A post purchase survey is definitely a goldmine when it comes to ecommerce stores, although many companies underestimate their importance. They’re an excellent way to gain valuable insight on a myriad of topics, including but not limited to the following:

• • Bugs and other issues your customers encounter on your website

• • Competitors your customers have been scoping out or shopping with

• • Details about your audience (e.g., their doubts and hesitations), which will help you get to know them better and confirm you’re targeting the right people

• • Needed site improvements and unexplored business opportunities

• • The reasons your customers consume your product and choose to buy from you

In this article, we’re going to walk through six steps for creating an amazing and effective post purchase survey for your ecom store. So, let’s get started!

Before crafting your post purchase survey template, you need to set an objective for the survey so you’re clear about what you’re trying to find out, and so you will be able to determine the template’s efficacy after using it. Below are questions Build Grow Scale typically uses to get an overview of a website’s clarity and usability, as well as gain a better understanding of a store’s buyers. These questions can be tweaked to fit your specific business if necessary; the key is to make sure you understand the context behind each one.

1.“What can you tell us about yourself?”

This will help you understand if you’re targeting the right audience and will give you valuable information about the people buying from you (and better yet, how they define themselves). These details prove extremely useful in running ads, generating content, and guiding your brand strategy. Look for similarities between slang terms, the adjectives they use to present themselves, and what they think it’s important for you to know about them. 

2.“Did you browse anywhere else before buying from us? If so, where?”

It’s extremely valuable to know the stores your audience considers to be your competitors because it will help you analyze the competitive landscape (which you should do often!). It will also help you understand what’s happening on the segment and gain insight about things that could be implemented on your store. 

3.“What made you choose our site?” 

If you’re struggling with your value proposition, this is your goldmine! The reasons people are choosing to purchase from you should be highlighted so they stand out (e.g., free shipping and returns, made in the USA, money-back guarantee, and so on). The answers to this one will also strongly indicate the perception of your brand and what others consider unique about what you offer. This will not only help you craft amazing UVPs but also content for UVPs, ads, emails, etc. 

4.“What questions did you have that you couldn’t find answers to?” 

This question is crucial in determining whether your store is easy to navigate, and also if it provides its visitors with enough clarity regarding product offerings, policies, etc. Not only that, but it can help you prioritize what should be worked on next and even give you A/B testing ideas. 

5.“How did you choose the product you purchased?”  

Is it because you offer a better price than your competitors? Do you offer faster shipping? Were you the only store that had the item in stock? Or, did they simply love the product? The answers you get to this question will help you understand your customers’ motivations in buying a specific product, and can also prove valuable when it comes to improving your UVP, generating content, and even deciding what information should be mentioned in the product’s description. 

6.“What was the one thing that nearly stopped you from buying?”  

Knowing your customers’ answers to this question will give you a better understanding of their objections, which will help you address (and hopefully squash) them while they’re still browsing. Notice that the sentence suggests there was an issue that nearly stopped them from buying, so they’ll be led to think about and bring up possible problems vs. saying there was nothing (which is what could result from asking, “Was there anything that nearly stopped you from buying?).

Wrap-Up 

Implementing these questions on your ecom store’s post purchase survey will be a huge help in learning more about your customers, compiling a competitor list, understanding your brand’s strengths and weaknesses, and being aware of issues that are happening on your website.

Remember that this will be an ongoing process if you want to see consistent success. After sending your post purchase questionnaire, analyze them, make necessary changes, and repeat the process using the steps in this article as your guide. Making this part of your routine watch your brand’s success continue to grow!