How does a tap-to-review stand work?

What happens when someone taps

NFC (near-field communication) is the short-range radio that tap-to-pay uses. The chip in the stand has no battery: the phone’s own signal powers it for a moment when the two are a few centimetres apart, and the chip hands over one thing, your link.

The phone opens that link like any web page. Nothing is installed, and nothing about the customer is stored on the chip.

Which phones read it

iPhones from the XS onwards read NFC chips without opening an app. Most Android phones read them too, as long as NFC is switched on, which it usually is for tap-to-pay. The screen needs to be on and unlocked.

For older phones, each stand also has a printed QR code that opens the same page through the camera.

Where your review link comes from

Your Google Business Profile gives you a short link to your review form: look for “Ask for reviews” when you manage your profile. Send it with your order, and we programme every chip with it and test each one before it is packed.

Ask fairly

Google’s rules don’t allow offering anything in return for a review, and ask businesses not to invite only their happy customers. A stand on the counter asks everyone equally, which keeps you inside the rules.

Where to put one

By the till, at reception, on restaurant tables or wherever people wait: anywhere a customer stands with a phone already in hand.