Reviews for bakeries and cake makers

A bakery has two kinds of customer. The regulars who come in for bread and a pie most mornings, and the people who order a celebration cake once a year and care enormously about getting it right. Both matter, and they review for different reasons.

The morning regulars

Regulars are loyal and rarely review, because every visit is ordinary. Nobody writes a review about Tuesday’s sourdough. The fix is a stand on the counter, beside the terminal, that sits there every day. Most mornings it gets ignored. On the day a regular is in a good mood and not in a hurry, it gets tapped. Over a year, that adds up. See where to put a review stand.

Celebration cake orders

Cake customers are the opposite. They are nervous when they order, anxious at pickup, and delighted when the cake is a hit. That delight happens at the party, not in your shop.

• At pickup, hand over a small card with the cake box. It goes home with the cake and is in the kitchen when the party happens.
• The day after, a short thank you message with the review link catches the customer while they are still hearing compliments about the cake. If you message customers, follow the rules in asking for reviews by email and SMS.

Photos sell cakes

Custom cake customers choose almost entirely on photos. Keep your Business Profile photos current with recent work, and when customers post a photo of their cake with a review, reply to thank them. See Business Profile photos.

Allergies and dietary claims

Customers often mention gluten free, nut free or vegan options in reviews. Those comments help other customers, but be careful in your own replies and marketing. Do not repeat or amplify a claim that a product is free of an allergen unless you can genuinely stand behind it, including cross contact in your kitchen.

What staff say

Hope it goes down well. If it does, the card in the box opens our Google page.

What to avoid

• No free pastry or discount for a review. Google treats incentives as fake and misleading content.
• Ask every cake customer the same way, including the one who changed the design three times.
• Never mention the occasion or the person the cake was for in a reply unless the customer did.