How Much Do Online Reviews Actually Affect Whether Someone Rents From You?
Renting a piece of equipment feels transactional, but the decision of who to rent it from is not. People are checking reviews before they call.
Renting a compactor or a lift feels like a purely functional decision. It works or it does not. It is available or it is not. But before someone ever calls to check availability, most of them do one more thing: they look up the company.
Why reviews matter even for a functional rental
Consumer research on purchasing behavior consistently shows reviews shaping decisions well beyond retail. Roughly 93 percent of consumers say online reviews influence their purchasing decisions in general, and about 86 percent say they are more likely to do business with a company that has positive reviews and testimonials. Trust in reviews is especially strong among younger buyers, with roughly 91 percent of people age 18 to 34 saying they trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation.
None of that is retail-specific. It describes how people evaluate any business before committing money to it, including a rental company they have never used before.
What reviews are actually doing for a rental customer
A renter cannot inspect the equipment before it shows up. They are trusting that it will run, that it will show up on time, and that the company will handle a problem fairly if something goes wrong. Reviews are the closest thing they have to a preview of that experience. A page full of specific, recent reviews mentioning reliable equipment and on-time delivery does more to reduce that uncertainty than any amount of marketing copy.
A thin or stale review page does the opposite. It does not read as neutral. Next to a competitor with fifty recent reviews, a rental company with five old ones looks like the riskier choice, even if the equipment and service are just as good.
What to actually do about it
- Ask for a review right after equipment is returned in good condition, while the experience is still fresh
- Make it easy: a direct link sent by text, not a request buried in a follow-up email nobody opens
- Respond to every review, including the occasional negative one, since the response is part of what the next renter reads
- Keep the flow steady rather than running an occasional push, since recent reviews carry more weight than an old pile
The structural fix
Build the review ask into the return process the same way a damage check already happens, so it becomes a routine step for every rental instead of something that only happens when someone remembers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do online reviews really matter for equipment rental companies?
Yes. Roughly 93 percent of consumers say reviews influence their purchasing decisions generally, and that pattern holds for rental companies, since renters are trusting a company sight unseen before the equipment ever arrives.
Why would reviews matter for something as functional as equipment rental?
Because a renter cannot inspect the equipment in advance and is relying on trust that it will work and arrive on time. Reviews are the closest substitute they have for firsthand experience with the company.
How many reviews does a rental company need?
There is no fixed number, but a thin or outdated review page looks worse next to a competitor with many recent reviews, regardless of whether the actual service quality is comparable.
When is the best time to ask a rental customer for a review?
Right after the equipment is returned in good condition, while the experience is still fresh, sent as a direct and easy link rather than buried in a follow-up email.
Sources
About the author
Krystal Gonzalez
Master of Science in Marketing, University of Colorado, with a specialization in high-tech entrepreneurial marketing.
Krystal Gonzalez leads revenue systems strategy at Cellara Growth Co, where answering, follow-up, reputation, and search systems for service businesses are designed, installed, and measured. Every Journal article is drawn from live client work and reviewed against primary sources before publication.
