Online shopping is increasingly becoming the most preferred shopping option across the globe. In 2019 alone, an estimated 1.92 billion people purchased goods or services online. This has created a need to offer good customer service to online shoppers, which is why you need an online shopping questionnaire. 

An online shopping questionnaire helps you to study users’ behaviors, experiences, and preferences as they shop items from your e-commerce store. In this article, we will discuss 33 questions you should include in your online shopping questionnaire to help you understand your customers’ needs. 

Common E-Commerce online shopping questions.

The types of questions listed in your online shopping survey must reflect the aims and objectives of the data collection process. Also, be sure to ask good survey questions that allow respondents to freely communicate their thoughts and perceptions without boxing them into a corner. 

Close-ended questions, open-ended questions, and dichotomous questions are examples of good survey questions that you can add to your online shopping survey. 

Close-Ended Questions

A close-ended question is a type of survey question that restricts respondents to a set of answer-options to choose from. In other words, the researcher provides options for you to choose from in response to the question. Close-ended questions help you to gather quantitative data. 

11 Close-ended Questions for an Online Shopping Questionnaire 

How often do you shop on this site?

• Very often
• Seldom
• Not Often

Choose 2 products you buy frequently on this site.

• Baby food
• Accessories
• Perfumes and Oils
• Skincare products

What is the biggest challenge you face with shopping online?

• Slow checkout time
• Lack of products I want
• Slow webpage response time

How likely are you to recommend this site to other online shoppers?

• Very likely
• Somewhat likely
• Very unlikely

What is your biggest concern about online shopping?

• Breach of personal information
• Breach of payment details
• Poor internet connection

How much do you spend on online shopping every month?

• Less than 100 USD
• $100 – $500
• $500 – $1000
• More than 1000 USD

How many times do you shop online in a month?

• Once
• Twice
• Thrice
• More than thrice

Which payment method do you prefer for online shopping?

• Payment Gateways
• USSD
• Bank transfer

How would you rate your overall online shopping experience?

• Excellent
• Average
• Poor

How likely are you to return to this webpage for your online shopping?

• Very likely
• Somewhat likely
• Highly unlikely

What is your gender?

• Male
• Female
• Others. Please state
• Prefer not to say

Open-Ended Questions

This is a type of survey question that does not limit respondents to predetermined answers. Open-ended questions allow you to fully communicate your ideas and perceptions in response to a question. You can describe them as free-form survey questions. 

Examples of Open-Ended Questions in an Online Shopping Questionnaire  

• Describe your online shopping experience with us. This question allows your customer to provide a holistic view of their overall customer experience with your organization.
• Describe a negative experience you had while shopping online. This question allows customers to highlight any areas needing improvement in your online store.
• Describe a positive experience you had while shopping. Let customers identify strong points when it comes to online shopping with your brand.
• Why do you shop online with us? With this question, you would be able to identify the unique selling points of your brand across different customer segments.
• How old are you? This question helps you to understand who your customers are; that is, the different age groups that your brand appeals to.

• Which products do you buy regularly? The responses to this question will help you to identify fast-moving products and to categorize your stock accordingly.
• Have you experienced any difficulty with adding products to your online cart? This question allows respondents to provide specific feedback on definite aspects of your online shopping operations.
• What do you think about the pricing of our products? Use this question to collect feedback on product pricing to avoid overcharging or under-charging your customers.
• What do you think about the quality of our products? This question allows you to collect first-hand feedback from customers in terms of the quality of your product(s). 
• What other online store do you shop on? The answers to this question make it easy for you to identify your competition. You can leverage this data to create a better customer experience for your clients.
• What major challenges have you encountered while shopping on our site? This question allows you to identify and address customer dissatisfaction easily. After identifying the challenges faced, you should work on providing sustainable solutions to them.

Dichotomous Question

A dichotomous question is a type of close-ended survey question that provides respondents with 2 opposite answer options for them to choose from. Common answer options in dichotomous questions include true/false, yes/no, fair/unfair, to mention a few. 

Dichotomous Question Samples for an Online Shopping Questionnaire

Did you enjoy the online shopping experience on our website?

• Yes
• No

This question allows customers to provide feedback on the overall shopping experience. 

Do you always shop on our website?

• Sure
• Not at all

This simple question allows you to track consumer retention for your organization. 

Would you recommend our website to others?

