Feb
3
Retailers: Why aren’t you a Google Favorite Place?
By Rich Kelly, Filed Under Attendee News, Industry News, Interbike
As a retailer, you’ve no doubt come across the name Yelp. If you are a retailer that is very active online, then you are very familiar with the consumer reviews website. You’ve possibly even developed a mild love-hate-frustrated-pull-you-hair-out relationship with the site and its contributors*. Heck, even retailers who are not active online without even so much as a token website for their businesses (yes, they still exist) probably have presences on Yelp. In lieu of your own website or activity in any of the online social communities, sites like Yelp become your de facto online brand. To trot out the old reasoning to get active and establish your online brand, the conversation about you is happening – the only question is whether you are a part of that conversation.
That conversation is about to get a bit louder with Google’s recent entry into the Yelp territory. Aside from the obvious impact that Yelp has on the brands that are discussed on their site, Yelp’s business model has proven to be very lucrative. And Google wants a piece of it.
In typical Google fashion, they are adding their own innovative touch to an existing concept with their Google Place Pages and even newer Favorite Places services. Just the search market share that Google commands alone gives pause for concern. Just envision all those searches for bikes and accessories that begin on Google and end up on a Google Maps page with a list of local retailers down the left side – each one with a 1-5 star rating and list of reviews from customers.
With all the talk about the impact that social media sites like Twitter and Facebook have on businesses, you may want to consider that managing and monitoring your online presence on services like Google Maps and Yelp are arguably even more important to a brick-and-mortar retailer.
Recently Google launched Favorite Places, a service that seeks to further highlight popular local businesses and help promote its existing Places service. In the announcement, Google said that they have “identified over 100,000 businesses in the U.S. as “Favorite Places on Google” based on Google users’ interaction with local business listings,” and will be sending out special decals for placement in the storefront windows. This physical element of an online service is nothing new as Yelp provides similar labels to businesses, but Google is taking it to the next level by adding QRCodes to each that allow people to scan them with an appropriate smart phone and instantly access all the information available about that business. You may have noticed QR or similar codes appearing more frequently lately such as this one:
These codes are becoming increasingly popular, although much more slowly than in places like Japan where they appear everywhere as easy ways to get more information via your cell phone or mobile device. I worked for a Japanese company in the past and all of their business cards now have small codes on them that contain contact information. Here’s a link to an QR Code generator if you’d like to play around with them (like I did above).
Curiosity piqued, I tried searching to see if any bike shops are listed as a favorite place. Unfortunately, only one popped up. The lucky (and popular) shop is Coventry Cycle Works in (of course) Portland, Oregon.
Such local consumer review and popularity services are only going to become more popular and prevalent and a bigger influence on your retail customers’ behavior. Add emerging sites like Foursquare and Gowalla to the list of online location-based services and trends to be aware of as a store owner. With the growing capabilities of mobile devices, look for this data to continue to guide shopping and buying decisions – even while they are standing in your store. Just remember to keep using your good old-fashioned customer service and people skills on them. That rule never changes.
If you’re a retailer reading this, have you seen the effect of these services on your business yet? Have you been active in monitoring and responding to that community?
One last thing, the first person to decode my QR Code above wins a pair of Sock Guy Interbike socks. Just right the answer in the comments below and make sure to enter your valid email address in the right spot.
* And by “contributors” we really mean your current and (very vocally) former customers, don’t we? Remember that you and your employees have had the opportunity to interact and influence each of these reviewers on Yelp. Don’t forget that every customer that walks through your door is a potentially a very influential reviewer!
Comments
6 Responses to “Retailers: Why aren’t you a Google Favorite Place?”
Google Place Pages aren’t working in the UK yet so Yelp here we come!
Thanks for the info.
Something you might’ve heard in Star Wars…
You’re on the right track…
The answer is:
Do or do not – there is no try.
Do or do not – there is no try.
Rich
I think I won!