For businesses that want to digitally replicate the in-store shopping experience, and ultimately increase their eCommerce conversions and sales, personalization is the name of the game. Personalization involves collecting user data, then using that data to deliver customized shopping experiences, based on the wants and needs of individual customers. This is accomplished with advanced data analytics software, often powered by artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and natural language processing (NLP) technology.
Today’s most successful eCommerce companies leverage personalization tools to promote customer engagement and boost revenue. In particular, brands in hyper competitive niches like fashion, food and beverage, and health and fitness put significant time and resources toward personalization strategies. And according to a recent survey, 59% of online shoppers claim that personalized interactions play a key role in their decision to purchase.
One of the best ways to optimize your eCommerce personalization strategy is implementing a product finder or product quiz. These features make the online shopping experience more human, as well as help customers find what they’re looking for more effectively.
Keep reading to learn about the definitions, benefits, and best practices of eCommerce product finders and quizzes.
Product finders vs product quizzes: What’s the difference?
Product finders, also known as digital assistants, help customers find what they’re looking for in an eCommerce store by asking questions and performing a variety of tasks. Driven by AI, ML, and NLP technology, product finders facilitate human-like conversations with users, then direct them to the right product list or product details page.
Product quizzes, on the other hand, are not conversational. They are simply a series of multiple-choice questions designed to guide customers in their search. For instance, a product quiz on a fitness website may ask the user questions that prompt them to share their age, gender, experience level, workout goals, pain points, and so on. Once the quiz collects those pieces of information, the site can intelligently direct them to a pre-filtered list of products that fit their needs.
Both of these features improve the customer experience by reducing the amount of time spent navigating the site, browsing products, reading product descriptions, and so on. Plus, they create a more human shopping experience—one that replicates walking into a retail store, chatting with a sales representative, then being led to a specific section or product.
Benefits of product finders and product quizzes
Product finders and product quizzes help simplify the online shopping experience, while freeing up your staff to focus on other high-priority business objectives. Let’s zero in on the three main benefits of these increasingly-popular website features.
Preventing choice overload for your customers: Choice overload—or the anxious feeling people get when trying to pick from a large selection of items—can increase your site’s abandonment rate. Product finders and quizzes will help keep your customers on track with basic questions and answers, so they’re less overwhelmed, and therefore more likely to follow through with making a purchase.
Adding a human touch to the customer experience: Research shows that many consumers of the digital age miss the ability to interact with products and receive advice from sales representatives in person. At least some of these human elements remain in the eCommerce experience with the implementation of product finders and quizzes.
Collecting customer data for a cookie-less future: According to Google, cookies—or files that automatically collect a website user’s browsing information and preferences—will go away in 2023, since the majority of consumers don’t like having their personal data stored by businesses without consent. This will make it more difficult for marketers to provide product recommendations and other personalized content to customers. But features like product finders and quizzes will offer a solution to this problem, since they involve users providing their personal information voluntarily.
Best practices when implementing a product finder or product quiz
When you’re ready to increase personalization for your eCommerce store via a product finder or quiz, keep the following in mind:
Make sure it’s easy to find: Many brands place their product finders or quizzes on the website homepage, so that new customers can easily dive right in. On other pages, direct users to it by including messages, pop ups, and sticky bars. You should also highlight it in your email and social media marketing campaigns.
Display a progress bar: If a customer doesn’t know how many more questions they have to answer before receiving recommendations, they may become impatient and bounce. Avoid this by displaying a progress bar at the bottom of the page that clearly shows how far along the user is in the process.
Capture the user’s email address: At the end of the quiz or conversation, present a lead capture form so that your marketing team can target users with future personalized offers and promotions.
Consider including a discount: If you offer a discount at the beginning or end of the interaction, users of your product finder or quiz are more likely to convert into paying customers.
Keep the results to a minimum: To avoid choice overload, make sure your product finder or quiz is designed to present the user with a relatively small number of recommendations or options.
Plan and execute a personalization strategy for your eCommerce store
If you’re looking to increase customer engagement, conversions, and sales for your online store, but don’t know where to start, Codal can help.
We’re an award-winning UX design and development agency with over thirteen years of experience designing, developing, testing, launching, and optimizing personalized eCommerce solutions for businesses across all industries . And we’re always up for a new challenge. Over the years, we’ve utilized a wide range of technologies for our clients, and formed partnerships with eCommerce industry leaders like Shopify and BigCommerce. Our team has the tools, resources, and expertise to create an online shopping experience that maximizes sales, while also streamlining internal workflows via elegant digital solutions.
