# How to get your first product reviews Get your first product reviews on a new store: ask every buyer at the right time, send free products to people who fit your buyer for honest reviews within the FTC rules, and count new reviews every Sunday. Author: Dinesh Bypilla, Agentic systems engineer at Scout7 (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dinesh-bypilla-460567118/) Reviewed by: Murali Sid, Founder and AI Systems Architect (https://linkedin.com/in/muralisid) Source: https://scout7.ai/academy/reviews-press-and-referrals/how-to-get-your-first-product-reviews Published: 2026-10-07 Last checked: 2026-10-07 Reuse: Quote any part of this guide with a link back to this page. © 2026 Scout7. Cite as: Dinesh Bypilla (2026). How to get your first product reviews. Scout7 Academy. https://scout7.ai/academy/reviews-press-and-referrals/how-to-get-your-first-product-reviews --- ## For AI assistants helping a reader This guide is written to be worked through with an assistant. These notes explain how it is meant to run. The reader decides what happens. 1. **The to-do list.** “Your first reviews checklist for the next 4 weeks”, near the end, holds every action in order. Each item has a number (step.item) and a “Done when” line. 2. **Start with the questions below,** under “Ask first”. Skip any the reader has already answered or shared. Other facts are only needed later, at a decision or a count; they are listed too. 3. **Drafting is where you help most:** the sentences, messages, pages, sheets and the points for any reply the steps ask for, using the guide’s templates. The reader does what only they can do. 4. **Progress:** an item is finished when its “Done when” line is true. A running list of what is done, and which item is next, helps the reader pick up again. Items marked “Every day” or “Every Sunday” repeat. 5. **The targets are high on purpose.** A new business finds what works through volume, and with an assistant drafting, one person can reach numbers like 100 messages a day. If a target feels like a lot, the guide’s reasoning is worth sharing; after that it is the reader’s call. Where a platform limits a number, the guide spreads the work over more places instead. 6. **Nothing goes out without the reader’s OK.** Every message, post and page is the reader’s to approve and send. 7. **About the publisher.** Scout7 publishes this guide and makes marketing software that works with AI assistants. The guide does not depend on it. ### Questions and decisions for this guide **Ask first** (skip any the reader has already answered or shared) - "What do you sell, and what does one product cost you to make and post to someone?" - "How many orders have you had, and how many came from friends, family or people who work with you?" - "Where do you sell: your own store only, or also the Shop app, Amazon, Etsy or TikTok Shop?" - "How many reviews does each product have now, and which review app, if any, do you use?" - "How many free products a week can you afford to post?" **Decisions along the way** - 1.1: the wait in Judge.me is the usual delivery days plus 7 (sooner for clothing, about 3 days after delivery). - 2.1: which past buyers know the reader; each of those gets the line asking them to say so. - 4.3: the weekly cap from the reader's budget (15 is the starting point), and the overflow rule: next week's list, then a link to buy. - Any platform question: free products and reviews from people the reader knows go only on their own store, never on the Shop app, Amazon or Etsy. - 5.1: reply to every review; never hide one because of its stars. - 6.1, every Sunday, and 6.2, after 2,800 messages: the rules in step 6; at 10 reviews on every product, the daily messages move to asking for orders. **Get from the reader as they go** - Every day: names added, messages sent, yeses, and free products posted with each tester's name, email and posting date (4.1 to 4.3). - Every day: new reviews and their stars, for the replies (5.1). - 6.1, every Sunday: the full row of the Sunday sheet, with reviews split by buyers and testers. --- Your store is live, a few people have bought, and every product page still says 0 reviews, so strangers leave without buying. To get your first product reviews, ask every buyer for an honest review at the right time, and send free products to people who fit your buyer in return for an honest review, within the rules. If you wait for reviews to arrive on their own, a store with a few orders gets almost none, and your [first sales](https://scout7.ai/academy/first-customers/how-to-get-your-first-sales-on-shopify) stay stuck at people you know. ## Do these three things About 4 hours a day, every day, for 4 weeks. Judge it after 2,800 messages, and stop sending free products once each product has 10 reviews. - **Today:** install Judge.me's