Why Do Most Venue Owners Have No Idea What Their Competitors Are Doing?
It’s not laziness, not really. It’s tunnel vision – and honestly, it’s completely understandable.
When you’re running your own restaurant or bar, your world shrinks to what’s happening inside your four walls. You’re thinking about tonight’s bookings, tomorrow’s food delivery, or whether your sous chef is actually going to show up or call in sick again. You barely have enough time to read your own reviews, let alone anyone else’s.
A survey by CGA Strategy found that a whopping 67% of independent hospitality operators admitted they rarely, if ever, systematically check out what their rivals are up to. Sure, they might occasionally peek at a competitor’s Google rating or hear through the grapevine that the new place on the corner is struggling. But proper, structured competitive intelligence? Nah, that’s for the big chains with their fancy head offices. Independents just… well, they cook and they hope.
The big problem is, your customers don't share this tunnel vision. They’re comparing you to every other option within a ten-minute walk, and they’re doing it with way more information than you have. They can see your competitor’s latest reviews, their response rate, those updated menu photos, and even their Google rating trend – all in the time it takes to decide where to eat tonight.
You’re basically fighting an information war, and you’re the only one who hasn't read the briefing. Bit unfair, isn't it?
So, What Can You Actually Learn From Public Reviews?
Pretty much anything publicly posted is fair game. This isn't some shady corporate espionage or hacking mission – it’s just reading what customers have willingly put out there on open platforms. And the insights buried in those reviews? They’re surprisingly specific.
You can spot staffing problems, for a start. When multiple reviews complain about a place seeming "short-staffed," "