How to ask for reviews by email
Set up a review request email for a Shopify store: time it after delivery, send it to every buyer, link straight to the review form, and keep incentives within FTC rules.
What this is for
Most buyers who liked a product never think to review it. A single, well-timed email after the parcel arrives changes that, and the reviews it brings in feed your product pages, your ads and your next email.
Review requests are also regulated. In the US, the FTC's rule on consumer reviews took effect in October 2024, and it covers how you ask and what you may offer in return. The steps below keep your request inside it. source, checked 28 September 2026
Time needed and what you need
Time needed: about 90 minutes. Connecting the review app and building the flow takes half an hour; writing the email and adding the review anchor to your product page take the rest.
- A reviews app on your Shopify store, such as Judge.me, REVIEWS.io or Klaviyo Reviews
- Klaviyo connected to Shopify, and to the reviews app if it has an integration
- Your typical delivery time, from order to doorstep, for the regions you ship to
- Access to edit your theme's product page code, for the review anchor
- The review platform's own rules on requests and incentives
The steps
1. Read your review platform's rules first
Where reviews end up decides what you may ask for. Some platforms ban incentivised reviews outright, even when disclosed; others allow them with a label. Check before you write a line of the email, because the answer changes step 7. source, checked 28 September 2026
2. Choose the trigger: fulfilled or delivered
Most review setups start the email when Shopify marks an order fulfilled and then wait for the parcel to arrive. If you use Klaviyo Reviews, you can start it on delivery instead, which removes the guesswork for late parcels. source, checked 28 September 2026
3. Set a delay longer than delivery plus first use
On a fulfilment trigger, set the delay longer than your slowest normal delivery. Then add the time a customer needs to try the product: a candle can be judged in a day, a serum in a few weeks. Klaviyo's example delay is two weeks. source, checked 28 September 2026
- Fast-use products (food, candles, stationery): shortly after delivery
- Products that need a few uses (skincare, supplements, shoes): two to four weeks after delivery
- Slow-judgement products (mattresses, cookware): a month or more
4. Start from Klaviyo's review flow template
In the flow library, search for the product review and cross-sell template. It already pulls in the products from the order, so each customer is asked about what they actually bought. source, checked 28 September 2026
5. Send it to every buyer, not just the happy ones
Do not filter the flow to customers you expect to be pleased, such as people who scored you highly in a survey, while leaving out everyone else. The FTC says so plainly. Send the request to every buyer and handle the unhappy replies well; that is what makes your reviews believable. source, checked 28 September 2026
6. Link straight to the review form
Customers cannot write the review inside the email, so every click has to land where the form is. Klaviyo's template links to a #reviews anchor on the product page. Add a matching anchor to your theme's product page code, next to the reviews section, so the click scrolls straight to it. source, checked 28 September 2026
7. Write a short email with one clear ask
Name the product, show its picture, and ask one question: how is it working for you? Add a line saying honest reviews help other customers choose, and that a problem is better sent to you directly so you can fix it. One button. No other products above the ask; save cross-sells for after it.
- Subject: "How are the linen napkins working out?"
- Button: "Write a review"
- Footer line: a reply address that reaches a person
8. If you offer an incentive, make it for any review
An incentive is allowed in the US as long as it is not tied, openly or by hint, to the review being positive, and the review says it was incentivised. "Tell us how much you loved it and get $5" is exactly the kind of wording the FTC calls out. source, checked 28 September 2026
If your review platform bans incentives, leave them out entirely; its rules apply on top of the law.
9. Test the whole path with a real order
Place an order on your own store, shorten the delay for the test, and check the email shows the right product, the button lands on the review form, and a submitted review appears in your app. Then restore the delay and set the flow live. Read the flow report after a month; the guide to reading a Klaviyo flow report shows where clicks and skips appear.
A worked example
For a kitchenware store shipping 1,500 orders a month
Worked example (an invented store, with invented numbers)
The store ships within the US in 3 to 6 days and triggers on fulfilment, so it sets a 14-day delay: up to 6 days in transit plus about a week of cooking with the pan.
All 1,500 buyers in a month get the request. 420 click through to the review form and 210 post a review: 150 five-star, 35 four-star, 12 three-star, 8 two-star and 5 one-star (150 + 35 + 12 + 8 + 5 = 210).
The new reviews average about 4.5 stars ((750 + 140 + 36 + 16 + 5) / 210 = 4.51). Support replies to all 13 one- and two-star reviewers within two days, and two of them turn out to be a warped lid that the store replaces.
Common mistakes
Sending the request before the parcel arrives. A review request for something still in a depot reads as careless and invites a one-star review about shipping. Time it from delivery, or from fulfilment plus your slowest normal transit. source, checked 28 September 2026
Wording an incentive so it hints at five stars. Phrases like "share how much you love it" next to a reward imply the review must be positive, which the FTC treats as a condition even when you did not say so outright. source, checked 28 September 2026
Asking staff, friends or family to leave reviews without disclosure. The FTC's guidance is that they must say who they are in the review, and many platforms remove such reviews anyway. source, checked 28 September 2026
Stacking three reminders. One request, and at most one gentle follow-up to people who did not click, is enough. More than that turns a thank-you into pressure.
Doing this with Tilly
Tilly's email marketing agent writes a review ask flow of 1 email, sent 14 days after the fulfilled order event. It never carries a discount, shows at most 4 products, and someone who has been through it can only enter again after 60 days.
It goes to Klaviyo as a draft flow with nothing switched on. If your products take longer to judge than two weeks, lengthen the delay in Klaviyo before you set it live. The review request flow page covers the copy in more depth.
Questions people ask
Is it legal to email every customer asking for a review?
Yes. Under the FTC's rule, a general request sent to all purchasers is fine, even if some of them turn out to be your employees and even if you offer the same incentive to everyone who reviews. source, checked 28 September 2026
Can I ask only the customers who rated us highly in a survey?
The FTC's rule has no specific ban on it, but the FTC says the practice could still violate the FTC Act. Send the request to all buyers instead. source, checked 28 September 2026
Which review apps work with Klaviyo?
Klaviyo can send review requests whichever reviews app you use, and it has direct integrations with several, including Judge.me and REVIEWS.io, plus its own Klaviyo Reviews. Once you have reviews, see turning reviews into ad copy. source, checked 28 September 2026
See this on your own store
Paste your store URL. The first pass takes about a minute and needs no account. Save a card (nothing is charged) and Tilly reads the whole store and works out who buys from you.