Sales & Conversion
Personas
Ecommerce
Time to ROI
Short-term (< 3 months)
Last year, I was working on a complete website revamp for a Shopify e-commerce client. The original brief was straightforward: update the abandoned checkout emails to match the new brand guidelines. New colors, new fonts, done.
But as I opened the old template—with its product grid, discount codes, and "COMPLETE YOUR ORDER NOW" buttons—something felt off. This was exactly what every other e-commerce store was sending.
Here's what caught my attention: the client mentioned they were struggling with getting customer testimonials. You know the drill - your product works great, clients are happy in calls, but getting them to write it down? That's another story. Sound familiar?
Through conversations with the client, I discovered a critical pain point: customers were struggling with payment validation, especially with double authentication requirements. Rather than ignoring this friction, I addressed it head-on in the email—and something unexpected happened.
Here's what you'll learn:
Why I moved from Zapier to a more personal approach for review automation
The specific email framework that doubled our reply rates
How addressing customer problems beats pushy CTAs every time
A proven template you can adapt for your own store
When automation helps vs. when human touch wins
This isn't another "set it and forget it" automation guide. This is about building actual relationships with your customers while still scaling your review collection.
Industry Reality
What everyone tells you about review automation
If you've researched Shopify review automation, you've probably heard the same advice everywhere. The standard playbook goes something like this:
The Traditional Approach Everyone Recommends:
Install a review automation app - Set up triggers based on order completion
Create template emails - Use product grids and star ratings
Add incentives - Offer discounts for reviews
Automate everything - Send follow-ups at scheduled intervals
Track metrics - Monitor open rates and review submission rates
This advice exists because it works—to a degree. Automation does increase review volume compared to doing nothing. Apps like Yotpo, Judge.me, and various Zapier workflows can definitely generate more reviews than manual outreach.
Where This Falls Short:
The problem is that everyone's doing the exact same thing. Your customers are getting identical emails from every store they've purchased from. The templates look the same, the timing feels mechanical, and the messaging sounds like it came from a robot.
More importantly, traditional automation focuses on collecting reviews rather than solving customer problems. When you're only thinking about getting that 5-star rating, you miss opportunities to actually help your customers—which, ironically, leads to better reviews anyway.
The result? Average open rates, mediocre response rates, and reviews that feel transactional rather than genuine. You get reviews, but you don't build relationships.
Consider me as your business complice.
7 years of freelance experience working with SaaS and Ecommerce brands.
When I started this project, I was deep in the same automation mindset everyone else has. The client wanted their abandoned checkout emails updated, but they also mentioned struggling with customer testimonials and reviews.
My first instinct was to suggest the standard approach: set up a Zapier workflow connecting Shopify to their email platform, create template sequences, and automate the whole process. I even started mapping out the automation flow.
The Initial Setup (That I Almost Implemented):
I was planning a typical Zapier automation: Order completed → Wait 7 days → Send review request → Wait 3 days → Send follow-up. Clean, efficient, scalable. Everything you'd expect from a "proper" automation consultant.
But then something shifted my perspective completely.
The Conversation That Changed Everything:
During our review of the abandoned checkout emails, the client shared something crucial: "A lot of customers are having trouble with the payment validation. The double authentication keeps timing out, and people get frustrated."
This wasn't in any of the standard abandonment email templates I'd seen. Most focus on urgency, discounts, and social proof. None address actual customer problems during checkout.
That's when I realized: if we're not addressing real customer issues in our abandonment emails, why would we take the same generic approach with review requests?
The Realization:
Instead of asking "How can we automate review collection?" I started asking "How can we actually help our customers while also getting reviews?"
This led me to completely rethink the approach. Rather than building another impersonal automation, what if we created something that felt like it came from a real person who actually cared about solving problems?
Here's my playbook
What I ended up doing and the results.
Instead of implementing another Zapier automation, I decided to test something completely different: making the emails feel personal and helpful rather than automated and pushy.