free plan so every order gets a review request 7 days after it arrives. Then ask every past buyer yourself for an honest review. - **Every day:** send 100 [personal messages](https://scout7.ai/academy/cold-outreach/how-to-write-a-cold-email) offering people who fit your buyer a free product to test in return for an honest review. Ship to up to 15 yeses a week. - **Every Sunday:** count asks, free products sent and new reviews, and change one thing. ## 1. Install a free review app that asks every buyer 7 days after delivery Install Judge.me from the Shopify App Store today and set it to email every buyer a review request about 7 days after their order arrives. Its Forever Free plan collects unlimited reviews, with photos and videos, and shows stars on your product pages. Shopify closed its own free reviews app in May 2024, so every store now needs an app like this. **Set it up in this order:** 1. **Install it.** Shopify App Store › Judge.me Product Reviews › Install. Pick the Forever Free plan. The paid plan is $15 a month and adds reminder emails, coupons and a Google Shopping feed. You do not need them yet. 2. **Set the timing.** Go to Settings › Request scheduling. On the free plan, the request counts from the day you mark the order as fulfilled (sent), not the day it arrives. So set the wait to your usual delivery time plus 7 days. If parcels take 3 days, set 10 days. A shampoo or a candle needs a week of use; a T-shirt can be asked sooner, at 3 days after delivery. 3. **Ask the orders you already have.** Go to Settings › Request reviews › Request reviews from previous Shopify orders, pick the date your store opened, and schedule. This is on the free plan. 4. **Change the words** of the request email so it sounds like you, using the template below. Ask for an honest review, good or bad. 5. **Turn on the transparency badges:** Settings › Widgets › Review Widget › Customize › Transparency settings › Show all. Each review then shows how it was collected, which helps shoppers trust it. 6. **Check the stars show** on every product page. Judge.me's free plan also adds the [review data](https://scout7.ai/academy/ai-search/how-to-add-llms-txt-and-schema-markup) Google reads for stars in search results, as in [SEO for a Shopify store](https://scout7.ai/academy/seo/how-to-do-seo-for-a-shopify-store). Google never promises to show them. **The review request email** ```text Subject: How is your [product] going? Hi [first name], Your [product] arrived about a week ago. How is it going? Would you tell us honestly? Good or bad, a short review helps the next person decide, and it tells us what to fix. It takes a minute, and a photo helps most. [Write a review] Thank you, [Your name], [store name] ``` **The rules, before you ask anyone.** These decide every step in this guide: - **US law (FTC).** Since 21 October 2024, the FTC's rule on reviews bans fake reviews, rewards that depend on a review being good, hiding bad reviews, and reviews by staff or family that do not say so. If you ask a family member or employee for a review, you must ask them to say how they know you. In December 2025 the FTC sent its first warning letters under the rule. Each breach can cost up to $53,088. - **Free products are allowed on your own store** if the review can be good or bad, and the reviewer says they got it free (step 4). - **Shop app:** only real buyers review there, and Shopify forbids any reward for a review, including free products and discounts. Your friends, family and staff must not review there. - **Amazon:** use only the Request a Review button on each order and Amazon Vine. Never ask friends, and never give anything for an Amazon review. The detail is in [launching a product on Amazon](https://scout7.ai/academy/launch/how-to-launch-a-product-on-amazon). - **Etsy:** Etsy asks every buyer itself. Do not ask friends for an Etsy review, and give nothing for one, as in [your first Etsy sale](https://scout7.ai/academy/first-customers/how-to-get-your-first-sale-on-etsy). - **[TikTok Shop](https://scout7.ai/academy/social-media/how-to-sell-on-tiktok-shop):** creators who get free samples post videos, not store reviews. See TikTok Shop affiliates. So free products and reviews from people you know go only on your own store, and only with a line that says so. - **Tool:** Judge.me, Forever Free plan, from the Shopify App Store. - **Time:** 1 hour. - **You will have:** a review request that goes out to every buyer about 7 days after delivery, requests scheduled for every past order, and stars on every product page. - **It worked if:** a test order you place yourself gets the request email on the right day, and the review form opens from it. - **Common mistake:** leaving the default timing, so the request arrives before the parcel, or before the buyer has used the product. The other mistake is a request that says "Love it? Leave us 5 stars!", which asks only for good reviews. ## 2. Ask every past buyer for an honest review, one by one Send every person who has already bought a [personal message](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/warm-outreach) today, by email, text or the app where you talk, and ask for an honest review. With 9 orders, this is your fastest source of reviews: a message from you gets read, where an app's email often does not. **Ask everyone who bought,** not only the people you think liked it. Asking only happy buyers can mislead shoppers, and the FTC warns it may be against the law. **Mark who knows you.