Best questions for ecommerce shopper survey about cart abandonment reasons

Here are some of the best questions for an ecommerce shopper survey about cart abandonment reasons, along with quick tips to help you craft them effectively. You can use Specific to build your own AI-powered survey in seconds.

Best open-ended questions for ecommerce shopper survey about cart abandonment reasons

Open-ended questions give us authentic, detailed feedback in the respondent’s own words. They’re ideal when we want to uncover not just the “what,” but the “why,” especially for complex topics like cart abandonment where motivations vary. You’ll get richer insights by listening to people describe their specific situations and pain points.

1. Can you describe what stopped you from completing your purchase today?

2. Were there any unexpected charges or costs at checkout that made you reconsider buying?

3. What improvements would have persuaded you to finish your order?

4. How did you feel about the checkout process—was anything confusing or frustrating?

5. What payment methods do you prefer, and did this store offer them?

6. If you left because of delivery options or timing, what would have worked better for you?

7. Is there something about our return policy that concerns you?

8. What could we do to make you trust our payment process more?

9. Were there any website issues or errors during your shopping experience?

10. If you considered purchasing later, what would help you decide to come back?

Let’s not forget how open-ends can surface patterns you might never expect. For example, since 48% of shoppers abandon carts because of surprise costs at checkout, asking them to explain their experience in their own words helps us pinpoint exactly which fees or conditions are the biggest problem areas [1].

Best single-select multiple-choice questions for cart abandonment reasons

Single-select multiple-choice questions are perfect for quickly quantifying the most common cart abandonment drivers. They make it easy for respondents to pick from the main options, which gives us structured, comparable data—and serves as a conversation starter. Sometimes, an ecommerce shopper just wants to tap their main reason, and only dive deeper if they’re asked to elaborate.

Question: What was the main reason you didn’t complete your purchase?

• Unexpected extra costs (shipping, taxes, fees)

• Needed to create an account

• Checkout process was too complicated or slow

• Couldn’t see or calculate total cost upfront

Question: Which of these best describes why you left the checkout process?

• Lack of payment methods I trust

• Slow or expensive delivery options

• Concerned about website security

• Other

Question: Did you experience any technical problems during your purchase attempt?

• The website crashed or froze

• Payment declined or not accepted

• No, everything worked technically

• Other

When to follow up with “why?” Once someone picks an answer, asking them “why?” or “can you tell us more?” opens the door to unexpected insights. For instance, if a shopper picks “shipping was too expensive,” a follow-up like “What delivery options would have changed your mind?” gets to root causes and solutions—turning surface responses into actionable feedback.

When and why to add the “Other” choice? Always include “Other” to catch reasons you didn’t anticipate. Following up on these free-text answers often uncovers emerging trends or pain points unique to your audience, letting you act before competitors even notice the pattern.

NPS-type question for ecommerce shopper cart abandonment

The Net Promoter Score (NPS) isn’t just about long-term loyalty—it can be a game-changer in understanding cart abandonment. By asking, “How likely are you to recommend our store to a friend, even after your recent shopping experience?” you capture a quick, universal measure of brand perception. If someone who abandoned their cart still says they’d recommend you, you know your fundamentals are strong; if not, their additional feedback may reveal critical issues with trust, value, or experience. Try this ready-made NPS survey for ecommerce shoppers and combine it with follow-up questions for full context.

The power of follow-up questions

Automated, conversational follow-ups are the real secret to getting clarity in ecommerce surveys. We’ve written about AI-powered follow-up questions—they make all the difference between vague responses and actionable insights. At Specific, our AI asks smart, in-the-moment follow-ups based on your respondent’s previous replies, just like a skilled human interviewer. With AI handling these probes, you capture the “why” and “how” behind blunt answers without spending hours on manual follow-up emails.

• Ecommerce shopper: “I left because the checkout was annoying.”

• AI follow-up: “Could you tell us what made the checkout process feel annoying—was it the number of steps, entering information, or something else?”

How many followups to ask? Usually, 2-3 targeted follow-ups get to the heart of the matter. If you’re confident you’ve heard the main obstacle, it’s easy to switch off further probing and move to your next question. Specific gives you total control over this setting.

This makes it a conversational survey—not just a form. Respondents feel like they’re genuinely being listened to, which boosts honesty and completion rates, and often surfaces gold that static forms miss.

AI survey response analysis: Even with lots of unstructured replies, analyzing responses with AI is effortless. Just ask Specific’s AI to show main reasons, compare segments, or summarize suggestions, and you’ll get a full intelligence report… no spreadsheet wrangling required.

These automated, real-time AI follow-ups are a new paradigm in research. Don’t just take my word for it—generate your own survey and experience how it feels to get clear, actionable feedback in minutes.

How to compose a prompt for GPT to generate ecommerce cart abandonment survey questions

Crafting effective prompts for GPT (like ChatGPT or Specific’s AI survey builder) will give you better questions, faster. Try this simple starting prompt:

Suggest 10 open-ended questions for ecommerce shopper survey about cart abandonment reasons.

Want even stronger results? Give your AI more context: describe your business model, the shopping journey, or your key hypothesis. For example:

We run an international fashion ecommerce store, and noticed high cart abandonment on mobile checkout. We want to understand detailed reasons why shoppers leave, and discover technical, UX, or trust issues we may have missed. Suggest 10 open-ended questions for ecommerce shopper survey about cart abandonment reasons.

Once you’ve got a question list, organize the feedback:

Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.

Then, zoom in on areas you want to explore. For example, if categories include “cost transparency,” “checkout UX,” and “trust,” pick your priorities and prompt:

Generate 10 questions focused on checkout UX and trust, specifically regarding payment security and form usability.

The more specific your prompt, the better the AI delivers relevant, high-impact questions tailored to your shopper audience.

What is a conversational survey?

A conversational survey mimics a friendly chat, not a cold, static form. Instead of overwhelming respondents with a long list of boxes, it gently guides people one question at a time, listens to their answers, and adapts with follow-up questions based on context. You get richer, more honest insights, because people feel heard, not interrogated.

Let’s compare how this plays out in practice:

Why use AI for ecommerce shopper surveys? AI-powered tools like Specific empower anyone—from solo founders to big research teams—to launch smart, context-driven surveys that deliver insights, not just spreadsheets. You’re not limited to pre-made templates (though those exist); you can create surveys in seconds by chatting with the AI about your real-world challenges. “AI survey example” searches are rising because people demand speed, clarity, and relevance—AI delivers all three.

With Specific, you’re getting best-in-class user experience in conversational surveys—smooth, mobile-friendly, and engaging for both you and your respondents. It’s the fastest path from question to actionable answer for cart abandonment reasons.

See this cart abandonment reasons survey example now

Ready to discover exactly why shoppers are leaving your store? Try this conversational survey experience: get actionable data, uncover unexpected insights, and finally understand the real reasons behind cart abandonment.