How shops can get more Google reviews

TapStar guide · updated 2026-09-01

For a retail shop, your Google listing is a second shopfront on a street with far more traffic than your actual one. Someone searching for an optical store, a mobile shop or a stationery supplier nearby gets a ranked list, and most of them never scroll past the first few results.

Ranking there is influenced by distance, how complete your profile is, and reviews. Distance you can't change. Reviews you can.

Checkout is the moment

Every customer passes through checkout, and they're already holding a phone to pay. That's the whole opportunity — no separate campaign, no follow-up messages, no extra work for anyone.

Placement

• The checkout counter, beside the POS machine. Nothing beats it.
• The trial room exit. For clothing and footwear, enthusiasm peaks the moment something fits.
• Inside the bag. Works, but weaker — the card gets found at home when the moment has gone.
• The service or repair desk. A customer collecting a repaired item is relieved and generous.

The sentence

"If you liked the service, tap your phone here — one second and it opens Google."

Staff resistance usually comes from feeling like they're begging. Pointing at a card is not begging, which is why physical placement solves a people problem as much as a technical one.

What customers write about shops

Stock and staff, almost always. "They had my size", "good collection of frames", "the owner helped me pick", "open on Sunday". These are precisely the things new customers search for and that you cannot credibly say about yourself.

Shoppers also attach photos more often than in other categories — of the product, the shelves, the shopfront. Those photos make your listing look alive and are worth encouraging.

Mistakes that cost you

1. Offering a discount for a review. Fastest way to get reviews removed.
2. Asking your own staff to post reviews. Easy to detect and it puts the listing at risk.
3. Collecting a big batch in one day. Bursts look manufactured and often get filtered.
4. Only asking customers who seem happy. That's gating, and it's against policy.
5. Ignoring negative reviews. The reply is read by everyone who comes after.

Multiple branches

Each branch is its own Google listing and needs its own card. A shared card sends reviews to whichever branch it was programmed for, which quietly starves the others.