Here are some of the best questions for an ecommerce shopper survey about website usability, along with practical tips on crafting them. If you want to build a survey like this, Specific lets you generate a complete, conversational survey in seconds, tailored perfectly to your needs.
Best open-ended questions for ecommerce shopper survey about website usability
Open-ended questions are powerful because they capture detailed stories, opinions, and frustrations in shoppers’ own words. These questions unlock context and nuance that closed questions miss. They're especially useful early in your usability research—before you jump to conclusions about what’s working or broken. Shoppers will surface pain points or delights that you didn’t even think to ask.
Here are our top 10 open-ended questions to ask ecommerce shoppers about website usability:
If you remember your first impression of our website, how would you describe it to a friend?
What, if anything, made it difficult for you to find what you were looking for today?
Was there a point during your shopping experience where you felt frustrated or confused? Please tell us more.
How did you decide whether or not to trust our website with your purchase?
Can you describe a time when our website helped you discover a product you didn’t know you needed?
What changes would make it easier for you to complete your purchase next time?
If you could wave a magic wand and fix one thing about our mobile experience, what would it be?
How did you find the speed of the website while browsing or checking out?
Was there any information missing from product pages that you wish was there?
What’s the single most important factor that would make you recommend our website to others?
Bearing in mind that visitors form opinions about a website in just 0.05 seconds[1] and 75% of shoppers judge credibility based on design alone[2], these open-ended questions help you uncover the subtle factors driving shopper trust and conversion.
Best single-select multiple-choice questions for ecommerce shopper survey about website usability
Single-select multiple-choice questions shine when you want to quickly quantify specific user behaviors or perceptions. They create smooth entry points for even reluctant respondents, making your survey feel less intimidating. Plus, they set up powerful combination flows—ask a simple question, then follow up with a “why?” to gather context.
Question: How easy was it to find the product you were searching for?
Very easy
Somewhat easy
Neutral
Somewhat difficult
Very difficult
Question: Which device did you primarily use during your shopping session?
Smartphone
Tablet
Laptop/Desktop
Other
Question: What was your main concern, if any, when deciding to complete your purchase?
Payment security
Shipping speed
Return policy
No concerns
Other
When to follow up with "why?" After a respondent chooses “Somewhat difficult” for site navigation, always ask why. Adding a simple “Why did you find it difficult to find the product?” transforms a static number into an actionable insight. Multiple-choice lets you spot patterns, but following up reveals root causes.
When and why to add the "Other" choice? “Other” is critical when your list can’t cover every possibility. Respondents often surface issues you hadn’t considered. Follow-up questions like, “Please tell us about your concern” or “Which device did you use?” can unlock unexpected, valuable feedback.
Quantitative questions help you track the impact of improvements over time—for example, by measuring whether more shoppers find your site easy to use after a redesign. Remember, 60% of consumers consider usability a critical design characteristic for online shops[1].
Using NPS-style questions in ecommerce usability surveys
The Net Promoter Score (NPS) question is simple: “On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our website to a friend or colleague?” For ecommerce websites, NPS bridges the gap between usability and brand loyalty. If usability is a pain point, your NPS will drop—and you’ll see why in the follow-up comments.
NPS isn’t just a vanity metric—88% of online consumers are less likely to return to a site after a bad experience[2], so tracking NPS helps you react before it hurts your bottom line. You can instantly generate an NPS survey tailored for ecommerce website usability using Specific’s one-click NPS survey builder.
The power of follow-up questions
Follow-up questions are where the gold is. Many teams ignore them, sticking to their survey script and missing out on the “why” and “how” behind the answers. Specific’s automated follow-up questions feature leverages AI to probe for clarity, context, and deeper stories based on prior answers. It’s instant, and each follow-up feels like a natural part of the conversation.
Shopper: “I couldn’t find what I needed.”
AI follow-up: “Could you tell us more about what you were searching for and where you looked?”
Without a follow-up, you’re left guessing. With a smart follow-up, you know what to fix—and why.
How many followups to ask? In most cases, 2–3 well-targeted follow-ups are enough to get the full context. Specific allows you to set follow-up depth and skip follow-ups once the needed detail is collected, so your surveys stay snappy.
This makes it a conversational survey: Real-time, dynamic back-and-forths—the opposite of cold, static forms. Respondents feel heard, and you gather richer insights.
AI response analysis: Even when you’re getting paragraphs of unstructured feedback, you can analyze responses with AI. It’s fast, accurate, and scalable—perfect for surfacing patterns or themes without hours of manual review.
Automated follow-up questions are a new standard. Try generating a survey and experience the difference in conversation flow and insight quality.
Prompts to generate ecommerce shopper website usability questions with ChatGPT or GPT-4
AI tools can help you draft questions quickly—but the quality of your prompt determines the quality of output. You get better results when you provide relevant context.
Start with a basic request to get questions:
Suggest 10 open-ended questions for Ecommerce Shopper survey about Website Usability.
If you provide more detail, the responses get sharper. For deeper, tailored questions, try this extended prompt:
I am a UX researcher for an e-commerce store looking to improve website usability for mobile shoppers. We lose too many customers, possibly due to slow load times, confusing navigation, or lack of trust signals. Generate 10 open-ended questions that will uncover these blockers in detail.
To categorize and organize your questions, use:
Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.
Once you’re happy with certain categories—like “Checkout Experience” or “Mobile Navigation”—drill down:
Generate 10 questions for categories Checkout Experience and Mobile Navigation.
You can always start from scratch with our AI survey generator if you want a survey customized to your context in just a few clicks.
What is a conversational survey?
A conversational survey feels like chatting with a smart interviewer—not ticking boxes on a form. Specific’s conversational AI surveys adapt to responses, probe with smart follow-up questions, and keep respondents engaged. You spend less time writing scripts and more time learning from shoppers in their own words.
Manual Survey Creation | AI-Generated Survey (e.g., Specific) |
|---|---|
Draft every question and logic flow yourself | Describe your goal, and the AI builds full surveys with smart follow-ups |
Rigid, one-size-fits-all | Dynamic, personalized questioning for richer data |
No real-time follow-up—gaps in context | Automatic clarifications and “why’s” as responses come in |
Painful to analyze lots of unstructured text | Instant, AI-powered summaries and response themes |
High mental load, slower launch | Smooth, intuitive user experience for creators and shoppers |
Why use AI for ecommerce shopper surveys? Because it’s faster, adapts to real answers in real time, and immediately surfaces insights that drive action. Specific’s AI survey maker is the best way to experience conversational surveys tailored to ecommerce website usability—no more guesswork, just actionable feedback in a fraction of the time.
Compared to old-school surveys, AI-generated conversational surveys minimize drop-off, dig up the details that matter, and offer a vastly improved experience for both you and your shoppers. When you need inspiration, check out a ready-to-use AI survey example for this exact topic.
See this website usability survey example now
See what a truly conversational survey feels like in action: rich shopper feedback, instant follow-ups, and effortless insights—built by Specific for ecommerce teams who want to understand (and fix) usability for real shoppers, faster than ever.