How to Get Reviews on Shopify Store

Introduction

Customer reviews are one of the most powerful growth levers for any ecommerce brand. Stores with strong user-generated reviews see higher conversion rates, better SEO, and clearer product-market fit. At the same time, merchants are juggling too many point solutions—review collection, loyalty, referrals, UGC, social shopping—and that "app fatigue" makes consistent review collection harder than it needs to be.

Short answer: The most reliable way to get more reviews on your Shopify store is to make it easy, timely, and rewarding for customers to leave feedback. Combine friction-free review forms, automated post-purchase outreach across email and SMS, clear incentives or loyalty nudges, and visible social proof. Consistency and measurement are what turn occasional reviews into a steady stream.

In this post we’ll cover why reviews matter, the psychology behind why customers leave them, practical tactics to increase review volume and quality, how to automate review collection at scale, and the metrics you should track. We’ll also show how consolidating review collection with loyalty and UGC tools reduces complexity and increases results—our "More Growth, Less Stack" approach. To see plan options and start a 14-day free trial, you can compare plans and start a 14-day free trial with our retention suite today (compare plans and start a 14-day free trial).

Main message: Getting consistent, high-quality reviews is not random luck. It’s a repeatable system that combines product experience, timing, ease, and incentive—one that’s far easier to run when you consolidate tools into a single retention platform rather than stitching together many separate solutions.

Why Reviews Matter For Your Store

Reviews drive conversions and reduce buyer friction

Reviews are social proof in action. When shoppers see honest, recent feedback from peers, the perceived risk decreases. That produces measurable lifts in conversion rate and average order value. Reviews answer questions better than product descriptions because they come from real use cases and different perspectives.

Reviews improve SEO and organic discovery

User-generated content adds long-tail keywords, fresh content, and user intent signals to your product pages. That helps search engines understand the relevance of a page and can lead to improved rankings and rich snippets in search results. Over time, more reviews can mean more organic traffic.

Reviews increase customer lifetime value

When you tie review requests to loyalty rewards or follow-up offers, you turn a one-off purchase into a repeatable relationship. Customers who leave reviews are more engaged and more likely to return, especially if they receive recognition or perks for contributing.

Reviews inform product and operations improvements

Reviews are direct feedback. They surface feature requests, sizing problems, shipping issues, and product defects. Treat them as free product research that helps you improve quality and reduce returns.

The Psychology Of Reviews: Why Customers Leave Feedback

Understanding motivation makes it easier to design systems that encourage reviews.

• Social currency: People like to be helpful and to show they're informed shoppers.
• Reciprocity: If a brand does something nice (fast shipping, personalized note), customers feel compelled to give feedback.
• Time-saving: Customers will leave a review if it takes under a minute and they see clear value.
• Incentive: Discounts, points, or entry into a giveaway increase motivation—if offered transparently.
• Identity and pride: Customers who identify with your brand (values, aesthetics, community) are more likely to share their experience.

Design your review strategy around these motivations: reduce effort, amplify value, and reward participation.

Common Barriers To Getting Reviews

Recognizing friction points helps you design fixes.

• Friction in the form: Long forms, required email login, or complex rating scales discourage submissions.
• Timing: Asking too early (before product use) or too late (after excitement fades) reduces response rate.
• No follow-up: One outreach email with no reminder rarely gets high response.
• No perceived value: If customers don’t see a benefit—gratitude, discounts, or community recognition—they skip the review.
• Distrust of incentives: Poorly worded incentives can make reviews seem biased. Transparency is essential.
• Too many disconnected tools: Managing review collection across multiple platforms fragments data and decreases follow-up effectiveness.

The remedy is a streamlined experience: one retention solution that handles collection, incentives, and display while reducing management overhead.

Foundations: Preparing Your Store To Collect Reviews

Before you start asking for reviews, get the technical and design basics right.

Make review placement obvious and useful

• Place the average star rating near product title and price so shoppers see it on first glance.
• Include a visible review summary near the add-to-cart button and deeper review content lower on the product page.
• Use image-rich review sections that allow customers to upload photos and videos—visuals increase trust.

Decide what review types you want

• Star rating plus short text is the minimum.
• Photo and video uploads increase authenticity and conversion.
• Attribute tags (size, fit, scent strength) help shoppers filter reviews by relevance.

Keep moderation and policy processes clear

• Display that reviews are moderated for policy compliance, but avoid heavy-handed delays. Opt for a moderation workflow that balances speed with quality control.
• Have a transparent process for removing abusive or fraudulent reviews, and keep records to explain actions if customers ask.

