How to Ask Customers for Reviews: 10 Proven Channels and Ready-to-Use Templates

A survey from Syndigo revealed two important statistics about online reviews: 80% of consumers will skip products with no reviews, and 97% of them value recency when buying a product. They both show why it’s a must to learn how to ask customers for reviews. 

The good news? You can build a consistent stream of online reviews by following four simple rules and using the right channels to reach your customers.

We’ll walk you through all of them in this article. Plus, we’ll also share some tips and templates to make the process easier for both you and your customers.

4 Golden Rules for Asking for Reviews

If you want to be more effective and avoid any legal issues or customer complaints, you have to follow these four “golden rules.”

Rule 1: The Power of Perfect Timing

Timing is one of the most common reasons why some brands collect more reviews than others.

Imagine you run two businesses with different products (one is apparel, and the other is skincare items). Sending review requests three days after delivery may work for your clothing business, but not for the skincare one. The “testing period” is too short for your customers to see any effects or tell whether they like your product.

So when should you ask for reviews? Reviews.io mentioned that you need to wait for 2-30 days after delivery before requesting a review. And your product type will determine the “perfect timing” because each category requires its own timeline for customers to make up their minds about your product.

Let us show you a table that you can use as a guide:

Product Type	Best Timing (days after delivery)
Fashion/Apparel	2–5 days
Dog/Pet Products	3–7 days
Skincare Products	10–14 days
Home & Living	10–15 days
Fitness Equipment	14–21 days
Health Supplements	21–30 days
Outdoor/Travel Gear	14–30 days

You might need to experiment with this a bit to really find the “sweet spot” and improve the quantity of your customer feedback.

The next thing you have to do (once you find it) is set up automated review requests through your email or review app.

Most tools allow you to schedule emails based on delivery dates (which is what you want), not just order dates. This way, your timing stays accurate even if shipping takes longer than expected.

Rule 2: Respecting Customers’ Time and Effort

Have you ever had to fill out a 10-question survey just to leave feedback about a product you bought online? It’s exhausting, right? Well, that’s what your customers will also feel if you ask for too much information for a product review.

You have to make it super easy for them. Keep it short with three to five fields max, and only put what’s important. That’s usually a star rating selector, a comment box, and an optional photo upload. To make it frictionless, provide a direct link that they can click and remove any login requirements.

Take Casper (not the friendly ghost but the mattress and bedding company) as an example.

(Source: Pinterest UK)

It sends a simple email about 20 days after delivery with one question: “So, how did you sleep?” The email includes one clear button that says “Review the Sheets,” which takes customers straight to the review form.

Rule 3: Legally Incentivize Reviews (And Never Buy Reviews)

Buying reviews is one of the worst things you can do to sabotage your business. It’s an unethical practice (because you’re deceiving potential customers), and you can also face huge penalty fees for violating FTC compliance rules.

The FTC, or Federal Trade Commission, is a US agency that regulates fake reviews and testimonials. It has already penalized many ecommerce brands, and just last year, Sobrenix was fined $650,000 because of using fake endorsements and review sites to boost their products.

If you don’t want this to happen to you, avoid buying reviews. There are legal and better ways to encourage more customer feedback, and that’s through incentives.

You can offer discounts on future purchases (i.e., 10% off the next order) after your customer sends feedback. Creating a loyalty program to reward them is another good idea, or you can set up monthly or yearly giveaways for customers who have provided you with product reviews. 

Rule 4: Prepare for the Negative Reviews

Receiving negative reviews isn’t fun, but you need to accept that it’s normal (especially as your business grows). The good thing is that you can use negative feedback to improve your products and services.

Plus, since 96% of consumers actively look for negative reviews before buying anything, you can use this chance to show how well you respond and deal with issues.

The best way to do that is to follow these triple A’s:

• Acknowledge the issue and reply in less than 48 hours.
• Appreciate their feedback and say a simple “thank you” for sharing their experience… even if the review feels harsh.
• Assess the problem and act on it right away to improve the customer experience and avoid the same complaints in the future. 

10 Effective Channels to Ask for Reviews

Here are the best channels to ask for online reviews:

Channel 1: Post-Purchase Email Automation

One of the best channels to ask customers for reviews is automated post-purchase emails. You probably have them already because they’re a must for confirming orders and keeping customers updated on shipping status.

