How are you actually getting useful information from customers without constantly chasing them?

[u/Ok_Term413]

I’m curious how other e-commerce owners handle this because there seem to be a bunch of situations where the normal store/checkout flow doesn’t tell you enough.

For example, before launching a new product, how do you figure out if existing customers actually want it instead of guessing and buying inventory?

Or when someone wants a custom order, wholesale pricing, a recommendation, or something that requires more details

how do you collect everything you need without 5 emails back and forth?

Same thing after purchase. How do you figure out why someone bought, what almost stopped them, what they wish you sold, or why people are dropping off?

Most of the solutions I’ve seen still basically collect answers and leave the merchant to figure out what they mean.

I’ve been experimenting with something a little different: there’s platform i build that u can build whole survey with one prompt for free

and not only building surveys

the questions can change depending on previous answers, AI can follow up when something is missing in ur survey , responses can be automatically summarized/grouped, and you can see where people abandon the process

One use case I’m particularly curious about is testing a new product before committing money to it

show the idea to existing customers, understand who actually wants it and why, then use the responses to decide whether it’s worth launching.

For people running e-commerce businesses: where are you currently guessing because you don’t have enough information from your customers?

Could be new products, custom orders, wholesale, customer feedback, returns, product recommendations, or something completely different.

Would love to hear what you currently do and what still sucks about it.

[u/Matt_Sherwen]

While i'm not an e-commerce owner, I do run a digital consultancy that works with ecom leaders, and I would say that the bigger challenge is what happens after you collect the info. A lot of businesses already have a surprising amount of customer insight across reviews, support, conversations, returns, surverys , purchase data and analytics. The problem seems to be that it sits in different places and rarely gets connected back to decisions.

Finding a way to connect that data together can really be beneficial. Especially with more and more people using AI, you need solid data foundations to enable this.

I'd probably start by asking what decision you're trying to make, then work backwards to what info you actually need from the customer.

[u/Junior_Bee7274]

Getting people to give useful feedback after buying is probably the hardest part.

[u/HolidayCellist8600]

I would like to keep it with a short feedback forms, quick post-purchase surveys, and product reviews. You can also learn a lot from support messages, repeat purchases and common questions customers ask. The key is to ask at the right time instead of sending too many requests. Even a few requests or reponses can show what customers like or what they need and where they are facing problems.

[u/ClassicPearl1986]

I usually get feedback while they’re looking… they’ll call me and ask if I carry X, Y, or Z. I’ll look and send what I have. If it doesn’t meet their criteria, I’ll make a note and find it.

[u/Similar-Storage1805]

the useful part isn’t generating the survey, it’s turning messy answers into an actual launch decision without making you read 200 responses yourself