Ensure mobile-first experience

The majority of review interactions happen on mobile. Make every step mobile-optimized—from the review form to confirmation and reward redemption.

How To Get Reviews On Shopify Store: Tactical Playbook

Below are actionable tactics you can implement across the buyer journey. Each tactic is practical and designed to be measured.

Optimize the post-purchase window

Timing is everything. The best moment to request a review is after the customer has had enough time to use the product but while the experience is still fresh.

• For consumables: ask after several uses (e.g., 7–14 days)
• For apparel: ask after delivery and likely wear (e.g., 7–21 days)
• For electronics: give time for setup and use (e.g., 14–30 days)

Experiment with timing and A/B test sequences to find the sweet spot for each product category.

Use multiple channels—email, SMS, and in-site prompts

Relying on a single channel limits reach. Combine channels to increase response rates.

• Email: The backbone of post-purchase review collection. Automate polite, short review requests with a clear CTA.
• SMS: High open rates and fast responses. Use sparingly and only with explicit consent to avoid annoyance.
• On-site or in-account prompts: If customers log in, prompt them to leave a review from their order history.
• Push/in-app notifications: For shoppers who use store apps or a shopping aggregator, in-app prompts after delivery can be effective.

Crafting the perfect review-request message

Focus on clarity, ease, and gratitude. Keep the message short and centered on helping future customers.

• Subject lines to test: “How did your [product] fit? 30 seconds to help.” or “Share your thoughts and get 10% off your next order.”
• Email body essentials:
  • Thank the customer by name.
  • Remind them of the product they bought.
  • Give an estimate of time (“Takes 30 seconds”).
  • Include a single, prominent CTA that takes them directly to the review form.
  • Include a visual of the product and a subtle incentive if you offer one.

Example email flow in plain terms (no numbering, use bullets to outline steps):

• Warm thank-you message immediately after delivery confirmation.
• First review request after the product-use window.
• Gentle reminder if no response after a few days.
• Final reminder with a small incentive or loyalty points only if you use rewards.

Reduce friction in the review form

• Allow quick star ratings with an optional text box for details.
• Enable social login or one-click links that pre-fill order confirmation data.
• Let customers upload images or short videos from mobile without extra steps.
• Keep required fields minimal—name, rating, and an optional comment.

Offer clear, ethical incentives

Incentives work, but transparency matters. Offer rewards that acknowledge the contribution without appearing to buy positive reviews.

• Offer loyalty points that don't depend on the sentiment of the review.
• Offer a small discount code redeemable on the next purchase upon submitting any review.
• Make it clear that incentives are given for participation, not for positive reviews.

Combine incentives with your loyalty program so participation both benefits the reviewer and reinforces repeat behavior. Learn how combining review requests with loyalty rewards can increase participation by exploring how to combine review efforts with loyalty programs (combine review requests with loyalty rewards).

Use visual user-generated content (UGC) to motivate reviewers

When customers see other shoppers’ photos and videos, they’re more likely to contribute their own. Feature UGC prominently in product pages and marketing channels to encourage participation.

• Show a “Photos from Customers” carousel on product pages.
• Highlight UGC on social channels with a call to contribute.
• Repurpose highly rated reviews and photos in email and ad campaigns, always crediting contributors.

Our Reviews & UGC module makes it easier to collect and display visual reviews—see how our built-in tools can centralize media-rich feedback (our Reviews & UGC module).

Use loyalty and referral nudges to turn reviewers into repeat customers

Pair review prompts with a loyalty point reward or a short referral incentive. This does two things: it increases review submission and fuels repeat purchasing behavior.

• Offer points for submitting a review and additional points for uploading a photo.
• Add a referral CTA in the review-confirmation page to convert reviewers into brand promoters.

Make responding to reviews part of your service playbook

Engage with reviewers—both positive and negative. Thank positive reviewers publicly and address issues raised by negative reviews with concrete next steps. This shows prospective customers you care and that problems are solvable.

• Set a standard response window (e.g., reply within 48 hours).
• Use templated responses that can be personalized quickly to scale responses without losing authenticity.
• Convert complaints into support tickets and follow up privately to resolve.

Leverage order inserts and packaging cues

Physical order inserts are a tangible reminder to leave a review. Keep them simple and actionable.

• Include a short note expressing gratitude and a CTA with a QR code or short URL to the review form.
• Add visual cues on packaging (sticker or printed headline) reminding customers to share photos.