The main reason this channel works so well is timing control. You can schedule these emails to go out at the exact moment when customers have had enough time to use your product.

Consistency is also a great benefit that automated emails offer. Let’s say you set up a review request email to go out 14 days after delivery for your skincare products. Once you build that automation, it runs for every single customer who buys from you (you can save so much time and never have to miss any satisfied customers).

Post-purchase emails are transactional messages, and these types of emails have an open rate of 80-85%. So, there’s a bigger chance that customers will see your review request. 

Pro tips:

• Create an email sequence: Send your first review request based on your product type (use the timing table from Rule 1). And if your customers don’t respond after 5-7 days, you can send a follow-up just to bump up your request. 
• Segment your customers: Set up different email versions based on your customers’ purchase value or order history. For example, first-time buyers might get a simpler review request focused on the shopping experience, while repeat ones can get a more detailed one (like how it compares to their previous purchase).
• Personalize your email: Sprinkle some personal touches (on the subject line and the main content) like the buyer’s name, the specific product they bought, and how long they’ve had it.

Channel 2: Dedicated SMS Campaigns

You know what else has a high open rate? SMS. Their open rate is around 98% and that’s the reason they’re popular for marketing campaigns, but you can also use them to request reviews from your customers.

If you want to make them more effective, keep your content under 160 characters. Unlike emails, where you can write paragraphs, SMS works best when you get straight to the point. Just remember to add a branded short link or customized URL directing them to your review form. Go for a readable one and not something like: bit.ly/x7g3k9q2 (this one looks like spam).

You also have to introduce yourself to be recognizable. Using a branded sender ID is helpful, but you should also add your business name inside the message itself (no need to mention your location or the CEO’s middle name, though).

PSD, an apparel brand, successfully used SMS to improve its review collection process. They saw a 411% increase in review generation by sending personalized text messages shortly after delivery.

Channel 3: Post-Support Chat

Post-support chat is a great moment to ask for reviews because it’s after you solve a problem for your customer, and that’s when customer satisfaction is still fresh and high.

Let’s say one of your customers, named Carla, had an issue with your product (she doesn’t know how to turn it on). She sent you a message through a live chat button to ask for help. Your support agent then sent her a quick video tutorial, provided some more tips, and patiently answered all Carla’s questions.

Since she’s “happy” with how good your customer support was, she’d be more willing to share a customer testimonial compared to receiving a review request out of the blue days later.

Some key factors that make post-support chat work are:

• Customer mood: They are grateful after receiving help from you or your team, so you increase the chance of getting positive reviews.
• Active engagement: You are already having an interaction, so it’s easier for them to end it with a review.
• Lower barrier to action: Everything happens in one conversation, and they don’t have to open a new email or search your business online to leave a review. 

Pro tip: Train your support team to watch out for natural cues like “Thanks for your help” or “That’s it/that’s all I need” and respond with acknowledgement and the link. Something like: “Great [Name]! Could you spare us a minute and answer a quick question about your experience today? Here’s the link: [review link].”

Channel 4: Social Media Shout-Outs

If your main audience is millennials or Gen Z, we recommend you focus on social media shout-outs.

Your customers have already posted videos or photos about their experience with your brand or product. All you need to do is convince them to tag you on their posts (and encourage more shout-outs), so you can organize and collect more reviews from real customers.

And how to make that easier for you? By running a UGC (user-generated content) campaign. If you need help with that, here are three simple steps you can follow:

• Introduce a branded hashtag (#): You can use your brand name or be creative and come up with something “catchy” and unique. Promote this hashtag on your website and social media accounts.
• Partner it with an incentive: Offering some discounts or free items can encourage more customers to join your campaign.
• Engage with their posts: Repost, comment, or like when someone tags your brand or uses your hashtag (customers will totally love this and feel more connected with you).

ASOS launched one of the most talked-about UGC campaigns called #AsSeenOnMe. They asked their customers to post photos on IG wearing their product and created a page on their website just to showcase this content. In 2021, they had collected over 1.4 million posts from real customers (wow).

