Online reviews play a major role when it comes to choosing a restaurant or café
Online reviews and online presence play a significant role in a survey, when it comes to choosing a new restaurant or café in Germany. According to a survey conducted by the Digital Association Bitkom, more than half of the people in Germany (53 percent) look at the menu online before going to an unfamiliar restaurant or café.
Thirty percent of those surveyed stated that online reviews are now the most important criterion when choosing a new restaurant or café. Thirty-nine percent write a review themselves more frequently after a visit.
A glance at the online menu is particularly common among young people. Nearly half (47 percent) of all those surveyed prefer to reserve a table for eating online. A large majority of 69 percent expect a café or restaurant to have an online presence. Among young people, this figure is 80 percent, among those over 65 years of age, it is 54 percent.
It appears that it does not necessarily have to be a classic website. Forty-two percent of those surveyed had already visited gastronomic businesses that they had become aware of through social media. "Social media offers restaurants and cafés a simple way to address potential new customers and reach them again after their visit, instead of just relying on walk-in customers," explained Nastassja Hofmann from Bitkom. Restaurants could also benefit if influencers shared photos of their visits and reached even more people.
- The role of online reviews is pivotal in making a choice for a new restaurant or café, as seen in a survey where 30% of respondents deemed them as the most significant criterion.
- On social media, 42% of survey participants have discovered cafés or restaurants, indicating that social media platforms could enhance the visibility of these businesses.
- In the online survey conducted by Bitkom, it was found that 39% of the respondents write an online review more frequently after a visit to a restaurant or café.
