Send a review request once the customer has had the product long enough to judge it: around 3–5 days after delivery for things used immediately, 1–2 weeks for products that need setup, and 2–4 weeks for anything that works over time, like skincare. Time it from a real delivery event, not the order date. Then treat "it hasn't arrived" or "haven't used it yet" replies as timing feedback.
Why "three days after the order" doesn't work
Because your products aren't all the same, and neither are your delivery times.
A tote bag can be judged the moment it comes out of the box. A self-assembly shelf needs a weekend. A serum needs a few weeks before anyone can tell you if it did anything. Send all three a request on the same day and you'll get premature reviews for two of them ("looks nice, haven't tried it yet, 4 stars"), or no reviews at all.
Delivery time varies too. If you ship domestically in two days and internationally in twelve, "seven days after the order" means "five days after delivery" for one customer and "before it arrived" for another.
Order date, fulfillment and delivery aren't the same
Three timestamps, three different meanings:
- Order date: when they paid. Tells you nothing about the product.
- Fulfillment date: when it left your warehouse. Better, but transit times vary.
- Delivery date: when they (probably) have it. This is what you want.
Check which one your review request uses today. If the workflow fires on fulfillment but the message says "now that your order has arrived", that's the first thing to fix, before you test any new delay.
If you can't get a reliable delivery event, use fulfillment plus your typical transit time for that shipping zone, and write the message so it doesn't claim delivery:
Hi {{1}}, your {{2}} should be with you by now. If it hasn't arrived, just reply and we'll check the tracking.
A review timing table by product type
Group your catalog into a few buckets rather than setting a delay for every product.
Product type | Examples |
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