• Yes
• No

Positive responses to this question serve as an indicator of a good customer experience. 

Our website provided the best online shopping experience.

• True
• False

Just like the first question in this section, this question helps you to gather feedback on your overall online shopping experience. 

Do you have any challenges with our checkout method?

• Yes
• No

Get direct feedback from customers about your e-commerce checkout process on your website. 

Our product prices are affordable.

• True
• False

This question allows you to gather feedback from customers about product pricing. 

Have you ever had a bad experience while shopping with us?

• Yes
• Not at all

This question allows you to track and address customer dissatisfaction. 

Do you have any concerns about your data privacy while shopping online?

• Yes
• No

I always use the credit card option for my online shopping transactions.

• True
• False

This question prompts customers to indicate preferred payment options. 

I always use the bank transfer method for online shopping transactions.

• Definitely
• Never

Just like the question above, customers can provide responses here that allow you to identify preferred payment methods for your e-commerce store. 

Do you always shop online?

• Yes
• No

Responses to this question provide insight into customers’ behaviors and preferences. 

Can’t find your preferred Online Shopping survey template? Create yours for free with the easy-to-use Formplus builder

Common E-commerce Shopping Questionnaire on Products

Product-focused questions help you know if you are solving your customers’ needs. For example, it helps you pull products from the market to protect your brand reputation and introduce new ones if there are opportunities in the market.

The following are questions to help you rate your product’s fit and value:

• On a scale of 1-10 where 1 is extremely dissatisfied and 10 is extremely satisfied, what’s your overall satisfaction with this product?
• How likely are you to recommend this product to others? (Use rating scale)
• How easy was it to find the product information on the website? (use rating scale)
• On a scale of 1-5, how satisfied are you with the product’s value for money?
• Did you have any issues setting up or using the product? (Yes/No, add comments if yes)

Online Shopping Questions Based on Customer Behavior

Shopping questions around customer behavior help you know your customer journey and find ways to improve their experience. For example, if 70% of customers find you through social media, it means your social media marketing strategy is working and you should invest more in this channel.

Let’s look at some questions that help you understand customers’ journey and interaction with your website:

• How did you find us?
• What drew you to this product?
• Have you read any reviews about this product or similar products?
• What are the biggest factors influencing your decision to purchase this product? (e.g., price, brand reputation, features)
• How easy was it to find the product you were looking for on our website?
• How comfortable and secure did you feel entering your payment information on our website?
• How likely are you to purchase from us again in the future?
• What can we do to improve your overall shopping experience with us?

Know What Your Customer Wants from You With the Customer Needs Assessment Template

Shipping-Related Online Shopping Questions

Are your customers satisfied with your shipping process and what can you do to improve it? Here are some questions to help you find out:

• How satisfied are you with our shipping options? (Use rating scale)
• How easy was it to track your recent order? (Use rating scale)

• Would you be interested in paying a slight premium for guaranteed next-day delivery on certain items? (Yes/No)
• Would you be more likely to shop with us if we offered free shipping on orders over a specific threshold? (Yes/No)

• How can we make your shipping experience better? Open-ended)
• Have you had any problems shipping products to your location? (Yes/No, add form logic to personalize the questions). For example, if respondents select yes, it should take them to “What was the problem,” “Has it been resolved?” But if the respondents select no, it takes them to the next question

Online Shopping Surveys for Customer Support

While your products, website, and delivery chain should work perfectly, customers will still need support. Here are some common questions to help you measure their experience with your support:

• How happy were you with how customer support helped you? (Scale)
• Was it easy to contact customer support? (Yes/No)
• Did the customer support agent address your concerns and requests?
• Are you satisfied with our customer support?
• How long did it take to fix your problem?

• How could we have made your experience with customer support better? (Open-ended)
• on a scale of 1-10, rate your overall customer support experience.

Why Do You Need Online Shopping Surveys?

Shopping surveys help you know exactly what your store visitors and customers want from you; they are your roadmap to building and maintaining customer satisfaction.

Let’s look at some benefits of using online shopping surveys:

• Customer Insights– shopping surveys allow customers to tell you what they expect from you and if you match their expectations. Then you use this information to improve your products, services, website design, and other processes to meet their needs.

• Positive Brand Perception: Every interaction a potential customer has with your brand slowly shapes how they see you. So, asking them how they feel and implementing the changes they want, positions your brand as one that cares about its customers. This is how you build long-term relationships with customers and earn their trust.

