How to Get Reviews on Shopify From Your Black Friday Buyers

Your best-selling product has two reviews. Visitors scroll down looking for someone who already bought it, find almost no one, and leave. And you're not going to make reviews up to fill the gap.

You don't need to. For many stores, Black Friday brings the biggest batch of buyers of the year, and every one of them can leave a real review once the parcel arrives.

Key takeaways

1. Reviews don't appear on their own. Many happy buyers never think to leave one unless you ask.
2. Ask after the order arrives, not right after checkout.
3. One product, one question, one tap. The shorter the ask, the more people answer.
4. Never buy, invent or filter reviews. A reward for reviewing is only allowed when it doesn't depend on what the review says.
5. Show the reviews you get where the next visitor decides: next to the add-to-cart button.

Why your best-seller has so few reviews

Plenty of happy customers never leave a review. They got the product, it works, and they moved on with their day. Nobody asked them.

Without a request, the only reviews you get come from people who felt strongly enough to write on their own. That's a small group, and not always a fair picture of your product.

That gap matters for a new visitor. The Spiegel Research Center at Northwestern found that a product with five reviews was 270% more likely to be bought than one with none (2017 study). You can read more on why reviews matter so much. This post is about how to get them.

When to ask: after delivery, not after checkout

The most common mistake is asking too early. A review request on the thank-you page, or in the order confirmation, reaches someone who hasn't seen the product yet. They have nothing to say.

Ask after the order arrives and they've had time to use it. How long depends on the product. A phone case is judged in a day; a skincare routine takes weeks.

Black Friday makes timing easy to plan. Your Black Friday orders tend to arrive close together. Set up the request now, and it goes out as the parcels land.

How to ask: one product, one question, one click

A review request should take less effort to answer than to ignore.

• One product. Name the item they bought, with its photo. Not "your recent order".
• One question. "How do you like your linen throw?" is easier to answer than a survey.
• One click. The stars should be in the email itself, or one tap away. Every extra step is a chance to give up.
• Every buyer, the same way. Ask everyone, not only the customers you expect to be happy.

The usual way to ask is an email. SmartrMail's guide to review request emails has examples from real stores and shows how to send one automatically to the customers you choose. New to SmartrMail? Install it from the Shopify App Store. Your reviews app also needs to be set up to receive the answers.

What never to do: incentives that break the rules, and fake reviews

In the US, the FTC's rule on consumer reviews and testimonials has been in force since October 21, 2024 (16 CFR Part 465). For a store asking for reviews, three of the things it bans matter most, as of October 2026:

1. Fake reviews. Writing, buying or posting reviews from people who don't exist or never used the product. That includes fake reviews generated by AI.
2. Paying for a particular opinion. Offering a discount or gift on the condition that the review is positive, or negative.
3. Hiding bad reviews. Using threats or intimidation to get a negative review taken down. Or presenting the reviews you show as all of them when the bad ones were held back.

What the rule doesn't ban is a reward with no strings on the opinion. "Leave a review and get 10% off your next order", offered to everyone, whatever they write, is a different thing from "leave a 5-star review".

Two more things to check before you add a reward. The FTC says that failing to disclose incentives could be a violation of the FTC Act, so let readers see which reviews were rewarded. And your reviews app may have its own rules on incentives.

Where reviews work hardest: next to the add-to-cart button

A review on a page nobody visits doesn't help anyone. The place a review earns its keep is the product page, right where a visitor is deciding whether to add to cart.

The Spiegel study also found that purchase likelihood peaks for products rated between 4.0 and 4.7 stars (2017). A few honest four-star reviews don't hurt you. They make the five-star ones believable.

SalesPop doesn't collect reviews. It shows the real ones you already have as a small Pop on the page, while the visitor is looking at the product. Reviews can sync from Judge.me, come in from a spreadsheet, or be added one by one. Each one added by hand has to be marked as authentic.

So the Black Friday buyer who answered your email in December becomes the proof that the next visitor sees in January. Your first Pop is live in about a minute, with no code. SalesPop has 4.7 stars on the Shopify App Store, as of October 2026. You can compare what each plan includes on the SalesPop plans page.

FAQ

How do I get my first reviews on Shopify?

Install a reviews app and ask every buyer by email, once their order has arrived and they've had time to use it. Start with your best-selling product, because it gets the most visitors. Never post reviews written by you, your staff or your family. Under the FTC's rule, a review from someone close to the business has to clearly disclose that connection.

Can I offer a discount for a review?

Under the FTC's rule, as of October 2026, an incentive isn't banned on its own. What's banned is an incentive that depends, openly or by implication, on the review being positive or negative. Offer the same reward to everyone who reviews, whatever they say, and make it visible that the review was rewarded. Check your reviews app's own policy too. This is not legal advice.

How long after purchase should I ask for a review?

After delivery, not after purchase. Give buyers enough time to use the product first. Something simple can be judged in a day or two; products that take longer to show results need a longer wait.

The short version

Reviews aren't invented. They're asked for. And the best time to ask is right after Black Friday, when a big batch of real buyers has your product in hand.

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