Ask at the till, in the box, or in the confirmation email. Read it the same afternoon.
Retail feedback is worth the most in the first day and almost nothing after a week. Everything here is built to be answered on a phone in under a minute, from a QR code on a receipt or a single link in an order confirmation, and to be readable before the next delivery goes out.
Retail is really asking three questions. Would you recommend us, which is slow and strategic. How was that specific purchase, which is fast and fixable. And, hardest to get, what stopped the people who nearly bought and did not.
When a survey goes out here
- In the order confirmation or the delivery note, answered before the parcel is opened
- A QR code on the receipt, which outperforms an emailed survey by a distance
- After a return or an exchange, where the effort question tells you the most
- Quarterly recommendation score, tracked against your own last run rather than a benchmark
- Before you commit to a new range, asked as research rather than as feedback
The survey types this sector runs most
Each one comes with its questions already written, the scoring explained, and the mistakes named.
CSAT survey
Customer Satisfaction Score measures one specific interaction rather than the whole relationship. It is the right tool immediately after a purchase, a support ticket or a delivery, and the wrong tool for a quarterly health check.
See the questions NPSNPS survey
Net Promoter Score℠ is the most asked question in business, and the most wasted. The score tells you where you stand. The sentence after it tells you what to do. FreeSurvey gives you both on the same page.
See the questions CESCES survey
Customer Effort Score asks how hard somebody had to work to get what they needed. It is the best single predictor of whether a customer sticks around after a support contact, and it is more actionable than satisfaction because effort has a cause you can go and remove.
See the questions Market researchMarket research survey
Market research goes wrong in a predictable way: you ask people whether they would buy something, they are polite, and you build it. The questions here are shaped to ask about what somebody has already done rather than what they imagine they might do.
See the questionsQuestions worth asking in retail and ecommerce
What is different about asking here
- Same day or nothing. A retail survey sent a week later measures a mood, not a purchase.
- A printed code beats an email. The response rate difference is not close.
- Ask the people who returned something. They are the most informative group and the least often surveyed.
Customers answer without an account, so a survey never becomes another login to abandon. Answers are anonymous unless you ask for a name or an order number. Nothing is sold on, and you can export or delete everything at any point.
Security and dataWhen should a post-purchase survey go out?
Within a day of delivery, or immediately at the till. After that you are measuring general feeling rather than the order.
Can I put a survey on a receipt?
Yes. Every survey has a link you can turn into a QR code, and it opens straight into the first question with no login.
How do I find out why people abandon a basket?
Ask about past behavior rather than intent, and ask the people who nearly bought rather than the people who did. A market research survey is the right shape for that, not a satisfaction survey.