Yelp, the urban city guide that helps connect people to local businesses, has launched a new tool for business owners that estimates revenue generated directly from their Yelp business page.
The free ‘Revenue Estimator‘ feature allows business owners to see how reviews, photos, check-ins and tips customers write about their business can translate into sales.
Using statistics based on a survey of 1,000 UK businesses, The UK Revenue Estimator revealed the average spend per customer directed from Yelp, broken down into different business sectors. Business owners can also manually input this figure if they feel their business is not representative of the national average.
Iona Carter, Director at Shoppercentric said that Yelp is a perfect example of how new meets old to the benefit of both when it comes to helping and encouraging shoppers to use their local shops and services. “Small business who act upon the call can surely benefit from services such as Yelp – especially as we know many consumers use their mobile devices to search out destinations whilst they‘re on the go, she said.
“The challenge for Yelp will be to ensure their database is kept as up to date as possible in order to keep people coming back.”
Yelp, which received 108m monthly unique users in Q2 2013, calculates the number of ‘Customer Leads‘ a business receives, for example calls, visits to the business‘ website and reservations received via the Yelp website or mobile app. The total number of Customer Leads is then multiplied by the average spend per customer to estimate the business‘ revenue potential.
Elliot Adams, Communications Manager at Yelp comments: “Business owners regularly tell us anecdotally about leads from Yelp that have resulted in sales, but it has always proved difficult to quantify with any precision. This new feature allows us to measure the revenue opportunity Yelp is providing each and every business listed on the site, which is an invaluable tool for anyone looking to calculate return on investment.
“For those looking to advertise, the Revenue Estimator can also establish a revenue baseline, from which they can later evaluate the impact of their investment in Yelp ads”.
