores increased marginally from 4.0 out of 5.0 to 4.1; with TripAdvisor and Google remaining flat at 3.9 and 4.3, respectively.

Across all sectors, Google Reviews remained the most prominent channel for feedback with 60% (up from 59%) of all social reviews submitted via this platform in October. TripAdvisor accounted for 31% (down from 32%) of reviews and Facebook just 9% (up from 10% in September).

Digging deeper into what impacted these figures across all sectors, the data revealed that key determining factors behind positive reviews left across Facebook and Google were the ‘atmosphere’ and ‘place’; while on TripAdvisor the drivers were the ‘meal’ and ‘menu’. This indicates that people who post on TripAdvisor are more ‘foodie’ focused and driven solely by food when leaving positive or negative reviews, whereas customers who post on other channels focus more on the experience as a whole.

Commenting on the figures, Carlo Platia, CEO of Feed It Back said: “An Indian summer helped drive positive reviews across pubs and bars throughout September, but the data reveals a strong trend between a return of cold weather and a reduction in positive ratings. With many outdoor areas no longer being comfortable, heat seeking customers will be forced indoors putting further pressure on space and employees.

“Looking ahead to November, it will be interesting to see how operators perform ahead of the run up to Christmas, which is an incredibly important time of year for the trade. As groups look to book Christmas parties, it is imperative that operators are managing and controlling their online reputation to remain attractive, and equally important that they are tracking customer feedback to identify trends and refine their offer.”

This data is part of a regular report Feed It Back runs across social reviews and just scratches the surface of their ability to drive revisits. To understand more about Feed it Back, and sign up for a monthly copy of this report, please email: allears@feeditback.co.uk.

For press enquiries:

Geoff Campion
020 3567 5804 / 07957 251475
geoff@fsc.uk.com

Laura Rogers
0121 262 3900 / 07878 481646
laurar@fsc.uk.com