Personalizing your ecommerce site to offer up a tailored product for each visitor can increase conversions by 30% or more.

Unfortunately, the reality is that personalization software can be expensive and time-consuming to implement – until recently.

A few months back, ecommerce sites began to adopt the quiz as a mechanism for providing targeted product recommendations, and the results have been nothing but impressive. 

Today I want to show you two example quizzes that combined to drive $15,686 in revenue. We’ll examine the exact process these sites used so you can implement it for your own products. 

Using a quiz to differentiate between similar products and make $7,260 

Rising star ecommerce site Birchbox created a quiz called “Find your facemask soulmate” that takes buyers through a journey ending with a product offering that’s irresistible. 

Let’s follow along. 

The quiz was implemented on the Birchbox magazine, which runs on a simple CMS so implementing it didn’t take too much time (compared to other methods for personalization).

It was a main feature for March 2015 and was quite popular. 

Once a potential buyer begins taking the quiz, it asks personal questions, really doing its best to understand the person taking the quiz so as to deliver up an accurate result.

The logic for the quiz was built up using research compiled from studies online for accuracy.

After five short questions, a facemask product is recommended, and of course there is a link to purchase the mask right there as part of the results.

This quiz result is where Birchbox really gets to utilize the personalization aspect of the quiz by providing a description that refers back to the way in which quiz takers answered the questions.

They do an excellent job of describing the product in a warm way that entices click-through to the purchase page. The way they accomplish this is by being very uplifting with the wording, but also honest.

So for example “is best for oily skin and removes pore-cloggers, leaving skin radiant, clear, and less susceptible to acne” that statement is both very poignant and very kind all at once, the exact combination that makes someone want to purchase the product. 

Results: 11,000 quiz takers, 3% sales conversion rate, average sale price of $22, $7,260 in new sales.

This quiz was wildly successful. It not only drove sales, but it was also a fun enough piece of content on its own to be share-able and drive social traffic.

This quiz achieved the rare combination of fun and practical, as it delighted readers and led to sales all at once. 

This Birchbox example shows us that a quiz can be used to help differentiate between similar products.

For them it was Facemasks, but it could very well be sweaters or wallets or cell phones. When you’re in a business that has several variations of a product, providing some level of personalization with a quiz is an excellent way to break through product confusion and increase sales.

Successfully launching an ecommerce site using the power of personalization through quizzes

A slightly more irreverent quiz, this one comes from a yet-to-be-launched startup running a Kickstarter campaign.

The quiz asks you a series of questions before identifying which kind of Elephant pants you should get.

This quiz appeals to the type of people who actually buy products like Elephant Pants in that there are mentions of travel, gourmet foods, and Friday night adventures.

The questions work to not only build up a portfolio for the quiz taker which will be used to provide a recommendation, but also build some trust with the person taking the quiz.

Given that this is a brand that doesn’t even exist yet, trust is important if the quiz is going to be effective at convincing people to pre-order the product, and the personable nature of the questions certainly work to build that trust. 

Once finished taking the quiz, a certain type of Elephant pants are recommended – again a stellar example of personalization. There is a link to the Kickstarter campaign to actually pre-order the recommended pair as well.

Results: $8,426 raised on Kickstarter. Also, The Elephant Pants brand has since beomce a thriving company with a full website outside of Kickstarter and healthy sales.

This quiz was an integral part of launching a successful stand-alone E-commerce website. 

As a marketer within an ecommerce company you need to find ways to make sales.

Quizzes can work for any industry to help personalize your website and sell products without a huge up-front investment.

Personalized recommendations can increase sales by 30% or more, and quizzes are the quick and easy way to personalize your online shop.