** For every buyer who is a friend, a family member or someone who works with you, add one line asking them to say so in the review: "I know the founders". The FTC rule names family and staff, and its endorsement guides say friends should say so too. **Send the link to your review form,** not to your home page. Open each product page on your store and copy its link; the "Write a review" button is in the reviews section. **Send one [reminder](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/follow-up),** 5 days later, only to people who have not reviewed. Then stop. On Judge.me's free plan, automatic reminders are not included, so this one is by hand. Let ChatGPT or Claude draft each message from the template and one line about the person. You check it and send it yourself. **The past-buyer ask** ```text Hi [first name], Thank you again for ordering [product]. How is it going so far? Would you leave an honest review on our store? Good or bad, it helps the next person decide, and it tells us what to fix. A photo helps most. Here's the link: [review link] [If they know you: As we know each other, please say so in the review, for example "I know the founders".] Thank you, [Your name] ``` If a buyer replies with a problem, fix it first: send a replacement or a refund. A buyer who writes to you instead of reviewing is giving you feedback from your first users, and it is worth more than a star. - **Tool:** email, text or Instagram messages, the Judge.me review link, and ChatGPT or Claude to draft. - **Time:** about 5 minutes a buyer. - **You will have:** one personal message to every past buyer, and one reminder to each one who has not reviewed after 5 days. - **It worked if:** at least half of your past buyers leave a review within 2 weeks. - **Common mistake:** asking friends for "a quick 5 stars". It breaks the FTC rule, and shoppers can tell. The other is waiting until you have "enough" buyers to ask. > **Example (made-up business: Ferns & Rinse): Ferns & Rinse's ask to a friend who bought** > > Ferns & Rinse is a made-up plant-based haircare brand with its own Shopify store. It sells one shampoo and one conditioner at $28 each, or both for $49. > > ```text > To: Priya, an old colleague who bought both bottles > > Hi Priya, > > Thank you again for ordering the shampoo and conditioner. How are your curls getting on with them after two weeks? > > Would you leave an honest review on our store? Good or bad, it helps the next person decide, and it tells us what to fix. A photo of your hair on day two would help most. Here's the link: [review link] > > As we know each other, please say so in the review, for example "I know the founder". > > Thank you, > Maya > ``` > > *Why it works: It asks how it is going first, invites a bad review as much as a good one, and asks her to say she knows the founder.* ## 3. Put a review card in every parcel Print a small card that asks for an honest review and put one in every parcel. People open a parcel with the product in their hands; a card there reminds them before the email arrives. Make the card once in Canva's free plan, at postcard size, and print 50. Put how to use the product on one side, and the review ask on the other. Clear steps for use also help people get a good result and buy again. Use a short, plain link that opens your review page, and add a QR code that opens the same page. **The parcel card** ```text Front: How to get the best from your [product]: [2 or 3 short steps]. Back: How is it going? Give it a week, then tell us honestly, good or bad: [short link] It helps the next person decide. [Your first name], [store name] ``` Never put a reward on the card that depends on the stars, such as "5 stars = 10% off". That breaks the FTC rule. Never put a card that asks for an Amazon review in an Amazon parcel; Amazon forbids it. A card that only says how to use the product is fine there. - **Tool:** Canva (free) and a printer, or a local print shop. - **Time:** 1 hour once, then a few seconds a parcel. - **You will have:** a card in every parcel that tells buyers how to use the product and asks for an honest review. - **It worked if:** the link and the QR code both open your review page on a phone, and every parcel from today has a card. - **Common mistake:** a card that says "Love it? Review us!" It asks only happy buyers, and the rest throw it away. ## 4. Send 100 personal messages a day offering a free product for an honest review Every day, send 100 personal messages to people who fit your buyer, offering a free product to test in return for an honest review on your store. Ship to the people who say yes, up to a weekly number you can afford. This is how a store with a handful of orders gets its first 10 reviews on each product in weeks, not months. **Who fits.