The Framework I Developed:
Step 1: Ditch the Standard Template
I threw out the typical e-commerce review request template entirely. No product grids, no star rating buttons, no corporate branding. Instead, I created something that looked like a personal newsletter—the kind of email you might actually want to read.
Step 2: Write in First Person
The email came directly from the business owner, not from "The [Brand Name] Team." Every sentence was written as if the founder was personally reaching out to each customer.
Step 3: Address Real Problems First
Before asking for anything, I included a troubleshooting section addressing the payment validation issues customers were experiencing:
Payment authentication timing out? Try again with your bank app already open
Card declined? Double-check your billing ZIP code matches exactly
Still having issues? Just reply to this email—I'll help you personally
Step 4: Change the Subject Line Strategy
Instead of "Please review your recent purchase" or "How was your order?" I used: "You had started your order..."
This created curiosity without being pushy. It referenced their experience rather than demanding action.
Step 5: Make Replies Easy and Valuable
The email explicitly encouraged customers to reply with questions or issues. This wasn't just about reviews—it was about creating a conversation.
The Technical Implementation:
While the email felt personal, I still used automation for delivery timing and segmentation. The key was automating the sending while personalizing the content and making replies feel human.
I set up triggered emails in their existing email platform (no Zapier needed) that would send 5 days after order completion—long enough for customers to receive and use their products, but soon enough that the purchase was still fresh.
The Psychology Behind It:
This approach worked because it flipped the traditional relationship. Instead of asking customers to do something for us (leave a review), we were offering to help them first. When people feel helped, they naturally want to help back.
Key Strategy
Focus on helping before asking for anything
Platform Choice
Used existing email tools instead of complex Zapier workflows
Response Handling
Treated every reply as a customer service opportunity
Content Approach
Newsletter-style design instead of corporate templates
The impact went beyond just recovered carts and reviews—it completely transformed how customers interacted with the brand.
Immediate Results:
Email reply rates doubled compared to their previous abandoned cart sequence
Customers started asking questions instead of just abandoning orders
Some completed purchases after getting personalized help
Others shared specific checkout issues we could fix site-wide
The Unexpected Outcomes:
What surprised us most was that customers began treating the email as a customer service touchpoint rather than just a sales message. People replied with:
Technical questions about products
Shipping concerns
Product recommendations for friends
Genuine testimonials (without being asked directly)
The abandoned cart email became a relationship-building tool, not just a transaction recovery mechanism. And here's the thing—when people feel heard and helped, they naturally become advocates for your brand.
What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.
Sharing so you don't make them.
The Big Lesson: Sometimes the Best Strategy is Being Human
This experience taught me that in a world of automated, templated communications, the most powerful differentiation might just be sounding like an actual person who cares about solving problems—not just completing transactions.
Key Learnings:
Address problems before asking for favors - Help first, ask second
Personal beats perfect - Authentic voice trumps polished corporate messaging
Conversations beat conversions - Building relationships leads to better long-term results
Context matters more than timing - What you say is more important than when you say it
Customer service is marketing - Every support interaction is a branding opportunity
When This Approach Works Best:
When you have identified customer pain points
For brands with personal founder stories
When you can commit to responding to replies personally
For businesses that value relationships over pure transaction volume
What I'd Do Differently:
I'd implement this approach earlier in the customer journey, not just for abandoned carts. The same principles could work for welcome sequences, post-purchase follow-ups, and even marketing campaigns.
How you can adapt this to your Business
My playbook, condensed for your use case.
For your SaaS / Startup
Focus on solving customer onboarding issues in your email sequences
Use founder voice in automated emails rather than corporate messaging
Track reply rates and engagement, not just conversion metrics
Build customer service into your marketing automation strategy
For your Ecommerce store
Address common checkout and payment issues directly in your abandoned cart emails
Create personal, newsletter-style review requests instead of corporate templates
Use existing email platforms before adding complex Zapier workflows
Make customer support emails feel like relationship-building opportunities