Among the shops someone searching in Whitefish Bay is shown, the three we could measure answering the most of their recent reviews were answering nearly every one. High Brow Boutique answered 10 of its last 10. Stone House Collective answered 9 of 10, and so did Posh Collective. We can't see how the other shops we read handled theirs, so this says nothing about the trade as a whole.
The listings themselves are a separate measure, covering each listing's whole history rather than its last ten reviews. The median shop of the 20 we read carries 25 Google reviews and a 4.6 rating. The three most-reviewed carry 774, 503 and 248. The named shops sit at very different sizes: High Brow Boutique's listing holds 503 reviews, Stone House Collective's 105, and Posh Collective's 34.
That last figure is the one worth noticing. Posh Collective answered 9 of its last 10 on a listing of 34 reviews, against a median of 25 for the shops we read. Among the shops named here, one with 34 reviews answered at the same rate as one with 105.
For a wider reference point, the benchmark measured here is 70%: the share of recent reviews a typical measured business answered, taken across 26 businesses in all trades together, not shops alone. Each of the three shops named above answered 9 or 10 of its last 10, which puts all three above that figure.
What to do about it
Open your own listing and count your last 10 reviews, then count how many carry a reply from you. That is the same measure behind every reply figure above: High Brow Boutique at 10 of 10, Stone House Collective and Posh Collective at 9 of 10, and a benchmark of 70% measured across 26 businesses here.
If your count is well below that, start with the reviews that have no reply yet, oldest first, and keep them short: thank the customer by name if they gave one, and mention something specific they said. Then answer each new review as it comes in, so the count does not fall back. A small listing can be answered too: Posh Collective answered 9 of its last 10 on a listing of 34 reviews. The review is the customer's; the reply is the part you write.
Shops
| # | Business | Answered | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | High Brow Boutique | 10 of 10 | 503 | 4.9 |
| 2 | Stone House Collective | 9 of 10 | 105 | 5 |
| 3 | Posh Collective | 9 of 10 | 34 | 4.4 |