Channel 5: Packaging Inserts

Packaging inserts are small printed cards or notes you include inside the product box before shipping it to customers. They work because they are tangible, immediately available to your customer’s hands, and low-cost. So, they benefit you and make it easier for your buyers to leave reviews as well.

For example, you can include a simple card that says “Love it? Leave a review and get 10% off your next order” with a QR code. It can be effective because you made it convenient (with the QR code) and more enticing with the discount offered.

But what common types can you use? The most popular ones for review collection are thank-you cards with QR codes, product review request cards, discount offer inserts, and referral cards. Some brands also add small gifts or handwritten notes to create a more personal touch and encourage customers to share positive feedback.

Take Anker as a good example. The tech accessories brand uses a clever foldable card in its packaging. If customers are happy, the card directs them to leave reviews. But if not, then they can contact the customer service number provided. Simple but smart, right?

(Source: Penji)

Channel 6: Loyalty Program Pages

Loyalty program pages (or where your members check their points and rewards) are ideal places to collect reviews because these customers are already invested in your brand. They care more than new buyers or non-members, and are more willing to leave reviews post-purchase for your brand.

Adding a simple “Leave a review and earn 100 points” option on their loyalty dashboard can help you collect more customer testimonials and use them to build a better brand reputation. Members visit these pages to check their balance anyway, so asking for a review while they’re already there won’t be weird.

Pro tip: Provide additional points or bigger rewards for customers who upload photos or videos with their reviews. Why should you do this? Visual content works better as social proof on your product pages and gets more engagement on social media than text-only reviews.

Channelwill’s Reviews & UGC (Trustoo) and Loyalty & Referrals (Loloyal) apps work together to make this process easier. You can set up the integration so that customers earn loyalty points when they leave reviews through your review app.

The setup takes a few minutes: you just have to install both apps, go to the Loyalty & Referrals integrations page, and find the Reviews & UGC integration. After that, you can customize your point system directly on your page. 

Learn how to integrate these two apps smoothly.

Channel 7: Dedicated Review Collection Pages

Review collection pages are specifically for displaying online reviews. They allow you to collect and showcase all your customer feedback on your website so your customers can view it better.

While having Google reviews, Yelp ratings, and Trustpilot testimonials are also helpful for your business, keeping reviews on your own site gives you full control over how they’re displayed. Plus, you can control and separate fake reviews from real ones.

Here’s how you can encourage your customers to post on your review collection page:

• Add a link to a form where they can submit reviews: That makes it easier for your customers to send their feedback and for you to verify whether they are from real buyers or not.
• Share the guidelines on your review collection page: Add a sample of a good review so your customers will know what you need from them.
• Make the form mobile-friendly: Most customers will access your review page from their phones, so make sure the form loads quickly.

Pro tip: Add a review snippet to your collection page. It’s a code that tells Google to display your average star ratings, review counts, and excerpts in search results. Review snippets can help you improve your click-through rate and visibility because online shoppers prefer clicking on results that already show good ratings.

Channel 8: Review Request Pop-ups

WisePops reports that the average pop-up can get responses (or converts) around 4.65% of visitors.

Pop-ups get attention because they appear right in front of customers while they’re still on your site. You can time them to show up after checkout or on the order confirmation page when the shopping experience is still fresh in their mind. But to make them more effective, you have to keep them simple. You only need one clear headline, a quick question (with an incentive as an option), and a button for the survey. And that’s it.

Here’s a good example from Kennedy Blue. They show a short pop-up that offers 10% off in exchange for completing a quick survey. Plus, the survey is linked directly to the pop-up.

(Source: Omnisend)

You can adapt this (as it is) or provide a multiple-choice or NPS format if you prefer. Just make sure to keep it brief and that the feedback you receive will be truly helpful. 

Channel 9: Post-Purchase Pages

Another great channel to use is the post-purchase pages, where you direct customers after they check out. They can be an order confirmation page, a thank-you page, or the upsell one.

Of course, it won’t be ideal to ask for product reviews on this channel (because the item hasn’t even been shipped yet). But you can focus on other areas, like the checkout experience or how easy it was to navigate your website.

Harry’s, a men’s grooming brand, uses this approach on its thank-you page. After showing the order number and delivery timeframe, they include a quick survey asking “We’d love to get to know you better: How often do you shave?” with multiple-choice options that customers can answer in seconds.

