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How to customize the Initial and Full survey
How to customize the Initial and Full survey

This article explains the differences between the initial and full survey and how to customize each.

Colton Gallegos avatar
Written by Colton Gallegos
Updated over a week ago

What is the difference between the initial and full survey?

A typical integration with Shopper Approved includes an initial survey review (collected at checkout) and a full survey review which is collected through a follow-up email sent to customers after checkout.

Once an order is completed on your website, our thank you page code allows the initial survey to automatically pop up for customers requesting an initial seller review. The initial survey requests a comment and rating based on the customers initial shopping experience on your website. These comments and ratings are counted towards your Shopper Approved rating and can be displayed on widgets and the Shopper Approved certificate page.

The initial survey will also ask customers if they would like to receive a follow-up email to make sure that they're satisfied with their order. By default, we ask for each customer to opt in. Alternatively, "email all" can be enabled which will send the follow-up email to every customer and remove the opt-in

Note: email all is located under (top-left menu >Setup > Seller Ratings > send emails to all customers who check out (no opt-in)) If enabling this setting, please ensure the privacy policy on your website has a statement indicating that customers information may be shared with third parties.

When customers receive the follow-up email they will first be asked to leave a product review for the item they purchased (if collecting product reviews) and then a full seller review. All questions that were asked on the initial survey (at checkout) will also appear on the full survey, this gives customers the ability to update their original review now that they've been through the entire shopping experience and received their order.

Full survey reviews collected through the follow-up email are syndicated to Google to help you meet their seller rating requirements and receive stars in seller ads. Typically, Google requires 100 full survey reviews, with quality comments, from the same country in a rolling 12-month period in order to receive a seller rating and see stars in seller ads. Here is an article that explains Google's seller rating requirements.

If collecting product reviews, Google requires 50 overall product reviews in order to receive stars in product listing ads (PLAs). You can read more about Google's product ad requirements in this article.

Follow-up day setting

You can fully customize when the follow-up email is scheduled to be sent out to your customers. By default, the follow-up email is set to be sent out 10 days after checkout. It's recommended to customize this setting to be the average amount of days after checkout it takes for customers to receive the item they purchased giving customers the ability to leave a full survey review after their entire shopping experience has been completed.

Note: customize the follow-up day setting by going to (top-left menu > Setup > Seller Ratings > Customize settings for your Initial/Follow-up Survey).

How do I edit the follow-up email?

You can also view and customize the body and subject line of the follow-up email by clicking on "customize your followup email". We offer a plain text version and an HTML version of the email. Please make sure to update both versions of the email if you make any customizations.

Note: You will want to keep the survey link and the custom fields. Once you are done with your changes, click "Save and Submit". Any edits made to the follow-up email will be reviewed by Shopper Approved within 72 hours. We will communicate via email to let you know if your edits have been approved or denied. Emails are reviewed to ensure no incentivization for reviews has occurred. You can send yourself a test email to verify the changes made.

How to customize questions on the initial and full survey

You can customize the initial and full survey by going to (top-left menu > Surveys > Custom Survey) Please feel free to customize the surveys how you see fit. Keep in mind the "How would you rate your overall shopping experience" star rating and the comment box cannot be removed as they're required by Google.

In order to turn questions off, de-select the "active" box. There's also an option to choose whether feedback from a question is "public" or not. If selected, responses received will be displayed publically on the Shopper Approved certificate page and through widgets. If de-selected, responses will be internal and can only be visible through the dashboard.

You can also see what the survey looks like from the customers point of view by clicking on "View your Initial Survey" or "View your Full Survey".

Troubleshooting

If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact our dedicated support team at [email protected]. If you're currently in onboarding, please contact your dedicated onboarding specialist for further assistance.

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