Struggling with e-commerce engagement? Try product recommendation quizzes

Imagine walking into your favorite boutique and seeing shelves stocked with products so on-point that it feels like the shop owner handpicked them just for you. Each item is the perfect fit, color, style, and price—all curated for you.

That is the personalized experience today’s online shoppers crave and, more importantly, expect. Despite customers all but demanding e-commerce personalization, many online retailers still struggle to deliver that personalized online shopping experience.

And the e-commerce shops that can’t figure it out are getting left behind—45% of shoppers say they’re more likely to shop on an e-commerce site that offers personalization.

So, if you’re expanding into e-commerce, personalization is a non-negotiable… but it can be a game-changer in whether shop your store or someone else’s. Hint: shoppers will choose the brands that deliver seamless shopping experiences and guide them to the right products faster.

The ROI potential of personalization is why both new and established e-commerce brands are working harder than ever to convert online shoppers into paying customers. But they’re facing challenges, like:

• Identifying and understanding their target audience
• Proper product positioning and effective marketing messages
• Converting visitors to buyers
• Creating a simple and pleasant customer experience (CX)

So, how are successful e-commerce brands overcoming these hurdles? Product recommendation quizzes.

Product recommendation quizzes are a simple yet powerful tool to combat common challenges with online shopping and boost e-commerce engagement. We’re sharing why they’re so effective for e-commerce personalization and how to use quizzes to increase e-commerce sales, traffic, and time spent on your website.

First, what’s a product recommendation quiz?

Let’s say you’re looking for skincare products to heal your dry skin. You need something moisturizing but have no idea which products to buy for your skin type. Too lightweight won’t help but a heavy moisturizer will make your skin break out.

In a brick-and-mortar, you’d probably ask an employee for their recommendations or to help you find items based on your needs. But with online shopping, finding the right products isn’t always so simple—especially on larger e-commerce websites with hundreds or thousands of items to choose from.

That’s where product recommendation quizzes come in.

A product recommendation quiz is a fun, interactive way to offer personalized product suggestions to customers based on their responses to questions about their preferences, needs, and behaviors. And for e-commerce retailers, they’re one of the most effective ways to collect valuable information (like zero-party data) about shoppers while driving sales.

The different types of product recommendation quizzes

Want to leverage product recommendation quizzes for e-commerce engagement? There are a few to choose from:

• Product match quiz. It asks customers what they’re searching for and uses their answers to deeply understand their shoppers and recommend ideal products based on specific needs or challenges. For example, a haircare brand might ask questions about your hair type, concerns, climate, and daily habits so it can recommend products tailored to you.
  
• Personality-based quiz. It’s a fun quiz that uncovers a shopper’s personality and then makes product recommendations that align with their responses. If a personality-based quiz reveals that you’re a “Glam Goddess,” the product recommendations might include bold lipstick colors or glittery eyeshadows based on answers that show you like glam makeup.
  
• Gift guide/small catalog quiz. A gift guide can help customers choose gifts by narrowing down options based on the occasion, the recipient’s interests, and their relationship with the customer. They’re great for e-commerce brands with smaller selections and are especially popular during the holidays and other gift-giving seasons.
• Complementary products quiz: It helps customers find additional products they’ll love by guiding them toward products that pair well together. You can use data about products they’ve already chosen or have shown interest in to inform your recommendations and increase the likelihood of add-on purchases.

7 reasons product recommendation quizzes are so effective

Product recommendation quizzes increase e-commerce engagement and create a more personalized online shopping experience for your customers. But they’re also a highly effective tool for converting shoppers into paying customers.

Take a look at the seven ways they increase sales for e-commerce brands.

1. Product recommendation quizzes personalize the customer experience

Whether it’s a personality-based quiz or gift guide, product recommendation quizzes create a personalized experience because the recommendations are based on your answers—on you. They give shoppers the e-commerce personalization they crave—and expect—from today’s online brands.

Instead of forcing shoppers to scroll endlessly through product pages or randomly select items, you personalize their experiences by tailoring product recommendations to match their needs and preferences. This not only delights customers but increases sales.

2. They minimize decision fatigue, maximizing the likelihood of conversion

Studies show that too many choices can make decision-making harder, leading to decision paralysis—where customers abandon their cart or skip shopping on your website altogether.

You can avoid overwhelming customers with options—even if you have a large catalog—with a product recommendation quiz that guides them toward perfect-fit products (and makes adding them to their carts effortless). By simplifying the shopping experience, you’ll increase your likelihood of converting customers.

