You know the feeling of walking into a store and having a salesperson ask, “What are you shopping for today?” A knowledgeable sales associate might then ask questions to guide you to the right product, creating a more satisfying experience.
It’s a standard question in stores, so why aren’t more brands asking it online?
Well, there’s a simple way to do that: guided selling with product quizzes.
With well-crafted questions, a quiz can act as an intelligent, interactive guide, helping visitors find the perfect product while allowing your brand to gather actionable insights.
Product quizzes can be especially powerful because they fulfill multiple roles:
- Conversion rate optimization (CRO): By steering shoppers toward the best-suited product, quizzes reduce decision fatigue and increase conversion rates.
- Customer retention: When customers buy products tailored to their needs, they’re more likely to stick with your brand. A well-chosen product is often a repeat purchase.
- Enhanced personalization: Every answer helps refine future recommendations, crafting a journey that feels custom-built for each individual across your marketing funnel.
But how you set up your quiz—from strategy to structure—can make all the difference. Here’s what you need to know to create a quiz that maximizes engagement and insights.
Define Your Quiz’s Goal and Core Data Points
Start with a clear goal for your quiz: What do you need to know to improve your recommendations, messaging, or offers? What do you want to achieve with the data you’re collecting?
Whether your goal is to improve product recommendations, personalize email follow-ups, or drive loyalty, defining your purpose will guide every decision you make about the quiz.
Ask yourself questions like:
Who is the ideal quiz taker?
Think about the different types of visitors on your site. Are they new shoppers, returning buyers, or gift-givers? Mapping out key personas will help you align your quiz to their needs and expectations.
What key insights will improve the shopping experience?
Decide which data points are essential. This could mean honing in on preferences that influence buying decisions, like skin type or lifestyle habits, or identifying needs that affect product choice, such as the recipient’s age or experience level with the product.
How will this data support your marketing goals?
Define how you’ll use the collected data across your marketing channels. Each data point should have a purpose, contributing to a larger strategy rather than collecting information for its own sake.
Craft Questions That are Both Engaging and Purposeful
Each quiz question should serve a specific purpose and align closely with the considerations your shoppers have during their buying journey.
For example, a skincare brand might focus on questions around skin type, age, and specific concerns (like dryness or acne), while a baby toy brand might inquire about the baby’s age or developmental milestones.
Here are question types that help you gather meaningful data while keeping the experience engaging:
Lifestyle questions
These questions help you understand day-to-day habits and preferences. For example, a fitness brand might ask, “What’s your primary fitness goal?” This not only provides insight into the shopper’s needs but also sets the stage for personalized product recommendations.
Buying triggers
To uncover specific motivations, ask about what matters most in their product selection. For example, a skincare brand could ask, “What’s your biggest skin concern?” Knowing this can help you recommend products that directly address their concerns.
Personality or style preferences
Questions around personal style or preferences can help you segment users into categories. A clothing brand might ask, “What color do you wear most often?” These insights can guide your recommendations toward products that align with their tastes.
💡Tip: Get creative with indirect questions
Some people might not feel comfortable sharing certain information, such as their age. One lash brand uses playful questions to gauge age groups without explicitly asking for it. They ask about favorite childhood cartoons, with answer options that hint at generational markers.
Indirect questions can be a great way to maintain comfort while still gathering valuable insights—just be sure they fit naturally with your brand’s voice and tone.
Strike the Right Balance With Quiz Length
Rather than aiming for a fixed number of questions, consider the shopper journey and the type of product you offer. For many brands, a short quiz works well, but high-consideration products might benefit from longer quizzes to build shopper confidence.
Tips for structuring an effective quiz:
- Map out quiz pathways: Using tools like Miro or an old-fashioned whiteboard, start with the questions that provide core insights, then determine branching paths based on responses. This approach allows you to collect more data without showing every question to every shopper.
- Use conditional logic: Branching lets shoppers see only the questions relevant to them. For instance, if a shopper has sensitive skin, direct them to follow-up questions while others skip ahead. This ensures every question feels meaningful and avoids quiz fatigue.
- Keep total question load in mind: Even if your quiz technically has 20+ questions on the backend, each shopper may only encounter a fraction of them due to branching. By planning out question paths carefully, you can offer a highly personalized experience without overwhelming users.
- Consider follow-up quizzes: Start with a quick quiz, then use email follow-ups to capture more data over time. This approach keeps the initial quiz brief while deepening insights gradually.
💡Tip: Avoid “blank page syndrome” and use AI to build your quiz foundation
If you’re unsure where to start, AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity can help you brainstorm question ideas and map out branching paths. While these tools can do about 75% of the heavy lifting, you’ll still need to review and refine to ensure the questions align with your brand and goals.
Make Sure the Experience Feels Rewarding
A quiz should feel like a valuable exchange, not just a form to fill out. From the start, let shoppers know they’ll receive personalized recommendations based on their answers, making the process feel purposeful.
You should also make sure the quiz is visually engaging by adding elements like icons or images for answer choices, and, if it suits your brand, incorporate playful language that matches your tone.
Consider adding a progress bar to reassure shoppers they’re close to finishing, which keeps them engaged.
And once they complete the quiz, a clear CTA—such as “View Your Recommendations” or “Discover Your Personalized Picks”—helps turn their answers into immediate, actionable insights.
When the quiz feels rewarding and engaging instead of transactional, shoppers are more likely to complete it and enjoy the experience.
Collect and Organize Data Strategically
Once your quiz is live, it’s essential to have a system for organizing and storing the data effectively.
Set up clear categories and segments in your email and SMS platforms like Klaviyo based on shopper responses, so the data remains accessible and actionable as your needs evolve. Consider organizing responses around key attributes (like skin type or style preferences) to streamline future targeting efforts across your marketing funnel.
Organized data will help you lay the groundwork for ongoing personalization and relevance. By setting up a structured data system from the start, you’ll be ready to maximize the potential of this zero-party data over time.
But, product quizzes aren’t just about data collection; they’re about creating an enjoyable, helpful, and tailored experience for your shoppers that keeps them coming back.
Whether you’re starting small with a few basic questions or going big with a highly branched, dynamic quiz, a well-crafted quiz is your pathway to valuable insights and happier customers.\