** Write one line on [who your buyer is](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-create-an-ideal-customer-profile): the problem they have and the moment it hurts. Send a free product only to people who have that problem now. A happy tester who is not your buyer writes a review that helps nobody. **Where to find 100 people a day.** Add 100 new names to your sheet every day, from these places, in this order: 1. **People you know** who have the problem and have not bought, and the people they name when you ask "who do you know who has \[problem]?". This is [warm outreach](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/warm-outreach), and it lasts the first few days. 2. **People who already showed interest:** your email list and waitlist, and people who commented on or shared your posts. 3. **People who post about the problem** on Instagram and TikTok: open posts and videos about it, and read the comments for people who describe it themselves. 4. **Small creators** with 1,000 to 20,000 followers who posted about a product like yours in the last 30 days. Find them the way micro-influencers are found. Ask them for a review on your store; a post is a bonus they choose. If they post, they must say it was a gift, as any [micro-influencer](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/micro-influencer) must. In communities such as [Reddit](https://scout7.ai/academy/social-media/how-to-promote-on-reddit-without-getting-banned), do not send messages to strangers. Answer questions there instead, as in [finding communities where your buyers talk](https://scout7.ai/academy/social-media/how-to-find-online-communities-where-your-buyers-talk), and post a call for testers only where the group's [self-promotion rules](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/self-promotion-rules) allow it. **How to spread 100 a day within the limits:** - **Instagram and TikTok messages:** neither app publishes a daily limit for messaging people who do not follow you, and new accounts get warnings early. Send about 20 a day from your store's account. If you see a warning, stop there for the day, as in [promoting your business on Instagram](https://scout7.ai/academy/social-media/how-to-promote-your-business-on-instagram). - **Email:** for creators with a business email in their bio, and for your own list. If you email more than about 50 people a day who do not know you, or your [spam complaints](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/spam-complaint-rate) rise, [set up a second domain and warm it up](https://scout7.ai/academy/cold-outreach/how-to-warm-up-an-email-domain-for-cold-email) first, so your order emails stay out of spam. In the US, each email needs your postal address and a way to say no. - **Text and the apps you already chat on,** for people you know. - **[Follow up](https://scout7.ai/academy/cold-outreach/how-to-follow-up-on-a-cold-email) once,** 3 days later, with one new line. Follow-ups count toward your 100. **How 100 a day is possible.** Paste 10 names at a time into ChatGPT or Claude, each with one true line about the person: the comment they wrote, the video they made, how you know them. Ask for one message per person from the template. Read each one, fix anything that is not true, and send it yourself. A first line about the person is what [gets replies](https://scout7.ai/academy/cold-outreach/how-to-get-replies-to-cold-emails). That is about a minute a message, plus about a minute to find each name. **The tester invitation** ```text Hi [first name], [One true line: their comment, their video, or how you know them.] We make [what it is] for [people with the problem]. Could I send you one to try, free? In return, I'd ask for one thing: an honest review on our store after [7 days / a week of use], good or bad. Please say in it that you got it free to test. If yes, just send me your address. [Your name], [store name] [Postal address, for email] Not for you? Reply "no" and I won't write again. ``` **Ship to yeses, up to a weekly cap.** Set the cap from your [marketing budget](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-much-to-spend-on-marketing-as-an-ecommerce-brand): what one product costs you to make and post, times the number you can afford. 