If you searched for alternatives to asknicely software, the short answer is this: pick a tool that actually plugs into Shopify touchpoints you control, can embed on the thank-you page, and routes responses into Klaviyo or Shopify customer fields so you can action the feedback into retention flows. Zigpoll, AskNicely, and SurveyMonkey are all usable, but they solve different problems for a Shopify DTC operator running post-purchase surveys to move repeat purchase rate.

What this comparison covers and the criterion I used

I test these tools the way a Shopify merchant will: how they trigger on the checkout thank-you page, how they capture shopper intent and attribution, what follow-up channels they connect to for second-order conversion (email, SMS, subscription prompts), how easy it is to tag customers in Shopify or Klaviyo based on answers, and how heavy the analytics/automation lift is to turn answers into actions that drive repeat purchase rate.

Core criteria:

• Shopify-native trigger options: thank-you page embed, customer account widget, or post-purchase email/SMS.
• Data plumbing: Shopify customer tags/metafields, Klaviyo segments, Postscript audiences.
• Question utility: NPS and short multiple choice that predict repeat intent.
• Actionability: can responses automatically seed a retention flow.
• Effort to ship: what you can set up this week with a small team.

Below I evaluate Zigpoll, AskNicely, and SurveyMonkey against those practical criteria.

Where each tool sits for Shopify post-purchase surveys

Zigpoll is built with Shopify merchants in mind, it installs as a Shopify app and can tag customers and attach responses to Shopify profiles, which means you can put responders straight into Klaviyo or Postscript flows without custom middleware. That makes it fast to ship a post-purchase survey that actually changes behavior rather than sitting in a dashboard. (apps.shopify.com)

AskNicely is an enterprise-focused NPS platform with strong multi-channel sending and real-time team alerts. It integrates broadly and can embed surveys on sites and send via SMS or email, but the product is built around ongoing NPS programs for CX teams rather than short, attribution-sensitive post-purchase experiments for DTC merchants. It can integrate with Shopify but expect more configuration and a heavier operational model. (asknicely.com)

SurveyMonkey gives the widest set of question types and sampling controls, and it can run email or link-based NPS surveys at scale, but it is not Shopify-native. You will be using links or embeds and building your own plumbing to push responses into Shopify or Klaviyo, which adds a week or two of developer time for most teams. (en.wikipedia.org)

Quick reality checks

• If you need to get answers on the thank-you page and immediately tag customers to a Klaviyo flow, Zigpoll will be the fastest path. (docs.zigpoll.com)
• If you want a long-running, company-wide NPS program with agent-level routing and Slack/Salesforce alerts, AskNicely does that cleanly, at the cost of heavier setup. (asknicely.com)
• If you need complex survey logic, panel management, or broad-purpose research, SurveyMonkey is flexible but you will have to build the Shopify integrations yourself. (en.wikipedia.org)

Side-by-side features table

(Claims above are based on vendor docs and app listings.) (apps.shopify.com)

How this actually moves repeat purchase rate, in practice

You need two things from a survey to move repeat purchase rate: one, enrichment that lets you segment customers into targeted replenishment or win-back flows; two, a way to catch and fix problems that prevent reorder. Zigpoll’s ability to write responses into Shopify customer fields means you can kick customers into a Klaviyo flow that sends a tailored reorder reminder or subscription offer based on their answer. AskNicely will flag detractors for immediate CX follow-up, which reduces churn but requires a staffed response workflow. SurveyMonkey will tell you what’s wrong at scale, but it does not automatically feed those answers into your post-purchase lifecycle without engineering.

A pragmatic note: if your product is consumable and purchase cadence matters, you do not need perfect NPS coverage; you need fast, accurate segmenting. Tag the “likely to reorder in X days” responses and run a flow; that often produces measurable lifts. Bain and other analysts have long documented that loyalty metrics correlate with growth, which supports paying attention to NPS or similar measures as a predictor of repeat behaviour. (bain.com)

Real merchant example

One DTC merchant whose retention was stuck at an 18% repeat purchase rate had a data unification and personalized sequence built, and repeat rate rose to about 25.6% after targeting high-intent customers with personalized reorder prompts and fixing CX issues surfaced by post-purchase feedback. The lift came from segmenting respondents and sending tailored messaging rather than blanket discounts. That is the kind of practical win surveys are good at finding and operationalizing. (nexdynegroup.com)

Practical pros and cons, straight talk

Zigpoll: pro, fast to install on Shopify, useful for attribution and immediate Klaviyo segmentation; con, analytics depth is lighter than a dedicated CX platform, and you will still need to run cohort analysis in your BI tools. (apps.shopify.com)

AskNicely: pro, excellent for sustained NPS programs with routing and frontline accountability; con, heavier to implement and overkill if your goal is one or two post-purchase experiments that drive repeat orders. (asknicely.com)

SurveyMonkey: pro, flexible question types and enterprise-grade survey controls; con, not Shopify-native, you will spend time building the flows that take answers and turn them into second-order purchases. (en.wikipedia.org)

Caveat: If your team cannot act on the responses within a week, the marginal value of collecting more feedback declines sharply. Survey data without follow-up is vanity. That is where integration matters more than fancy dashboards.

People also ask

What are the best alternatives to AskNicely?

