Here are some of the best questions for an ecommerce shopper survey about promotions and discounts, plus our go-to tips for making them more actionable. If you want to build your own high-performing survey, you can generate it with Specific in seconds using this AI-powered survey generator.
Best open-ended questions for ecommerce shopper surveys on promotions and discounts
Open-ended questions let your shoppers share real experiences and opinions—the kind of insights you’d miss in standard forms. These are best when you want to dig into motives, pain points, or the why behind behaviors. Given that 75% of online shoppers say discounts and promotions influence their purchasing decisions[1], understanding the "why" behind their preferences is essential.
What do you look for in a promotion or discount before deciding to purchase?
Can you recall a recent promotion that motivated you to buy something online? What was appealing about it?
Describe an instance when a discount changed your mind about a product or brand.
How do you typically find out about promotions or discounts when shopping online?
What frustrates you most about online discounts or promo codes?
Are there types of promotions that you feel are more trustworthy or enticing? Why?
How do time-limited promotions impact your shopping decisions?
Tell us about a time when a lack of promotions influenced your choice not to purchase.
If you could invent your ideal promotion or discount for our store, what would it look like?
What suggestions do you have for improving our promotional offers and discounts?
Open-ended questions like these deliver rich context. To make analysis easy, Specific’s AI can summarize and organize open-text responses into actionable insights (see how AI analysis works for survey responses).
Best single-select multiple-choice questions for ecommerce shopper surveys on promotions and discounts
Single-select multiple-choice questions are perfect when you need clear data and want to quickly spot trends. They're quick for shoppers (no need to craft a whole answer), and great for quantifying preferences or starting a conversation you can deepen with follow-ups. For example, research shows that promotion-driven purchases account for 54% of online buying decisions in the past six months [2], so tracking which types of promos resonate is critical.
Question: How often do promotions or discounts influence your decision to complete a purchase?
Always
Often
Sometimes
Rarely
Never
Question: Which type of discount makes you most likely to buy?
Percentage off (e.g. 20% off)
Buy one, get one free
Free shipping
Exclusive early access
Other
Question: Where do you usually learn about our discounts and special offers?
Social media
Website banners
Referral from a friend
Other
When to follow up with "why?" Adding a follow-up “why?” works when a shopper’s answer signals a pain point or a strong preference. For example, if a respondent picks “Free shipping” as the most motivational promo, a natural follow-up could be, “Why does free shipping matter so much in your decision-making?” This often reveals barriers or incentives you can act on.
When and why to add the "Other" choice? Choose “Other” when you recognize that your options might not cover everyone’s reality. Follow-up questions let people explain unique answers you might have missed—this is often where new, valuable insights arise!
NPS-type question: measuring loyalty after promotions and discounts
The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a consistent way to measure how likely shoppers are to recommend your store after experiencing your promotions. It gives you a loyalty metric you can track and compare over time. With 73% of consumers claiming that referral discounts influence their shopping choices [3], knowing your promotion-driven NPS is a power move.
You can set up an NPS survey specifically for ecommerce shoppers about promotions and discounts with Specific’s survey builder here. Just ask:
"How likely are you to recommend our store to a friend or colleague after using one of our promotions or discounts?" (on a scale from 0–10)
Always pair the scoring question with “Why did you choose this score?” to get insights you can act on.
The power of follow-up questions
The magic of great ecommerce shopper surveys isn’t just in the first question—it’s in the next one. Automated follow-ups (like those explained in our AI follow-up questions feature) turn flat answers into deep narratives, unlocking the full context behind shopper choices. Specific’s AI asks tailored follow-ups in real time, just like an expert, letting you fast-track to meaningfully richer insights.
Shopper: “I always look for free shipping.”
AI follow-up: “What makes free shipping more valuable to you than other types of discounts?”
Shopper: “I used a 20% discount, but it didn’t work.”
AI follow-up: “Was there anything confusing or frustrating about using that discount?”
How many followups to ask? Two or three targeted follow-ups usually uncover all the depth you need. Specific lets you set the follow-up depth and can automatically skip to the next question once you have a complete answer—saves loads of time you’d spend chasing people down for clarification.
This makes it a conversational survey: With AI probing naturally, your survey shifts from cold form to friendly chat—exactly what makes respondents share more valuable information.
AI analysis for unstructured feedback: With so much text, response analysis might seem daunting. But AI (like Specific’s AI survey response analysis) makes reviewing all feedback a breeze, surfacing trends and actionable ideas automatically—even from paragraphs of context.
AI follow-ups are new—try it out! These automated probes turn a simple “form” into a true two-way exchange. Generate a survey, try it for yourself, and see how much more you learn compared to static forms.
How to compose a prompt for ChatGPT to generate ecommerce shopper survey questions
You can use AI yourself to brainstorm or refine great survey questions. Here are starting point prompts, plus tips to get the most from ChatGPT—or any advanced language model:
Start simple. For example:
Suggest 10 open-ended questions for ecommerce shopper survey about promotions and discounts.
For best results, add context (who you are, your goals):
I'm a product manager at a mid-sized ecommerce company looking to optimize conversion rates through customer-centric promotions. Suggest 10 open-ended questions for our ecommerce shoppers about their experience with our discounts and promotions. Focus on identifying both motivators and pain points.
To organize your initial brainstorm, have AI group questions:
Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.
Next, double down on what matters most. Pick the strongest category (say, “Trust in Promotions”), then ask:
Generate 10 survey questions that will uncover perceptions about trust and skepticism with online promotions.
This prompt-driven loop helps you drill down quickly—get sharp, relevant questions for your ecommerce shopper audience. Or just use Specific's AI survey generator to get expert-level results instantly, customized for your topic.
What is a conversational survey?
Conversational surveys mimic natural dialogue. Instead of bombarding ecommerce shoppers with a blocky list of questions, you interact in chat—one question at a time, with intelligent, in-the-moment follow-ups. This approach taps into shoppers’ authentic motivations and removes friction (and boredom), helping you get more and better answers. Compared to old-school survey forms, the difference is night and day.
Manual Surveys | AI-Generated Surveys |
|---|---|
Manual question writing & formatting—slow, prone to bias | Quick survey creation from a simple prompt—AI-optimized and bias-checked |
No conversational flow—static and disengaging | Dynamic, chat-like flow—respondents feel heard and valued |
No or limited follow-up—shallow insights | Automated, smart follow-ups capture deeper context instantly |
Manual response analysis—time-consuming | AI summarizes and organizes feedback—insights are ready-made |
Why use AI for ecommerce shopper surveys? AI survey generators cut the grunt work—no scripting, no endless formatting, no chasing after clarification emails. You get high-quality, engaging, and consistent feedback with a fraction of the effort. Features like dynamic follow-ups and instant AI analysis drive survey results that are as actionable as they are insightful. If you want to explore step-by-step, check out our guide on how to create an ecommerce shopper survey about promotions and discounts.
Specific’s conversational surveys deliver the best experience out there, guaranteed—the process is smooth, fast, and genuinely engaging for both you and your shoppers. It’s the shortcut from “I wonder what’s working” to “Here’s what to do next.”
See this promotions and discounts survey example now
Turn feedback into your competitive edge—generate a shopper survey and experience how conversational AI delivers richer, more actionable insights instantly.