How to tell if your review stand is actually working

A review stand is cheap, so most businesses put it out and never check whether it is doing anything. It takes about ten minutes a month to find out, and the answer usually tells you something about your staff rather than the stand.

Measure the one number that matters

The clearest measure is simple: how many new Google reviews you get each month. Write down the count on your listing on the first of every month. Compare the three months before the stand arrived with the three months after.

That is the whole method. You do not need software. A note in your phone is enough.

What good looks like

There is no universal benchmark, and anyone quoting you a conversion rate for tap stands is guessing. What matters is your own trend. A business that went from one review a month to four has a stand that is working. A business that went from one to one has a stand that is decoration.

If the number did not move

Usually the stand itself is not the problem. Work through these in order:

1. Can customers see it? Stand where a customer stands and look. If it is behind the till, under the muffin case or facing the wrong way, move it. See where to put a review stand.
2. Does it work? Tap it with your phone and scan the QR with another. Links break, stands get knocked, cases block taps.
3. Is anyone mentioning it? A stand nobody points at gets a fraction of the use of one staff mention once. See the real reason nobody on your team asks.
4. Is the moment right? A stand at the exit, when people are leaving, does less than one at the counter where they pause.

Your Business Profile performance

Your Business Profile shows how people interact with your listing, such as searches, calls, website clicks and direction requests. It does not tell you which reviews came from the stand, but it is worth watching alongside your review count. More reviews should, over time, go with more people finding and contacting you.

What you cannot measure

You cannot see who tapped the stand and chose not to review, and you cannot tell which reviews came from the tap versus the QR. Accept that, and judge the stand by the trend in your review count.

Read the reviews too

If new reviews mention the counter, the barista or the person who served them, that is a sign the ask is happening at the right moment. If they are vague and weeks after the visit, the reviews are probably coming from somewhere else.