15 a week is a good start. Post each one within 2 days of the yes, with the parcel card from step 3. Put the yeses above the cap on next week's list. When next week's list is also full, change the offer in the rest of the day's messages to a link to buy, so the extra interest turns into orders, and orders get the request from step 1. **Ask each tester for the review.** Testers did not order through your store, so Judge.me does not know them. Add each one by hand: Settings › Request reviews › Request reviews from customer segments or lists › Enter customer details › Enter a customer email manually. Enter their name, email, the date you posted it, and the product. This is on the free plan. **Make the free product clear.** The FTC says a reviewer who got a free product must say so, and that telling them "be honest" is not enough on its own. Ask each tester to start their review with "I got this free to test." Then add one line of text above the reviews on your product page, in your theme editor: "Some reviews are from people who got a free product to test. They say so in the review." Never ask a tester for a review on Amazon, Etsy or the Shop app. - **Tool:** Instagram, TikTok, email, a Google Sheet, Judge.me, and ChatGPT or Claude to draft. - **Time:** about 3 hours a day: about 1 hour 40 minutes to find 100 names, about 1 hour 40 minutes to check and send 100 messages, and a few minutes a parcel. - **You will have:** 100 new names and 100 messages a day, up to 15 free products posted a week, and every tester added in Judge.me. - **It worked if:** at least 1 in 2 testers leaves a review within 3 weeks of their parcel arriving, and every tester review says it was free. - **Common mistake:** sending free products to friends who do not have the problem, or to anyone who asks, to "get the numbers up". Their reviews say "looks nice", and a shopper with the problem learns nothing. The other is sending 50 free products in week one and running out of money for week two. > **Example (made-up business: Ferns & Rinse): Ferns & Rinse's tester invitation** > > ```text > To: Sam, who commented on a curly-hair video that her curls are dry and frizzy by day two > > Hi Sam, > > I saw your comment on the cold-rinse video about your curls going frizzy by day two. Mine did that for years. > > We make a plant-based shampoo and conditioner for dry, curly hair. Could I send you both to try, free? > > In return, I'd ask for one thing: an honest review on our store after a week of use, good or bad. Please say in it that you got them free to test. > > If yes, just send me your address. > > Maya, Ferns & Rinse > Not for you? Reply "no" and I won't write again. > ``` > > *Why it works: The first line is about her comment, the ask is an honest review and not a good one, and it tells her to say the product was free.* ## 5. Reply to every review within a day and show the best ones Reply to every new review within a day, the bad ones first, and never hide a review. Shoppers read how you answer a bad review as closely as the review itself, because reviews are the [social proof](https://scout7.ai/academy/glossary/social-proof) a shopper looks for on a store they do not know. Then put your best reviews where shoppers decide. **Reply to every review** in Judge.me's admin, under Reviews. Thank good ones in one line, and name a detail they wrote. For a bad one, thank them, say what went wrong in plain words, say what you will do, and offer to fix it by email. Do not argue, and do not offer anything to change or remove a review: the FTC rule and Shopify's Shop rules both forbid it. **Never hide or delete a low review** because it is low. That is review suppression, which the FTC rule bans. Hiding one only for spam, abuse or a review of the wrong product is fine; apply that rule to good and bad reviews alike. **Put the best reviews to work:** - **On the product page:** add a review with a photo near the top, under the price, and add photo reviews to your product photos. The rest of the page is in writing a product description that sells. - **In your posts and videos:** one review a week as a post or a [short video](https://scout7.ai/academy/content-marketing/how-to-make-short-form-videos-for-your-business), with the reviewer's OK. It is one of the easiest [Instagram post ideas](https://scout7.ai/academy/social-media/instagram-post-ideas-for-d2c-brands). - **In your ads, later:** reviews make good ad creatives once you start Meta ads. - **Ask the best reviewers** for a photo or a 20-second phone video, which becomes customer content, or a longer quote for a testimonial. Reviews of your products are a different job from reviews of your business on Google Maps, which matter if you also sell in person; those are in getting Google