A Beginner’s Guide to Feedback Surveys

We look at Feedback Surveys and how retailers can use them to reach out to customers and gather valuable feedback from shoppers. 

It’s important for retailers to gain insights into the people that visit their websites, whether they become customers, or leave without buying.

The insights gained can help you to understand why customers didn’t buy from you, what they like and don’t like about your products and service.

This can inform improvements to your site, products and service, and help you to make your marketing more relevant and effective.

Feedback Surveys can help here. They can be used to understand why some customers didn’t go on to complete a purchase, as well as to gather feedback from shoppers who do go on to buy from you.

Apart from the useful feedback, these surveys also show customers that you are interested in keeping them happy and care about their views.

What Are Feedback Surveys and How Can They Be Used?

Feedback surveys can be used in two ways:

• To ask customers why they have abandoned, or are about to abandon, a purchase. 
• Post-purchase, to gather feedback about products and service.

To ask for feedback when a customer abandons a purchase, there are a number of options.

You can use on-site surveys to ask for feedback at the point a visitor wants to leave a purchase or booking.

These surveys can be displayed when customers show exit intent, allowing you to gather feedback straight away. In some cases, you may be able to solve any issues and persuade the customer to reconsider.

Feedback forms can allow shoppers to select from a list of potential issues, and a freeform box so people can explain any problems they may have encountered.

This kind of direct feedback can be valuable, as customers are able to pinpoint a specific issue that led to them abandoning a purchase.

Feedback surveys can also be sent by email after a customer has abandoned, often used as part of the cycle of basket abandonment emails.

The first two emails would normally show the products abandoned and tempt shoppers back to checkout, but third cycle emails will often show surveys.

Here’s an example from Tesco Mobile, which helps them to identify key reasons for abandonment.

For people who did decide to make a purchase, feedback surveys can be used to gauge levels of customer satisfaction.

Timing is key here, and the optimal email send time will depend on the product involved.

Customers need to have had enough time to use and get to know the product they’ve purchased, but it also helps when it is fresh in their minds.

Send times can be customized according to the products customers have bought, and surveys can be targeted towards specific items.

It can help to keep questions simple, so customers can deliver feedback quickly and easily. If you ask too many questions, or take up too much of your customers’ time, then they’re less likely make the effort to complete surveys.

Feedback gained from post-purchase surveys can help to uncover any issues with the product itself, or the delivery and service customers have experienced.

The insights gathered can also be used by retailers to learn more about their products, how comfortable shoes are, which products are performing best in terms of customer satisfaction, and any issues to address.

In Summary

Feedback surveys can provide some valuable insights for retailers, enabling them to assess levels of customer satisfaction and identify any problems that customers may have had before or after purchase.

They also provide some very useful social proof which can be used by brands on-site in reviews, and marketing in general.

Also, the very fact that brands are proactively asking for customer feedback on their experience and products sends a signal that the customer is valued and the retailer is  looking to provide a great service.