Review while you pay system lands in Australia

IMAGINE a world in which online reviews were actually reliable. It could be closer than you think.

Is this the solution to dodgy reviews?

SHOPPERS will soon be able to review businesses in one touch while paying for items, if a revolutionary UK ratings system takes off in Australia.

truRating, which was rolled out across the UK in February, asks customers to review their experience at the counter using the EFTPOS terminal screen.

Before you punch in your bank card pincode, you’re asked to rate an aspect of the business from 0-9.

Coffee was cold and the waiter was rude? Punch in a 2 and leave no tip.

Nabbed an excellent bargain in a trendy part of town? Tap out an 8.

According to the founder Georgina Nelson, the success of truRating is in part due to the timing — getting the opinion of the customer at that most visceral, base level of feeling during payment time.

It’s also quick and simple to use with UK results showing a response rate of 88 per cent.

“People do want to give feedback but they don’t want to have to go online and answer 40 questions,” Nelson told AAP.

The sheer volume of responses also helps eliminate dodgy reviews which have long skewered ratings on online review sites like Urbanspoon, Yelp and Zomato.

“If they have a really slamming review which they have no control over, that can ruin a business,” says Ms Nelson.

“However the on-the-spot feedback is representative enough for them (businesses) to take real action.” An improvement of one rating mark breaks down to about a $1.50 profit increase per transaction for businesses, says Nelson. “Imagine that multiplied by 500, or how ever many transactions you’d make in a year.” Currently in more than 130 venues across the UK, a pilot scheme has been adopted by some local businesses while the big supermarket chains have also expressed interest.

The Australian launch team aim to have the system online by early 2016.