This article will guide you on how to create an ecommerce shopper survey about product discovery. Specific helps you build a tailored conversational survey in seconds, so you can instantly gather feedback from real customers.
Steps to create a survey for Ecommerce Shopper about Product Discovery
If you want to save time, just click this link to generate a survey with Specific.
Tell what survey you want.
Done.
Honestly, you don't even need to read further. Our AI will generate the survey for you with expert-level knowledge of ecommerce shopper feedback and product discovery trends—plus, it will automatically ask respondents relevant follow-up questions to capture actionable insights with no extra effort required. If you want to see how fast and easy it is to compose conversational surveys for ecommerce topics, check out our AI survey generator.
Why run an ecommerce shopper survey about product discovery?
The truth is, collecting feedback on how shoppers discover products is a must-have for any ecommerce brand that wants to keep up in today’s fast-changing market. If you’re not running surveys like this, you’re missing out on priceless insights that steer your product strategy, optimize your site, and boost sales.
42% of online shoppers rate their product discovery experiences on retail websites as a "C" grade or lower. This means almost half of shoppers think brands aren’t making it easy enough for them to find new products. The gap is huge—and it's an obvious opportunity for improvement. [1]
68% of online shoppers believe that search functions on retail websites need improvements. [1]
So why does this matter? Here’s what’s at stake if you skip these shopper recognition surveys and product discovery feedback checks:
You leave money on the table by not understanding what shoppers are actually looking for—or what makes them bounce.
You lose competitive edge to brands who are actively listening and iterating on discovery experiences based on fresh shopper insights.
Your marketing might miss the mark, leading to wasted spend and underperforming campaigns.
The benefits of ecommerce shopper feedback are clear: you get direct input into discovery pain points, hidden opportunities, and evolving customer behavior.
Plus, 80% of internet users have purchased a product online after discovering it through a search engine—so improving this journey is not optional if you care about conversions. [2]
What makes a good ecommerce shopper survey for product discovery?
The best surveys for ecommerce shopper research are built on a few essential principles. First: questions should be clear, focused, and completely free of bias, so you don’t accidentally steer respondents toward a preferred answer. Second: the survey should feel like a friendly, normal conversation—not an interrogation—so shoppers feel relaxed and open up.
Bad Practices | Good Practices |
|---|---|
Leading or loaded questions | Neutral, open questions |
Technical jargon | Simple, everyday language |
Long and tedious forms | Conversational, short, focused |
The real measure of a good ecommerce survey isn’t just how many responses you get, but how valuable (and actionable) those insights are. You want both quantity and quality—lots of honest, detailed, and easy-to-analyze answers.
What are the question types for ecommerce shopper survey about product discovery?
Let’s quickly walk through the most effective question formats for surveys about how shoppers discover products (and why they work):
Open-ended questions invite ecommerce shoppers to explain their choices, reveal preferences, or share stories—which is ideal for uncovering surprises or details you might never think to ask about. These shine when you want depth and context, or when you’re exploring a new pain point. Use them at the start of the survey or whenever you want real, candid perspectives.
“Can you describe how you usually find new products when shopping online?”
“What’s the biggest frustration you’ve experienced when searching for products on an ecommerce site?”
Single-select multiple-choice questions are perfect for quantifying preferences or benchmarking common behaviors. They’re quick, easy on mobile, and make it a breeze to spot trends at a glance.
Which channel most often leads you to discover new products online?
Search engines (Google, Bing, etc.)
Social media ads
Marketplaces (Amazon, eBay, etc.)
Email marketing
Other
NPS (Net Promoter Score) question are the gold standard for measuring overall satisfaction or likelihood to recommend. For product discovery, this question will tell you whether your shoppers are enthusiastic (promoters) or frustrated (detractors)—a great litmus test for the experience you deliver. You can easily generate an NPS survey for ecommerce shoppers about product discovery in one click.
On a scale of 0–10, how likely are you to recommend our website’s product discovery experience to a friend?
Followup questions to uncover "the why" are essential when a shopper’s first answer only scratches the surface. By probing deeper, you reveal motivations, context, or stumbling blocks that a one-shot question would miss. For example:
"You mentioned you often use social media to find products—what platforms work best for you, and why?"
"Can you tell me more about what made a particular product easy (or hard) to discover?"
To get even more ideas or tips on great questions to ask, check out our guide to the best questions for ecommerce shopper survey about product discovery.
What is a conversational survey—and why it matters for ecommerce feedback
A conversational survey is different from a traditional survey form—it’s an interactive experience that feels like chatting with a real person. When we use an AI survey generator like Specific, your survey turns into a smart, back-and-forth conversation that’s fast, natural, and infinitely more engaging for ecommerce shoppers.
Manual survey | AI-generated conversational survey |
|---|---|
Static, rigid questions | Dynamic followups adapt to each answer |
“Form fatigue”—boring and long-winded | Feels friendly and respectful of time |
Slow (manual analysis) | Automatic AI summaries and insights |
Why use AI for ecommerce shopper surveys? With AI, you can launch expert-level product discovery research instantly—no survey-building expertise needed. AI survey examples consistently show higher response rates because the conversation keeps shoppers engaged and probes for more context automatically. Specific delivers a best-in-class, mobile-first experience that makes feedback easy for both you and your customers—and you can customize everything through our AI survey editor.
Curious how to launch your own in minutes? Read this walk-through on how to create a survey for ecommerce shoppers, including setup, launch, and how to analyze results in one place.
The power of follow-up questions
Ask any experienced researcher: a single answer rarely gives you the full story. That’s why AI-powered, automated follow-up questions—for product discovery surveys—are an absolute game changer. (If you want to geek out about the feature, here’s the deep dive: how automated AI follow-up questions work.)
Specific listens to each shopper’s answer and instantly asks the perfect follow-up, just like a sharp interviewer. Instead of playing email tag to clarify, you get richer insights—right away. This makes surveys feel like real conversations, not stale questionnaires.
Ecommerce Shopper: “It was hard to find tech gadgets on your website.”
AI follow-up: “Could you share what made searching for tech gadgets difficult? Was it the navigation, search results, or something else?”
How many followups to ask? We’ve found that 2–3 targeted follow-ups strike the right balance between depth and respect for the shopper’s time. Specific lets you control these settings—and if you’ve captured what you need, the AI will move on, keeping the experience light and conversational.
This makes it a conversational survey: instead of a cold, one-way form, your survey adapts, listens, and clarifies—just like a helpful researcher would in-person.
AI survey response analysis is a breeze, even with lots of text replies. Our AI can summarize, find common trends, or let you chat with your survey data—so you never get overwhelmed by messy feedback.
Automated follow-up questions are a new superpower for anyone who wants deeper ecommerce insights. Try generating a survey to see this in action.
See this product discovery survey example now
Ready to put these ideas into practice? Create your own survey and get fast, actionable feedback from real ecommerce shoppers—powered by AI follow-up and automated insights.