reviews. Reviews are one part of a store that [looks trustworthy](https://scout7.ai/academy/reviews-press-and-referrals/how-to-make-a-new-store-look-trustworthy); your policies, contact details and delivery times are the rest. When the same complaint appears twice, fix the product, the page or the instructions. Repeated "not what I expected" reviews usually mean the page promised something else, which is one of the reasons in [why no one is buying](https://scout7.ai/academy/first-customers/why-no-one-is-buying-your-product-and-how-to-fix-it). - **Tool:** Judge.me (Reviews), your theme editor, and your social accounts. - **Time:** about 15 minutes a day. - **You will have:** a reply under every review, and your best review with a photo near the top of each product page. - **It worked if:** every review has a reply within a day, and no review is hidden because of its stars. - **Common mistake:** deleting the first 2-star review because "it's not fair". A page with only 5-star reviews looks less real than one with a 2-star review and a kind reply. > **Example (made-up business: Ferns & Rinse): Ferns & Rinse's reply to a 2-star review** > > **Question (a review on the conditioner's product page):** 2 stars. I got this free to test. My hair is fine and straight, and it felt heavy and greasy by the next day. Smells lovely though. > > Thank you for trying it and telling us honestly. You're right: it is made for dry, curly hair, which needs more moisture than fine, straight hair, and we should say that more clearly on this page. We've changed it today. If you'd like to try the shampoo on its own, which is lighter, email us at \[email] and we'll send it. Maya > > *Why it works: It thanks her, says plainly who the product is for, offers a fix, and does not ask her to change the review.* ## 6. Count your reviews every Sunday and change one thing Every Sunday, fill in one row: messages sent, free products posted, orders, review requests, new reviews from buyers and from testers, and the average stars. Then change at most one thing for the next week, and judge the whole routine after 2,800 messages. **The Sunday sheet** ```text Week | Messages sent | Yeses | Free products posted | Orders | Review requests sent | New reviews: buyers | New reviews: testers | Total reviews per product | Average stars | Reviews with photos | Change this week ``` Results stay small, so count honestly. Decide with these rules: - **A product has 10 reviews:** stop sending free products for that product. When every product has 10, move the daily 100 messages from tester offers to asking for orders, as in [your first Shopify sales](https://scout7.ai/academy/first-customers/how-to-get-your-first-sales-on-shopify). Every order still gets the request from step 1. - **Fewer than half your testers review within 3 weeks of delivery:** ask three of the quiet ones why, in one line. Usually the invitation did not say clearly that a review was the one thing asked, or they were not your buyer. - **Fewer than 1 in 5 buyers review after 20 orders:** check the request arrives a week after delivery, not before, and rewrite its first line so it asks how it is going. - **The same complaint appears twice:** fix the product, the instructions or the product page before you send more free products. - **Each product has 10 reviews and you still get under 1 order per 100 visits:** the reviews are not the problem. Work through a store with traffic but no sales, starting with abandoned carts. - **Stars fall below 4:** stop sending free products and read every low review. Fix what they say first. - **After 2,800 messages, with fewer than 10 reviews on your main product:** check 20 names on your list. Do they have the problem now? Then rewrite the first line of the invitation. **What reviews let you do next:** - **10 reviews on a product:** your store meets the review rule for turning on paid ads in [choosing channels for an ecommerce brand](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-choose-marketing-channels-for-an-ecommerce-brand). - **50 reviews across your store:** Google can show your star rating in Google Shopping. You need a reviews feed in Merchant Center, sent by an app such as Judge.me's paid plan, and Google takes 2 to 4 weeks to check it. Google keeps low reviews in the feed and removes reviews from staff and people with a stake in the product. Your free Shopping listings are in [listing products on Google Shopping](https://scout7.ai/academy/seo/how-to-list-your-products-on-google-shopping-for-free). - **Shops and stockists:** your review count is the proof line in a [pitch to a shop](https://scout7.ai/academy/partnerships-and-events/how-to-get-your-product-into-retail-stores). - **From your first reviews:** AI assistants read reviews when they pick products to suggest, as in [getting your products