Answer: The best alternatives depend on your objective: use a Shopify-native app like Zigpoll if you need post-purchase tagging and immediate flows, use SurveyMonkey when you require complex survey logic and sampling, and choose AskNicely when you need enterprise NPS programs with agent routing. Each is best for a different operational model, not for different NPS methodology. (apps.shopify.com)

Can I run post-purchase NPS surveys on Shopify without AskNicely?

Answer: Yes, you can run post-purchase NPS surveys without AskNicely, by embedding a survey on the Shopify thank-you page or sending a follow-up email/SMS with a survey link and piping answers into Klaviyo or Shopify customer tags. Shopify apps like Zigpoll are designed to do exactly that, with minimal engineering. (apps.shopify.com)

How do I use post-purchase surveys to increase repeat purchase rate?

Answer: Survey to identify intent and blockers, tag customers by response, then run targeted flows: timely replenishment reminders for high intent, CX remediation for detractors, and subscription or multi-buy offers for likely repeaters. The technical job is wiring survey responses into your lifecycle platform so the marketing automation can act on them. (purposefulprofits.co)

Implementation templates you can ship this week

Below are three short playbooks you can implement fast.

Playbook A: Thank-you page reorder nudge

• Trigger: Add a one-question post-purchase poll on the Shopify thank-you page asking “How likely are you to buy this again?” with a 0 to 10 slider and a single follow-up multi-select for reason if score is low.
• Action: Tag responses in Shopify and push to Klaviyo. Customers who answer 8 to 10 enter a 30-day replenishment flow with a lightweight review ask; 0 to 6 get a CX ticket and a targeted discount offer.
• When it works: consumables, refillables, and any product with predictable cadence.

Playbook B: Delivery satisfaction rescue

• Trigger: Send an SMS or email NPS 3 days after delivery for customers who rate delivery experience 0 to 6.
• Action: Route to a CX Slack channel and a custom Klaviyo flow that offers a make-good or reship.
• When it works: high return or delivery-sensitive categories.

Playbook C: Product feedback to new SKU development

• Trigger: Short multi-select on the thank-you page asking “What would make you buy from us again?” with explicit options: scent, size, pack, price, subscription.
• Action: Aggregate answers into a product roadmap tag and an audience in Klaviyo for early access tests.
• When it works: brands using surveys to inform assortments and increase repeat buyer lifetime.

Each playbook requires plumbing between the survey tool, Shopify, and your email/SMS platform. Zigpoll covers the plumbing out of the box in most cases. AskNicely covers the operational side if you need a staffed follow-up machine. SurveyMonkey gives more experimental power but requires building the plumbing.

Pricing and scale considerations

If you are a small-to-mid DTC brand, prioritize time to action over marginal feature depth. A cheaper tool that integrates directly with Shopify and Klaviyo and gets you to a working flow this week will usually deliver more ROI than a more expensive CX stack that takes months to implement. If your volume is very high and you need enterprise routing and agent workflows, AskNicely starts to make sense. SurveyMonkey sits in the middle for research programs that will be processed outside of Shopify.

Anecdote that matters

Zigpoll’s own customer stories highlight a common pattern: a brand used a thank-you page poll to identify who bought for price reasons versus who bought for product fit, then moved the high-fit customers into a small subscription test. The result reported was a conversion lift to the subscription test and new SKUs that became meaningful revenue lines. This is the exact sequence that produces repeat rate gains: attribute, segment, treat differently. (zigpoll.com)

When not to use surveys as your main retention lever

If your repeat purchase problem is purely product quality or logistics, surveys will surface the problem but will not fix it. If you do not have at least one person assigned to act on low-scoring respondents, stop collecting responses; the negative cost of unmet expectations can hurt loyalty. If your product has a long natural repurchase cycle and you cannot act within that window, prioritize improving post-purchase communication first.

How Zigpoll handles this for Shopify merchants

Step 1: Trigger — Install Zigpoll’s Shopify app and run a post-purchase trigger on the Shopify thank-you page that displays immediately after checkout for customers with fulfilled shipping addresses, or use a delayed email link sent three days after delivery for satisfaction checks. Alternatively, use an on-site exit-intent widget on product pages to capture reasons before first purchase.

Step 2: Question types and exact wording — Start with an NPS-style prompt: “On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to buy this product again?”; follow low scores with a branching multiple-choice: “What stopped you from buying again? Select all that apply: Delivery time, Price, Product quality, Wrong size, Other (please explain).” Add a short CSAT star rating for delivery with wording: “Rate your delivery experience from 1 to 5 stars.”

Step 3: Where the data flows — Configure Zigpoll to write responses into Shopify customer tags and metafields, and forward responders into Klaviyo segments or Postscript audiences. Use those segments to trigger tailored Klaviyo flows: replenishment sequences for promoters, CX remediation flows for detractors, and subscription offers for likely repeat buyers. Optionally send alert rows to a Slack channel for immediate CX triage and keep the raw survey data in the Zigpoll dashboard for cohort analysis.

This setup gives you a tight loop: capture intent at the right moment, route customers into the right retention flow, and close the loop on CX issues so you can actually move repeat purchase rate instead of accumulating unread data. (docs.zigpoll.com)