Run review collection campaigns tied to product launches or seasonal peaks

Plan review drives after launches or during peak seasons. Use special incentives, loyalty boosts, and community calls-to-action to increase participation when demand is high.

Automation And Workflows: Scale Review Collection Without Extra Work

Automation is how you go from occasional reviews to ongoing streams of UGC.

Build automated post-purchase review workflows

Automate the sequence so merchants don’t need to handle manual outreach.

• Trigger a review request after a defined fulfillment or delivery event.
• Follow up automatically with reminders for non-responders.
• Award loyalty points automatically upon verified submission.

A unified retention suite lets you orchestrate this flow once and apply it across product groups, customer segments, and channels—reducing manual overhead and improving consistency.

Segment review requests by customer behavior

Not every customer should get the same review request. Personalization improves response.

• High-engagement customers: shorter ask with an invitation to add photos or become a brand advocate.
• First-time buyers: educational tone plus a small incentive.
• Repeat buyers: request for more detailed feedback and optional product comparison.

Segmenting allows you to increase response rates while avoiding over-communication.

Integrate reviews with other systems

Bring review data into your analytics, product roadmap, and customer service systems.

• Feed review sentiment into a product insights dashboard.
• Use review triggers to create support tickets for low ratings so you can be proactive.
• Sync review content to product detail pages, email templates, and social galleries.

A consolidated platform reduces integration effort and keeps data in a single place for clearer insights.

Handling Negative Reviews: Turn Pain Into Improvement

Negative reviews are inevitable. A considered approach turns them into trust signals.

• Respond quickly and publicly with empathy.
• Offer a clear path to resolution: refund, replacement, or discount on a future purchase.
• Take the conversation offline if it becomes complex but post a public note when resolved.
• Learn from common complaints and feed them into product and operations improvements.

Transparency builds trust. Prospective buyers often read the way brands handle negative feedback as much as the feedback itself.

Measuring Success: KPIs That Matter

Track metrics that link reviews to revenue and retention.

• Review submission rate: percentage of buyers who leave feedback.
• Average rating: monitor for trends and product-level issues.
• Visual UGC rate: percent of reviews that include images or videos.
• Conversion lift: measure conversion differences on pages with reviews versus without.
• Repeat purchase rate for reviewers vs. non-reviewers.
• SEO indicators: organic traffic increases on pages with heavy review content.

Set realistic benchmarks, then optimize. For a growing store, moving a review submission rate from 1% to 5% can have compounding effects on conversion and repeat purchases.

Best Practices Checklist (Quick Reference)

• Place star rating and review summary near product title and price.
• Use short, mobile-optimized review forms with optional photo/video uploads.
• Automate post-purchase review requests with timed follow-ups.
• Offer loyalty points or small discounts for participation (transparent incentives).
• Segment review requests by customer type and product.
• Respond publicly to feedback and fix recurring problems.
• Reuse strong reviews as UGC across site and marketing channels.
• Measure review rate, rating trends, UGC adoption, and conversion impact.

How Growave Fits Into Your Review Strategy

We build for merchants, not investors. Our mission is to turn retention into a predictable growth engine, and that includes making review collection simple, automated, and connected to loyalty and social proof. We’re trusted by over 15,000 brands and carry a 4.8-star rating on Shopify—evidence that merchants value the integrated approach.

Centralize reviews with Reviews & UGC

Our Reviews & UGC module is designed to make collection and display seamless. It supports photo and video uploads, automatic moderation workflows, and widgets that display social proof throughout the buying journey. Consolidating collection and display with this module reduces duplicate tools and keeps your review data unified (our Reviews & UGC module).

Turn reviews into repeat purchases with loyalty

Rather than treating reviews and loyalty as separate programs, combining them creates a virtuous cycle: customers provide reviews and get points, which increases repeat purchase likelihood and brand advocacy. You can set up incentives that reward review submission without undermining authenticity (combine review requests with loyalty rewards).

Less Stack, More Growth

When you replace multiple point solutions with a single retention suite, you reduce friction and maintenance time. That means more consistent follow-up, better data, and higher ROI. Our "More Growth, Less Stack" philosophy helps merchants consolidate reviews, loyalty, referrals, wishlists, and shoppable UGC into one place—saving time and improving results.

Install and trial options

If you want to try a unified approach, you can install our retention suite and start collecting reviews and rewards without juggling multiple platforms (install our retention suite and start collecting reviews). To evaluate pricing and plan features in detail, compare plans and start a 14-day free trial via our plans page (compare plans and start a 14-day free trial).