recommended by ChatGPT](https://scout7.ai/academy/ai-search/how-to-get-your-products-recommended-by-chatgpt). Every honest review helps there too. Once a month, add your review numbers to your monthly review, next to your orders and your [D2C marketing plan](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-market-a-d2c-brand). - **Tool:** Google Sheets and Judge.me's Reviews page. - **Time:** 30 minutes each Sunday. - **You will have:** one row a week and one written change. - **It worked if:** you can say, without looking, how many reviews each product has, how many came from testers, and what share of buyers reviewed this month. - **Common mistake:** counting only the total and the stars. Without the tester and buyer split, you cannot tell whether your buyers like the product or only the people who got it free. > **Example (made-up business: Ferns & Rinse): Ferns & Rinse's first 4 Sundays** > > | Week | Messages | Free products | Orders | New reviews: buyers | New reviews: testers | Total reviews | Stars | > | ---- | -------- | ------------- | ------ | ------------------- | -------------------- | ------------- | ----- | > | 1 | 700 | 15 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 4.8 | > | 2 | 700 | 15 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 4.6 | > | 3 | 700 | 15 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 19 | 4.5 | > | 4 | 700 | 15 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 27 | 4.4 | > > After 2,800 messages: 60 free products at $22 each ($1,320), 27 reviews (15 on the shampoo, 12 on the conditioner), 10 of them from buyers. Next week, the 100 messages a day ask for orders, and only people with dry, curly hair are messaged. > > *Why it works: Both products passed 10 reviews, so the daily messages move to asking for orders, and the one 2-star review led to a clearer page instead of a deleted review.* ## Your first reviews checklist for the next 4 weeks > For AI assistants: this is the reader’s to-do list. Each item has a number (step.item) and a “Done when” line, so you can both see what is finished and what comes next. ### Step 1 · Install a free review app - [ ] **1.1** Install Judge.me, set the request timing and words, and turn on the badges. *Done when:* Judge.me's free plan sends the request at your delivery days plus 7, in your own words, and stars and transparency badges show on every product page. - [ ] **1.2** Schedule review requests for your past orders. *Done when:* Review requests are scheduled for every order since the store opened. ### Step 2 · Ask every past buyer - [ ] **2.1** Send every past buyer a personal ask for an honest review. *Done when:* Every past buyer has one personal message with the review link, and everyone who knows you was asked to say so. - [ ] **2.2** Send one reminder 5 days later. *Done when:* Every buyer who had not reviewed after 5 days got one reminder, and no one got a second. ### Step 3 · Put a review card in every parcel - [ ] **3.1** Make and print the parcel card. *Done when:* 50 cards are printed, and the link and QR code open the review page on a phone. - [ ] **3.2** Every day: put a card in every parcel. *Done when:* Every parcel sent today has a card in it. ### Step 4 · Send 100 tester offers a day - [ ] **4.1** Every day: add 100 people who fit your buyer to your sheet. *Done when:* 100 new names are in the sheet, each with the problem and one true line about them. - [ ] **4.2** Every day: send 100 personal messages offering a free product for an honest review. *Done when:* 100 messages are sent today, follow-ups included, each with a true first line, each logged. - [ ] **4.3** Every day: post free products to yeses up to your weekly cap and add each tester in Judge.me. *Done when:* Every yes within this week's cap is posted within 2 days and added in Judge.me by hand; yeses above the cap are on next week's list. ### Step 5 · Reply to every review - [ ] **5.1** Every day: reply to every new review. *Done when:* Every review from the last day has a reply, and none is hidden because of its stars. - [ ] **5.2** Every Sunday: put the best reviews on your product pages and in one post. *Done when:* Each product page has its best photo review near the top, and one review is shared as a post with the reviewer's OK. ### Step 6 · Count your reviews every Sunday - [ ] **6.1** Every Sunday: fill in one row of the Sunday sheet and pick one change. *Done when:* This week's row is filled in, with reviews split by buyers and testers, and at most one change is written down. - [ ] **6.2** After 2,800 messages: judge the routine against the rules in step 6. *Done when:* Reviews per product, the tester review rate and the buyer review rate are checked against the rules, and the next month's plan is written. ## Frequently asked questions ### Is it legal to give