(Source: Convertcart)

You can adapt this by requesting feedback about the shopping experience instead. Try questions like “How was your checkout process?” with a simple rating system, or “Did you find everything easily?” This captures valuable feedback about your site while people are still paying attention, and then you can send a product review request later once they’ve actually used what they bought.

Channel 10: Receipts/Invoices

Receipts work well for review requests because customers actually read them to check their purchase details and keep records. Zonka mentioned that QR code surveys can get responses that are up to 30% higher than paper-based surveys.

This channel works best if you have a physical shop like retail stores, restaurants, salons, coffee shops, or gyms. But you can also use digital receipts in your confirmation emails if you run an online store.

What you can do is add a short message at the bottom that says something like “Your feedback matters to us,” along with a review link or QR code that takes customers straight to your review platform. You don’t have to overexplain this part. Keep it as simple as possible.

McDonald’s does this well on its printed receipts. At the bottom, they print a friendly message with both a URL and a QR code that customers can scan to share feedback about their purchase or service experience. It’s minimal and doesn’t take up so much space (so it’s not annoying for customers).

(Source: Uniqode)

High-Converting Review Request Templates

Now that you know where to ask for reviews, here are some templates you can use and adjust based on your brand’s voice.

1. Email Request Template

Initial Request Email:

Subject: How’s your [product name] working out?

Hi [Customer Name],

It’s been about [X days] since your order arrived. We hope you’re enjoying your [product name].

If you have a minute, we’d love to hear what you think. Your feedback helps other shoppers make better decisions (and it helps us improve, too).

[Add a review button or link here]

Thanks,

[Your Name/Company Name] (you can personalize this closing to match your brand’s tone)

Follow-Up Email:

Subject: Here’s your 10% discount, [Customer’s Name]

Hi [Customer Name],

We sent you an email last week, but didn’t hear back. If you have a minute, we’d appreciate your honest thoughts about [Product Name].

You’ll get a 10% discount code once you share your review.

[Review button or link here]

Thanks,

[Your Name/Company Name]

2. SMS Request Template

Hi [Customer Name], it’s [Your Store Name]. How’s your [product name] working out? If you have a minute, we’d appreciate your feedback: [short link]. Thanks so much.

3. Post-Support Follow-up Template

Subject: Quick question about your recent support experience

Hi [Customer Name],

Thanks for contacting us about [issue/question]. We hope we were able to help you out.

If you have a moment, we’d really appreciate your feedback on how we handled your request. It helps us know what we’re doing right and where we can improve.

[Review button or link here]

Thanks again for supporting our business,

[Your Name/Company Name]

4. Social Media Request Template

Hey [Name], we love seeing you rock [product name]! 🌟 If you’re enjoying it, share your thoughts with everyone! Tag us or leave a quick review here [link].

Thanks for showing us love!

OR

We love hearing from our customers! If you’ve tried [product name], drop a comment below and let us know what you think.

Want to leave a full review? Click here [link]. Everyone who reviews this month gets entered to win [a $50 gift card/200 bonus points/15% off].

Thanks for being part of our community! ❤️

Pro tip: Pair the second template with a behind-the-scenes photo, a customer unboxing video, or even a funny meme about online shopping. Posts with real people or relatable humor tend to get way more engagement than generic product shots.

5. Pop-up Request Template

Headline: Got a minute? We’d love your feedback.

Your opinion matters to us. Answer five quick questions and get 10% off your next order.

[Take the Survey button]

[Maybe Later] [Close]

Pro tip: Time your pop-up to appear 10-15 seconds after customers land on your site (not immediately). And make sure the “close” or “maybe later” button is easy to find. 

Conclusion

That’s it for this article. Remember to focus on making the review request process easy for your customers and ethical.

Follow the rules we shared: get your timing right, respect their time, and stay transparent with your incentives. Keep every request simple, honest, and personal so your customers feel heard. Plus, learn to use and experiment with multiple channels to see which ones are more effective for your brand.

Ready to make collecting reviews easy and rewarding for your customers? Book a demo with our team to see how Trustoo and Loloyal can work together to help you collect feedback faster and strengthen customer loyalty.