• Competitive Advantage: Implementing changes from customer feedback also gives you an edge over your competitors. While your competitors are playing catch-up, you have already increased your customer satisfaction and they are recommending you as the best to the network.

How to Create an Online Shopping Questionnaire with Formplus 

With Formplus, you can create a smart online shopping questionnaire and either add the form to your website or share it with your customers using our multiple form sharing options. Formplus makes it easy for you to collect and process data from your customers, and this helps to improve customer experience and consumer satisfaction for your organization. 

Follow these steps to create your online shopping questionnaire from scratch using Formplus. 

• If you do not have a Formplus account, visit www.formpl.us to sign up for your Formplus account. If you have a Formplus account, visit the aforementioned website and click on the “Access Dashboard” button to gain access to your personalized Formplus dashboard.

• Once you have access to your Formplus dashboard, click on the “create new form” button to start building your online shopping survey. You’d find this button at the top left corner of your dashboard.

• Alternatively, you can modify any of the existing Formplus templates to suit your data collection needs. All you need to do is click on the “template” option on the dashboard navigation bar and then, follow the prompt.
• Now, you should be in the form builder. This is where you create your online shopping form. Start by adding the form title to the builder’s title bar.

• Next, go to the form fields section located on the left side of the form builder. There, you’d find more than 30 form field options including digital signature fields, payment fields, date-time validation, and so on. You can add any of these fields to your form by simply clicking on them or drag and drop the field from the builder’s inputs section.

• After adding the fields, click on the pencil icon just beside each field to access the form fields editing section. Here, you should add your question(s) and/or options.

• When you’ve added and modified all preferred fields accordingly, click on the save icon just at the top right corner of the builder. This automatically saves the form and takes you to the builder’s section.

• The Customize section is where you can change the look and feel of your online shopping survey. You can add preferred background images to your form, embed your organization’s logo, change the form font, or even customize the form layout using CSS.

• To add the online shopping survey to your website simply, go to the form builder’s “Share” page. You’d find it on the builder’s navigation panel right at the top corner.
• Click on the “embed” tab on the sidebar.
• You’d see 4 options here: Use as Pop-up, Use as iFrame embed, Embed in Facebook Page, and Embed in WordPress site.

1. Click on “use as iFrame embed”  and copy the displayed code.

• Paste the code at the appropriate place to add it to your site.
• If you have a WordPress website, you can embed the form by choosing the “Embed in WordPress site” option, copy the shortcode, and paste it inside your WordPress editor.

• Copy the form link and share it with respondents.

Importance of an Online Shopping Survey 

E-commerce businesses, especially, should prioritize online shopping surveys because these data collection tools are key to business optimization, improved customer experience, brand loyalty, and increasing revenue. Here are 6 ways that online shopping surveys can make a difference in your business. 

1. Understand Consumer Behaviour: With an online shopping survey, you’d have a better understanding of your customers’ online shopping behaviors with specific insights into their preferences, challenges, and experiences. This allows you to place them into distinct customer segments as part of market research. 
2. Seamless Data Collection: An online shopping survey is a fast, easy, and convenient method of data collection. Unlike paper forms and other traditional survey methods, an online shopping survey can be filled on the go which allows you to gather real-time information from respondents, instantly. 
3. With a smart online survey, you’d find it easier to highlight current trends and patterns in consumers’ behaviors.
4. Improved Customer Experience and Satisfaction: It helps you to immediately identify and address any challenges faced by your customers and to resolve these challenges accordingly. If you embed the survey into your e-commerce website, customers complete the questionnaire once they are done shopping on your webpage. 
5. Optimized Marketing Plans and Strategies: The data gathered via an online shopping survey can help you create a well-defined marketing plan and strategy for your organization. Having a clear knowledge of who your customers are and what different customer segments prefer typically empowers you to create specifically tailored adverts that appeal to each segment.
6. It improves your organization’s response time to customers’ complaints.

Conclusion

Research shows that consumers spend an average of 5 hours shopping online every week and 92% of consumers shop online at least once a year. This, once again, emphasizes how much online shopping has become integral to our everyday lives. 

If you want to create unforgettable online shopping experiences for your target audience, you must understand customers’ experiences and expectations. An online shopping questionnaire is a simple but effective data tool that helps you to gather objective data from consumers.