3. Product match quizzes encourage customer loyalty

A product recommendation quiz creates a better, more personalized customer experience by taking the guesswork out of which product fits a shopper’s needs, using their answers to guide them to the right products. This tailored approach improves customer retention and brand affinity.

4. They build trust and make buying a no-brainer

Product recommendation quizzes help you learn more about your shoppers by asking them relevant questions… but you can also share more information about your brand and products to build that know-like-trust factor.

By listening to customers’ challenges and explaining why certain products are ideal, you’ll build the trust necessary to motivate shoppers to buy from you. And nothing builds trust like listening to your customers and making perfect-match product suggestions based on their answers.

5. Product recommendation quizzes increase the average order value

By recommending complementary products, you can use a product recommendation quiz to increase your average order value. This approach encourages customers to purchase multiple items that work well together (and gives them a better brand experience overall).

If you sell sunglasses, for example, you could suggest a cleaning kit, a case, or even another pair to go with pairs they were looking at previously or purchased in the past.

6. They help identify and nurture potential customers

Product recommendation quizzes provide a wealth of customer information that you can leverage over time to boost sales, drive repeat purchases, and more. Even if you don’t convert customers immediately, you can use your quiz data to nurture visitors.

Send automated follow-up emails that remind customers of recommended products, incentivize purchases with a special offer, or nudge shoppers to redeem an abandoned cart.

7. They provide powerful customer data and insights

Research shows that personalized product recommendations and marketing can increase revenue by up to 25%. But personalization demands personal data—essential insights that product recommendation quiz responses can provide, like shoppers’ individual preferences and needs.

You can then use this zero-party data to personalize the entire customer experience in the future.

Benefits of product recommendation quizzes for e-commerce brands

A product recommendation quiz doesn’t just benefit shoppers—it helps e-commerce brands and marketers, too. From increasing time on site to gathering valuable data, quizzes can increase customer acquisition, retention, and revenue. Here’s how.

Keep shoppers on your site longer

When you present shoppers with interactive content (like a quiz) that requires active participation, visitors are more likely to stay on your site longer.

And research shows buyers spend 2-3x more time on pages with interactive content than static content. This increased time can lead to higher conversion rates, unbreakable customer loyalty, and a higher likelihood of repeat visits.

Create a personalized shopping experience (and better customer experience)

A product recommendation quiz provides instant value to shoppers by suggesting products that perfectly match what they’re looking for. But they also simplify the buyer journey by directing shoppers from point A to point B—no endless scrolling on your site trying to find products or guessing which product aligns best with their needs.

This enhanced e-commerce personalization creates a better overall customer experience, encouraging repeat customers while driving sales to your e-commerce shop.

Collect more zero-party data and insights

Product recommendation quizzes improve data collection by giving you rich zero-party data to tailor future campaigns, create better products, enhance e-commerce personalization, and more.

You can leverage these insights to craft more successful campaigns with targeted product recommendations and relevant marketing messages that nurture shoppers beyond their first purchase.

Reduce returns

Returns can be costly for e-commerce brands—consumers returned products worth a staggering $743 billion in 2023 alone. A product recommendation quiz matches customers with products aligned with their tastes and needs, reducing the chances of returns.

Instead of purchasing more items than they want or need and returning what doesn’t work, customers can hand-select the right products from the start.

The future of e-commerce personalization: trends to watch

Online shopping is changing fast as innovative trends usher in a new era for e-commerce—and, no surprise, e-commerce personalization is at the forefront. Here’s what you can expect to see more of:

• AI-driven personalization. AI-powered personalization will overtake traditional e-commerce personalization tactics as more brands turn to AI to rapidly analyze customer data and offer tailored product recommendations. These hyper-personalized shopping experiences will help brands improve overall customer satisfaction, sales, and e-commerce engagement—but they’ll also set a new precedent for e-commerce brands, making the competition even more fierce.
• With growing concerns over data privacy, businesses are adopting privacy-first personalization strategies, like gathering zero-party and first-party data. These types of data come directly from customers through interactive methods like product recommendation quizzes or surveys, which allow for laser-accurate personalization that respects individuals' privacy.

E-commerce engagement strategy, meet product recommendation quizzes

Product recommendation quizzes do more than engage customers—they increase time on site, collect valuable zero-party data, reduce returns, and create a truly personalized shopping experience. And in an increasingly competitive e-commerce market, they can help give you a leg up on competitors.

Need inspiration? Check out our free product recommendation quiz templates. You can customize them to engage customers, sell more, and create the personalized experience online shoppers expect of your brand.

Ready to give it a try? Try Typeform.