How to Create a Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) Survey in Shopify

Once you've shipped the order, it may feel like the transaction between the customer and the merchant is over. If you're interested in improving your Shopify store, the best way to approach it is to ask for immediate feedback from people who have already made a purchase. Without direct feedback, this process can feel very tiring and unproductive. If you want to improve the store experience, collect first-party data, or even launch a new product, surveys are one of the best solutions.

Customer satisfaction surveys focus on improving the customer experience while giving you a clearer idea of your customer demographics and preferences. They're helpful for all kinds of stores, no matter how big or small. It can be a boutique or a high-volume digital goods store; it doesn't matter, because it's always relevant to know what your customers think about your store and how satisfied they are with their experience.

That's why this article breaks down the entire process of creating a customer satisfaction survey in Shopify, from questions to publishing.

Key takeaways

• A CSAT survey measures how satisfied customers are with a product, a service interaction, or the whole experience, usually on a 1-5 star or emoji scale.

• It's one of the cleanest ways to collect zero-party data as privacy laws and ad tracking get stricter.

• When choosing a survey app, look for targeting, branching logic, integrations, and ease of use.

• Setup takes 5 steps: install, create from a template, customize, publish (usually on the thank-you page), and track analytics.

What is a CSAT survey, and why should Shopify stores use one?

Before we get to the technical part about creating the survey, it's important to understand why merchants need a CSAT survey and why most of them use it. First, a customer satisfaction survey is a customer experience metric that measures how satisfied your customers are with a specific product, service interaction, or the whole experience. Usually, it's measured through a rating scale, which can be 1-5 stars or emojis, and it asks direct questions such as “How satisfied were you with your experience today?”

One of the many reasons merchants use surveys, and specifically CSAT surveys, is that they're a great way to collect zero-party data. Day by day, privacy laws and expensive ad tracking become a restriction when it comes to tracking data about your customers, and there is no better, cleaner, and more authentic way to get that information than directly from your customers.

It's also very useful to catch customers while their experience is fresh, because then you can solve issues immediately if they're quick ones. Even if it's not negative feedback, catching the first experience lets customers point out what worked best for them and what you should keep doing.

How to choose the right survey app for your Shopify store

There are many apps available to choose from, so pay attention to the features they offer and how easy they are for you to use. Here are the things to look into before you make the decision.

Targeting options

Surveys work in a way that customers give you their feedback, while what you give back in return is a much longer-term process they don't get to see immediately. So merchants need to capture all of the answers as productively as possible, which is why targeting is very important. Look for an app that gives you flexibility in how you target a specific group of customers (language, browser country, customer type, etc.).

Branching (conditional) logic

Branching logic is also part of this targeting flexibility. Conditional logic is a way to not only target a specific group of customers but also make the survey as relevant to them as possible, which helps you get the most accurate feedback.

Integrations and data export options

Look for an app that also provides a large range of integrations and data export options, because this is where you can segment your audience or sync this feedback into customer profiles and later decide where that data goes.

Ease of use and customization

And of course, look for the things that make it easier to work with the app, such as how intuitive the process is, how easily it integrates with Shopify, what publishing options there are, and whether you can customize it to your store specifically.

How to create a customer satisfaction survey in Shopify, step by step

One of the best options in the market for all kinds of surveys is the Apricot Survey app. It provides all the tools you'll need to create a survey. It comes with the conditional logic we mentioned before and can be highly targeted toward any customer type or group. This post-purchase app is also easy to use, since it provides pre-made templates that you can edit.

Here's how you can create a customer satisfaction survey step by step.

Step 1: Install the Apricot app

Just install Apricot from the Shopify App Store. Before you install the app, try Apricot's demo store to get an idea of what your survey can look like!

Step 2: Create the survey from the customer satisfaction template

Once you open the app, click “Create Survey,” and you'll see a set of templates pop up (you can also start from scratch). Choose Customer Satisfaction.

Step 3: Edit, customize, and configure the survey

Main survey dashboard

From here, the entire process is very easy. Click “Add Question” if you'd like to add another question. You can choose from a big selection of question types and can also add another question to the same page.

Edit everything that's visible on the screen, from labels to buttons. From the settings option, you can also configure extra settings such as required questions, randomization options, etc.

Outro page and branching

Edit the thank-you page of the survey as well, and you'll notice that the pre-made templates also come with branching logic activated, so you can make use of that too.

Styles & Settings tab

This is where you can customize your customer satisfaction survey to match your store. There are themes to choose from, but you can also design it manually yourself.

Integrations tab

This tab lets you connect your customer satisfaction survey to third-party tools for zero-party data segmentation and distribution.

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Step 4: Publish the survey (usually on the thank-you page)

There are many options to publish it with, which means you can target this survey at any point of your customer's journey. That's very important for getting as much feedback as possible. Usually, customer satisfaction surveys are published on the thank-you page after the purchase.

Step 5: Track results in the analytics tab

In the analytics tab on the left side of the menu bar, you can access all of the analytics for all of your surveys. There's a filter you can use to analyze your data by channel and date. In Apricot, you can also access question-level analytics, especially for customer satisfaction. You can see how high or low the score is and examine the whole survey question by question.

Frequently asked questions

Q: Do you need an app to create a CSAT survey on Shopify?

Yes, in most cases. Shopify doesn't include a native CSAT survey builder or star and emoji rating widgets for the thank-you page, so merchants use a survey app. Workarounds like emailing a Google Form exist, but they add manual work to collect and analyze the data.

Q: How is a CSAT score calculated?

The most common method: divide the number of satisfied responses (4 or 5 on a 5-point scale) by the total number of responses, then multiply by 100. For example, 80 satisfied responses out of 100 gives a CSAT score of 80%.

Q: What's the difference between CSAT and NPS?

CSAT measures satisfaction with one specific experience, such as a purchase or a support chat, usually on a 1-5 scale. NPS (Net Promoter Score) asks how likely a customer is to recommend your store on a 0-10 scale, so it measures overall loyalty rather than a single moment.

Q: When is the best time to send a CSAT survey?

Right after the experience you want to measure, while it's still fresh. For the buying experience, that's the thank-you page right after checkout. For product satisfaction, a follow-up after delivery works better, since customers can't judge a product they haven't received yet.

Q: What questions should a Shopify CSAT survey include?

Start with one core rating question, such as “How satisfied were you with your experience today?” Then add one or two follow-ups with branching logic: ask unhappy customers what went wrong and happy customers what they liked most. Short surveys get more completions.

Q: Turn every completed order into feedback you can act on

Implementing a customer satisfaction survey in your Shopify store is one of the most effective ways to bridge the gap between completed transactions and long-term customer loyalty. By capturing real-time feedback while the purchasing experience is still fresh, merchants gain direct insight into buyer sentiment, uncover actionable areas for improvement, and collect valuable zero-party data that bypasses modern privacy restrictions.

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Conclusion 

While setting up and launching a survey might initially feel complex, a specialized Shopify solution like the Apricot Survey app simplifies every phase, from installation and template selection to advanced conditional branching, app integrations, and analytics tracking. Ultimately, investing time into gathering and analysing customer feedback turns a one-time sale into an ongoing relationship, helping you continuously refine your store experience, tailor your product offerings, and build a more customer-centric brand.