Post purchase survey email: what to ask, when to send it, and where the answers go

What should a post purchase survey email ask?

Ask what you can't see in your data. Klaviyo and Shopify already know what someone bought, when and for how much. They don't know why.

For new customers, the most important things to learn are:

1. What problem are you trying to solve? This is the big one. A first purchase is someone trying to fix something: sleep, energy, a skin issue, a better snack for the kids. Give 4 to 6 options in your customers' own words, plus "other."
2. Why did you choose us? Ingredients, taste, price, a review, a recommendation. This tells you what your marketing should lead with.
3. How did you find us? Instagram, TikTok, a friend, a podcast, a store shelf, a Google search, other. This is the "how did you hear about us" question, and it's a useful check on your ad numbers.

If you only ask one, ask about the problem they're trying to solve. It shapes the most emails later.

How many questions is too many?

Keep it to 1 to 3. Every extra question is another reason to close the tab.

Make every question multiple choice with an "other" option. Open text answers are fun to read, but they're hard to turn into a segment. Multiple choice gives you clean values you can build on.

For a sense of what's possible, KnoCommerce, a post-purchase survey company, says on its blog that its surveys average a 45% response rate, and that a 5 to 6 question survey typically reaches about a 90% completion rate. Those are a vendor's own numbers across its customers, so treat them as a ceiling to aim for, not a promise. Short and close to the purchase is what gets you there.

When should you send it in the post-purchase flow?

In the first few days of the first-order path. That's where I'd put it.

It can also go later in the flow, depending on your comfort level. But the closer it is to the purchase, the more willing customers are to fill it out. They just bought, they remember why, and they're still paying attention to your emails.

A few rules I'd hold to:

• First-order path only. The questions are about why a new customer chose you. Repeat customers already answered, or never will.
• One survey, not a series. Ask once, early. Don't send a survey with every order.
• Not stacked on the review ask. A survey is about why they bought and how they found you. A review is about the product, after they've used it. Keep them in separate emails. Here's when I send the review request email.

I walk through the rest of the first-order path in what a post purchase email flow should send.

Should you offer a discount for answering?

It depends on the brand's comfort level. But if you can afford it, offering something special in exchange for completing the survey doesn't hurt.

The answers are worth something to you, so it's fair to give something back. Keep the reward simple, like a small credit or a free add-on on the next order, and mention it in the email so people know before they start.

Which survey tool should you use?

My pick: Typeform. It's really simple, and it lets you create as many surveys as you need. Typeform has its own Klaviyo integration. Per Typeform's page, responses can create and update contacts in Klaviyo in real time, and you can build segmented audiences from what people tell you. Send yourself a test response and check that it lands on your profile before the survey goes live.

Klaviyo also has two built-in options:

• One-click answer buttons. Klaviyo has a link tag that sets a profile property when someone clicks a button, then sends them to a page you choose. Each answer becomes a button. Per Klaviyo, a later click overwrites the earlier value, it doesn't work in SMS, and clicking in a preview won't update anything, so test it by sending the email to yourself.
• A Klaviyo form. Klaviyo stores form answers in the custom properties section of each profile. Per Klaviyo, you need an email or phone field to save answers for new visitors, a new answer replaces the old one, and you should use unique property names so different forms don't overwrite each other.

Whichever you use, name properties so you'll understand them a year from now. "Problem trying to solve" and "Heard about us" beat "Q1" and "Survey answer."

How should survey answers shape later emails?

This is information customers tell you on purpose, sometimes called zero party data. It's worth more than a guess because they told you, and it's yours, not a platform's.

The problem they're solving becomes a segment. Build one segment per answer. Then the reorder reminder for someone who bought for better sleep talks about sleep. A launch email can lead with the problem that segment cares about. Same product, different first line. Here are the segments I'd start with before you add these.

Why they chose you becomes copy. If one reason keeps coming up, lead with it in your welcome series and ads. That's what's actually working on new customers.

How they found you becomes a channel check. More on that next.

Don't build ten segments on day one. Start with the answer that shows up most, write one email for it, and see if it gets more clicks than the generic version.

How does "how did you find us" check your attribution?

Klaviyo, Meta and Google each count sales their own way, and the same order can show up in all three. I explain how Klaviyo does it in Klaviyo attribution.

A "how did you hear about us" answer gives you a different kind of data: what the customer remembers. It's not perfect. People forget, and they tend to name the last thing they saw. But it doesn't come from a platform grading its own homework.

So use it as a cross-check:

• Look at the share of answers by channel each month, not single responses.
• Compare it with where your spend goes. If a channel takes a big slice of the budget and barely shows up in answers, that's worth a closer look.
• Watch "a friend told me." That's word of mouth, and no ad dashboard will show it to you.

Don't make budget calls off one month of answers. Look for patterns that hold over a few months.

FAQ

WRITTEN BY Jack White

Founder of Bardown Digital, a Chicago-based Klaviyo email and retention agency for Shopify brands. He's worked with brands doing $500K to $100M a year, with $100M+ in email-attributed revenue across them.

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