Setting up review collection from zero

Overview

This article walks you through setting up customer review collection in Vendably from the ground up. By the end, you will have review invitations going out automatically after each purchase, a public Trust profile that accumulates customer feedback, and a live review widget displaying on your storefront.

You do not need prior experience with review systems. This guide covers every step in order, from initial configuration through to live widget deployment.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, confirm you have the following in place:

• An active Vendably merchant account with at least one completed customer order available for testing.
• Owner or Admin access to your merchant account (invitation sending requires this role level).
• Access to your storefront code or a way to embed HTML snippets (needed for the widget).
• A CSV file with recent completed orders ready for bulk upload (optional but recommended for sending invitations at scale).

Step 1: Enable and publish your Trust profile

Before: Your Trust profile is inactive or unconfigured, and no reviews are visible to customers.

After: Your Trust profile is live and publicly accessible, ready to display customer reviews.

1. Log in to your Vendably merchant account.
2. Navigate to the Trust section from the main menu.
3. Select Trust profile settings.
4. Toggle the Trust profile to active.
5. Set the visibility to public so customers can access it via a shareable link.
6. Save your changes.

Your Trust profile now exists as a public page. No reviews appear yet, but the infrastructure is in place.

Step 2: Configure review invitation settings

Before: Review invitations have no schedule or default language set.

After: Invitations send automatically at the timing you specify, in the locale your customers expect.

1. In the Trust section, open invitation settings.
2. Set the invitation trigger timing. Choose how many days after purchase the first invitation should send (typically 3 to 7 days allows time for delivery and use).
3. Select your default locale for invitation emails. This ensures the invitation content matches your customer base.
4. Choose whether to send a single invitation or multiple reminders. Most merchants send one initial invitation and one reminder 7 days later.
5. Save your configuration.

These settings now apply to all future orders. Invitations will queue automatically when a customer order reaches the completed status.

Step 3: Send a test invitation manually

Before: You have not verified that invitations arrive in the inbox or that the review link works.

After: You have confirmed the email format, delivery, and the review submission link functions correctly.

1. In the invitation settings, locate the test invitation feature.
2. Enter your own email address.
3. Send the test invitation.
4. Check your inbox (and spam folder) for the email within 5 minutes.
5. Open the email and click the review submission link.
6. Verify that the link opens a review form and that you can submit a test review.
7. Return to the invitation dashboard and confirm the test invitation shows a delivered status.

If the email does not arrive, check that your email address is correct and review any firewall or email filter rules that might block Vendably.

Step 4: Bulk-upload completed orders to send invitations at scale

Before: Only new orders going forward will trigger invitations automatically. Your existing completed orders have no invitations queued.

After: Invitations are queued for all historical completed orders you upload, allowing you to collect reviews from your entire customer base.

1. Prepare a CSV file containing your recent completed orders. Include the following columns: customer email, order date, order ID, and customer name. Refer to the Vendably CSV format documentation for exact column headers.
2. In the Trust section, select bulk upload.
3. Upload your CSV file.
4. Vendably validates the file and shows a preview of the orders to be processed.
5. Confirm the upload. Invitations are now queued for each order according to your invitation timing settings.
6. Monitor the invitation dashboard to see invitations move through queued, sent, and completed states over the following hours and days.

This step is crucial for collecting reviews from customers who purchased before you configured the review system.

Step 5: Enable and configure the on-site review widget

Before: Your storefront does not display any review data or allow customers to leave reviews directly on your site.

After: A live widget on your storefront shows published reviews and allows customers to submit new reviews without leaving your store.

1. In the Trust section, navigate to widget settings.
2. Toggle the widget to active.
3. Set the allowed-origin domain to your storefront URL (for example, www.mystore.com). This restricts the widget to load only on your authorised domain for security.
4. Choose widget styling options such as colour scheme, star display format, and review count visibility to match your brand.
5. Copy the widget embed code provided by Vendably.
6. Save your widget configuration.

Step 6: Embed the widget on your storefront

Before: The widget code exists but is not yet live on any page.

After: The review widget displays on your storefront, showing live review data and accepting new submissions.

1. Access your storefront code or template editor (the method varies by platform: Shopify, custom HTML, WordPress, etc.).
2. Locate the page or section where you want the widget to appear (typically a product page, homepage, or dedicated reviews page).
3. Paste the widget embed code into the HTML at that location.
4. Save and publish your changes.
5. Visit your storefront in a browser and verify the widget displays correctly and shows any reviews already submitted.
6. Test the widget by clicking through to a review or attempting to submit a test review to confirm interactivity.

Checkpoint: What you should see

Once all steps are complete, verify the following:

• Invitation dashboard: The dashboard shows invitations moving through states. You should see queued invitations for orders you uploaded, sent invitations for orders that have reached the trigger date, and completed invitations from customers who received them.
• Trust profile: Your public Trust profile URL is accessible and displays any published reviews submitted by customers.
• Storefront widget: The review widget appears on your chosen storefront page and displays live review data. If reviews have been submitted, they appear in the widget with customer names, ratings, and review text.
• Automatic invitations: New orders placed after configuration should trigger invitations automatically at the timing you set.

If the widget does not display, check that the allowed-origin domain matches your storefront URL exactly and that the embed code is placed in the correct HTML location.

If invitations are not sending, confirm that your orders have a completed status and that at least the configured number of days have passed since purchase.

Next steps

With review collection now active, monitor your invitation dashboard weekly to track submission rates. Respond to reviews publicly on your Trust profile to build trust with future customers. Consider adjusting invitation timing or reminder frequency based on your submission rate over the first month.

For guidance on managing reviews at scale or automating responses, consult the Vendably support centre or your account manager.