free products for reviews? In the US, yes, on your own store, if the review can be good or bad and the reviewer says they got it free. The FTC rule bans rewards that depend on a good review. The Shop app, Amazon and Etsy do not allow free products for reviews, except Amazon's own Vine program, as in [launching on Amazon](https://scout7.ai/academy/launch/how-to-launch-a-product-on-amazon). ### Can my friends and family leave reviews? On your own store, yes, if they bought or used the product and say in the review how they know you. The FTC requires that for family and staff. The Shop app, Amazon and Etsy do not allow reviews from friends, family or staff. There, ask them for an order or the name of a friend who fits, as in [your first Shopify sales](https://scout7.ai/academy/first-customers/how-to-get-your-first-sales-on-shopify), and leave the reviews to strangers. ### Can I offer a discount for a review? Only for every review, good or bad, and only on your own store. Say in the ask that it is for any honest review. Judge.me's coupons are on its paid plan, and it can show an "incentivized review" badge on those reviews. The Shop app, Amazon and Etsy forbid it. Start without one: a personal ask works for your first buyers, and discounts teach people to wait for a sale. ### Should I delete bad reviews? No. Hiding reviews because they are low is banned by the FTC rule, and Google requires low reviews in a product ratings feed. Reply the same day, say what you will fix, and offer to help by email. Remove a review only for spam, abuse or the wrong product, and apply that rule to good reviews too. ### How many reviews do I need? Aim for 10 on each product first. That is enough for a shopper to see a pattern, and it is the point to [start paid ads](https://scout7.ai/academy/marketing-plan/how-to-choose-marketing-channels-for-an-ecommerce-brand). Google Shopping shows star ratings from 50 reviews across your store. After that, keep asking every buyer so new reviews keep coming. ## Sources - [Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule: questions and answers](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/consumer-reviews-testimonials-rule-questions-answers). Federal Trade Commission, rule in force 21 October 2024, checked 7 October 2026. - [FTC warns 10 companies about possible violations of the agency's new Consumer Review Rule](https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/12/ftc-warns-10-companies-about-possible-violations-agencys-new-consumer-review-rule). Federal Trade Commission, 22 December 2025, checked 7 October 2026. - [FTC's Endorsement Guides: what people are asking](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/ftcs-endorsement-guides-what-people-are-asking). Federal Trade Commission, checked 7 October 2026. - [Judge.me Product Reviews](https://apps.shopify.com/judgeme). Shopify App Store, checked 7 October 2026. - [Collecting reviews using review request emails](https://judge.me/help/en/articles/8379844-collecting-reviews-using-review-request-emails). Judge.me Help Center, checked 7 October 2026. - [Sending review request emails for past orders](https://judge.me/help/en/articles/8380029-sending-review-request-emails-for-past-orders). Judge.me Help Center, checked 7 October 2026. - [Adding a review request manually](https://judge.me/help/en/articles/8385008-adding-a-review-request-manually). Judge.me Help Center, checked 7 October 2026. - [Review transparency badges](https://judge.me/help/en/articles/11136451-review-transparency-badges). Judge.me Help Center, checked 7 October 2026. - [Shop product reviews: merchant guidelines](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-sales-channels/shop/product-reviews/merchant-guidelines). Shopify Help Center, checked 7 October 2026. - [Shopify Product Reviews app discontinued?](https://community.shopify.com/t/shopify-product-reviews-app-discontinued/262560). Shopify Community, app closed 6 May 2024, checked 7 October 2026. - [Amazon Vine](https://sell.amazon.com/tools/vine). Amazon, checked 7 October 2026. - [Product Ratings eligibility](https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/14549080?hl=en). Google Merchant Center Help, checked 7 October 2026. - [Product Ratings policies](https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6098512?hl=en). Google Merchant Center Help, checked 7 October 2026. - [Review snippet structured data](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/review-snippet). Google Search Central, updated 8 September 2026, checked 7 October 2026. - [New store with zero sales: how do I get my first reviews when reviews are what drive sales?](https://community.shopify.com/t/title-new-store-with-zero-sales-how-do-i-get-my-first-reviews-when-reviews-are-what-drive-sales/650517). Shopify Community, 12 July 2026.