A Review of Reviews: Why This Sector is Set for Reinvention

By Jason Bornstein, Principal

I take pride in providing top-notch recommendations. When I travel, I’m the person who cross-checks tips with friends, social media, and review sites. I keep up-to-date lists and maps, and it brings me joy to share my favorite places and content.?

Reviews and recommendations matter. In our?post-Covid consumer survey, close relationships proved the strongest source of influence when customers were considering a purchase; this held across categories, from apparel and beauty to pets and games. And just as a trusted friend or family member raving about a brand, store or restaurant can inspire someone to try something new,?a compelling user review or professional media write-up can make people more inclined to go one direction over another when?choosing between options. According to Forerunner Consumer Braintrust research, 86% of consumers say customer reviews are expected or table stakes, and just 8% claim they do not matter.

In addition to a tip from a trusted source, a 4+ star seller review on eBay or a maker review on Etsy can go a long way toward building confidence in a purchase decision. Reviews and recommendations are so powerful that they can make or break a business’s ability to drive significant organic growth. In fact, Amazon and Shopify roll-up platforms, like Thrasio, Branded Group, Perch, Heyday, and Win Brands Group, rely on reviews and the corresponding search ranking to evaluate and value a business.

Unfortunately, today’s review and recommendation ecosystem is not as credible and inspired as it could be. Brands and sellers have learned how to game the system and seed 5-star reviews. Platforms with user-generated content and advertising revenue models have devolved into an experience of extremes with the most and least satisfied consumers and biggest spenders having the most visibility. On top of this, media sites with professional reviews and advertising revenue models have lowered the quality of content as the pressures and expectations of scale have taken hold.

At Forerunner, we’re not surprised by this dynamic in the market—yet as the market has become more crowded and competitive, the review and recommendation category has become increasingly prime for reimagination. Rotten Tomatoes was founded in 1998. Yelp in 2004, Trustpilot in 2007 and Foursquare in 2009. In 2013, Vox purchased Eater, a subsidiary of Curbed Network, and today the site actively covers 25 cities. The New York Times bought and subsequently expanded Wire Cutter in 2016 while Goop raised $100M+ and doubled down on city guides. Facebook and Google reviews are confirmatory at best. And despite Amazon banning paid reviews in 2016, the trustworthiness of the marketplace’s ratings remains suspect.

To rebuild trust in reviews, we believe brands, stores and restaurants must be treated as first-class citizens as much as the individuals writing the reviews. Advertising models will be challenging, and providing context on individual reviewers will be key. The opinions of people that are closest to someone matter most, and while influencers have played the role of tastemaker on social media, there’s an opportunity for a new crop of tastemakers to emerge that have excellent perspectives, but may not have the desire to be a visible content creator.

Forerunner?led Thingtesting’s Seed round?in 2021 and the platform recently launched?reviews?with an eye toward empowering consumers to find the best possible brands to meet their needs and wants. On Thingtesting, brands are also first-class citizens with high-quality images and information on their respective pages. New offerings in the review and recommendation category include?Chums, a social commerce extension and platform powering recommendations;?Superlocal, a local discovery platform;?Best Ever, a video-based review experience for local business;?Out of Office, a travel recommendation platform;?and?Supergreat, a community for beauty reviews.?

Something is in the air here, and we at Forerunner are ready and looking for it.

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