Survey · Marketing

Path to purchase survey template

Anchored on one recent purchase, so customers describe what they actually did rather than what they usually do. People who seriously considered a competitor are asked what tipped them your way, and everyone ranks the factors that decided it.

11 questions~4 min to answer1 branch
path to purchasecustomer journey surveybuyer journeypurchase decisionmarketing research
Use this template

Try it live

Try it as a respondent

Every question, and where it leads

The conversation

What a respondent is asked, in order.

Thanks for your recent purchase! We'd love to hear how you got here. It's about three minutes.

1

What did you buy from us most recently?

Short text · required
2

What first made you start looking for it?

Single select · required
3

Where did you first come across us?

Single select · required
4

Where did you look for information before deciding? Pick all that apply.

Multi select · required
5

From first looking to buying, how long did it take?

Single select · required
6

Did you seriously consider buying from someone else?

Yes / No · requiredsplits the flow
7

Who else were you considering, and what made you pick us in the end?

Long text · optionalsometimes asked
8

Put these in order of how much they mattered to your final decision.

Ranking · required
9

Where did you complete the purchase?

Single select · required
10

How easy was it to find the information you needed to decide?

Opinion scale · required
11

Was anything close to stopping you from buying?

Long text · optional

Ends with

Thanks, that's really useful

The flow

Where each answer leads. Every route here is editable once the form is yours.

A labelled route is taken only by answers matching the label

What this template uses

  • Short text
  • Single select
  • Multi select
  • Yes / No
  • Long text
  • Ranking
  • Opinion scale
  • 1 branch

Questions to consider

  • Which purchase should people answer about? Naming the product, or passing it in with the link, gives far more accurate answers.
  • Do you sell online, in shops or both? Trim the channel options so every choice is one a customer could really have used.
  • Which competitors would you like named? Leave the question open if you'd rather not put names in front of customers.
  • How soon after purchase will you send it, so the decision is still fresh?

How to use the responses

Lay the answers out as a sequence: trigger, first contact, research, comparison, purchase. Look for the step where the most people say information was hard to find, and fix the content there first. Read the answers about competitors and hesitation together, since they tell you what your pages need to address before a buyer has to ask.

How to customize and share it

  1. 1Edit the discovery and research options to match the channels you actually market on.
  2. 2Add the product or order as a hidden field from your order email so the first question can be skipped or prefilled.
  3. 3Send the link within a week of purchase, in the order confirmation or a follow-up email.

Frequently asked questions

What is a path to purchase survey?

It asks recent buyers how they got from noticing a need to buying: what set it off, where they looked, what they compared and why they chose you.

When should I send a path to purchase survey?

Within a week or two of the purchase. After that, people remember the product better than the decision.

What is the difference between a path to purchase and a customer journey?

The path to purchase covers the steps up to buying. A customer journey also covers what happens afterwards, such as delivery, support and repeat purchases.

Should I ask people who didn't buy?

It helps, but it is a different survey. Buyers explain what worked; people who left explain what was missing.

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Ask like a person. Watch them finish.