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Customer surveys

| Article: 2 min read | Customer retention

Customer surveys are short questions to customers about their experience (why they bought, what they couldn't find, how delivery went) that give a store what numbers don't show: reasons. Analytics shows where people stop, a survey helps you understand why.

In plain words

A funnel will tell you that 40% leave checkout at the delivery step. It won't tell you why. Ask those who bought and those who left. Sort the answers into a few groups and fix what is mentioned most often.

Types of surveys

When

Whom to ask

What we find out

After purchase (thank-you page, email)

Buyers

Why they chose you, what almost stopped them

After delivery

Buyers

Quality of delivery and product (CSAT)

On the site at exit (a short pop-up)

Those who didn't buy

What they couldn't find, why they left

Periodically

All buyers

Loyalty (NPS)

Conversations with support

All inquiries

Recurring problems

How to write questions

For surveys, it is worth following these rules:

  • neutral, clear wording with no jargon and no hint at the answer (not "how much did you enjoy our wonderful service?");
  • one question, one topic (split two-part questions);
  • balanced scales with an equal number of positive and negative options, and answers that don't overlap;
  • a "Prefer not to answer" option;
  • ask about specific recent behavior, not about assumptions of what the person will do in the future;
  • keep the survey short and ask only what you need for your decision;
  • don't make every question mandatory (it increases the number of people who abandon the survey) and add an optional open question at the end.

Example (hypothetical): instead of "Are you satisfied with Nova Poshta's fast delivery?", ask "How do you rate the delivery? 1 — very bad … 5 — very good" and then "What would you change?".

What to do with the answers

  1. Sort the open answers into 5–8 groups (delivery, price, choice, trust, website and so on).
  2. Count how many times each group repeats.
  3. Check against the numbers: does the funnel or session recordings confirm the reason?
  4. Fix what is most frequent and most costly, not what was said the loudest. For choosing the order: How to choose what to improve first.
  5. Tell customers what has changed: it raises their willingness to answer next time.

Common mistakes

  • Asking only the satisfied (buyers) and forgetting those who left. According to Baymard, a significant share of cart abandonment is browsing with no intent to buy (42%), so such answers are not always about a problem with the site (Baymard, 2025).
  • A questionnaire that is too long.
  • Hinting at the answer in the question.
  • Collecting answers and doing nothing with them.
  • Collecting personal data without need: see Personal data in Ukraine.
  • Treating a few reviews as statistics.

FAQ

How often should you survey customers? Event-based (after purchase or delivery) and no more often than needed. One customer shouldn't receive a questionnaire after every order.

How many questions should a survey have? The minimum necessary; one to three for event-based surveys. There is no single number in authoritative sources.

Which is better: a survey or analytics? Together: analytics shows where, a survey shows why.

Do you need a reward for answering? There is no fresh comparative data; if you offer a discount, don't make it conditional on a positive rating.

Sources

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