For Shopify Plus merchants with complex catalogs and higher volume, we provide specialized features and onboarding to ensure your workflows scale smoothly—see our enterprise-focused solutions to learn more (see enterprise solutions and onboarding options).

Common Mistakes And How To Avoid Them

• Over-incentivizing only positive reviews: Reward participation, not sentiment.
• Asking too frequently: Respect customers’ time and attention; avoid spammy behavior.
• Using multiple disconnected tools: Consolidate to keep data unified and automation consistent.
• Ignoring negative feedback: Respond publicly and fix root causes.
• Not A/B testing: Assume nothing; test timing, messaging, and incentives to find what works.

Practical Examples Of Email & SMS Templates

Below are plain-language templates you can adapt for your sequences. Keep messages conversational and short.

Email: Friendly review request

• Subject: How did your [product] work out?
• Body: Hi [Name], thanks again for your order of [product]. If you have 30 seconds, could you tell us what you think? Your feedback helps other shoppers and helps us improve. As a thank you, we’ll add [X loyalty points/10% off] when you submit a review. [CTA: Leave a review]

SMS: Short and direct

• Message: Hi [Name]! Quick favor—could you rate your [product]? It only takes a minute, and we’ll add [reward]. [short link]

Reminder email: brief and helpful

• Subject: Quick reminder: tell us what you thought of [product]
• Body: Hey [Name], we’d still love your feedback on [product]. If you had an issue, reply and we’ll make it right. [CTA: Review now]

Confirmation: Thank-you and reward delivery

• Subject: Thanks! Here’s your [reward]
• Body: Thanks for sharing your review, [Name]. We’ve added [points/discount] to your account—use them on your next order. Want to share a photo? It helps people see real-life results. [CTA: Add photo]

Scaling Review Collection Across Catalogs

As your catalog grows, standardize review programs to maintain quality and relevance.

• Group products by category and set tailored timing and messaging for each group.
• Use product attributes to prompt specific questions (fit, durability, scent strength) to create structured feedback.
• Reuse high-performing templates while allowing minor personalization to keep authenticity.

Integrations And Cross-Channel Amplification

Make reviews work harder by amplifying them across channels.

• Use review highlights in paid and organic social ads.
• Feature top photo reviews in product carousels and homepage hero sections.
• Include snippets in abandoned cart emails to reduce friction and increase recovery rates.
• Feed review sentiment into audience targeting for lookalike campaigns.

Because the review data lives in the same retention platform as loyalty and referrals, these cross-channel uses become straightforward rather than fragmented.

Final Checklist Before Launching A Review Program

• Review experience is mobile-optimized and quick.
• Automated workflows for timing, reminders, and reward delivery are set.
• Moderation policies and response templates are prepared.
• Reporting is set up to track review rate, average rating, UGC adoption, and conversion impact.
• Loyalty and review reward logic is linked and transparent.

Conclusion

Customer reviews are high-impact assets: they build trust, improve SEO, and increase conversions and lifetime value. The difference between a few sporadic reviews and a steady stream of authentic feedback is a repeatable system—timed outreach, low-friction forms, transparent incentives, and a consolidated platform that ties reviews to loyalty and UGC.

We build for merchants, not investors. That’s why we focus on reducing tool fatigue with a single retention suite that handles reviews, loyalty, referrals, wishlists, and shoppable UGC—delivering More Growth, Less Stack. If you’re ready to turn reviews into a dependable growth channel, explore our plans and start your 14-day free trial today (explore our plans and start your 14-day free trial).

FAQ

How often should I ask customers for reviews?

Ask once during the ideal product-use window and send one or two polite reminders. Timing depends on product type—shorter for consumables, longer for complex products. Keep the total number of outreach messages reasonable and segment by customer behavior.

Are incentives allowed for reviews?

Yes, but be transparent. Reward participation (points, small discounts) rather than positive sentiment. Tie rewards to your loyalty program so they drive retention and repeat purchases.

What type of reviews lift conversion the most?

Photo and video reviews tend to lift conversion more than text-only reviews because they provide tangible proof of use. Reviews that include specifics—fit, how long it lasted, or how it compares to other products—also perform well.

How do I handle fake or spam reviews?

Use moderation workflows to flag suspicious submissions, require proof of purchase when needed, and respond publicly to clarify actions taken. Automating moderation and verification reduces false positives and protects trust.

For inspiration from merchants using a unified retention approach, see example stories that show how brands turn reviews into revenue and repeat buyers (see merchant inspiration and stories).

For a hands-on walkthrough or tailored advice, book a demo to see how reviews, loyalty, and UGC can work together for your store (book a demo).