✅ How to create the best product finder for online stores? [Checklist]

What makes for a great product finder?

In short and sweet terms: a great product finder requires little to no effort from online shoppers to complete, and the advice they receive meets their expectations. Great product finders help customers to find the best product which eventually results in more conversions, happier customers and less returns. 

Checklist to create the best product finder for your e-commerce business

We’ve created a checklist so you can evaluate if your product finder is set up for success. Let’s get started. Make sure to check and answer the following questions for yourself. 

1. Are your questions arranged in the best order?

The order of questions matters, because your customers will get into a nice flow of answering questions. Which helps increase completion rates too. 

• Start with an easy question that anyone can answer. For example, “Who will use the {product}?” with the answers “A child” and “An adult”.
• End with open questions that require shoppers to think a bit more. For example, “What do you like?” or “What else is important to you?”‍
• Announce the last question. This way, shoppers know that they are almost done. For example, “And finally: What else do you find important?”‍
• Only ask a question about budget if it actually matters. Not sure about it? Check out 6 tips about budget questions in your product finder. The best way to ask a question about budget is to ask it as the very last question. 

2. Do you keep it short and to the point?

Less reading = faster clicking. You don't want shoppers to drop out along the way.

• Keep your questions, answers and info texts as short as possible.
• Use images to illustrate answers where possible. Make sure the images are representative and easily understood by shoppers.

• Do you not have any images to use?  Emojis can be a nice alternative way to allow for quick scanning.

• Use as little answer options as possible. Do you have more than 6 answer options? Consider combining answer options or splitting the question into two separate questions.
• Afraid of asking too many questions? Don't worry about that too much. As long as customers recognize themselves in the answers, they will keep on clicking. However, you can check if you could tackle multiple questions and answer options into a single question, with a multiple choice question. For example:

Need more examples? Have a look at Good and bad questions in a product finder.

3. Do you show enough empathy?

A product finder is made for shoppers and it should be about them, not about your products. So make sure you build your product finder accordingly.

• Ask questions about your shopper's situations, use cases, problems and wishes. Not about product specifications. Shoppers care about how many cups of coffee your thermos can hold, not about how many milliliters it can fit. It’s about humanizing e-commerce again. 
• Keep your product finder clear and accessible by avoiding jargon, complex language, and overly long phrases. Write at a B1 or A2 language level to ensure your content is easy to understand.
  
• You can always check how simple your language is by running your text through an AI tool like ChatGPT. Keep it under a B1 language level.
• Add a “No preference” answer for questions where shoppers may not be able or unwilling to make a choice (yet). This type of answer is mostly selected when asked about the budget. For example, “I don't care” or “I don't know” or “I don't have any budget in mind”. Avoid using the word “preference” because it doesn't meet the B1 or A2 language level!

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4. Do you provide enough context?

By adding an “info text” to the question or answers, you give shoppers more context. And you already hint at the product advice they are about to receive.

With an info page you can inform shoppers in more detail about, for example, the result of a choice made or, on the opposite, about the questions that will come next.

• For multiple choice questions, add the info text: “You can choose multiple answers.”
• An info text accompanying a question explains why you ask this question to the shopper. For example: “This is how we determine the type of hiking boots you need.”
• An info text along an answer clarifies which situation the answer fits, or what the result of the choice is (for advice). For example, “Then you want {products} with {property A}.” or “Great for indoor use but might get wet in the rain.”‍
• Be as consistent as possible: it creates peace of mind if the info text about questions and answers has the same style.

5. Is the starting page clear?

Here you can briefly explain what the shopper can expect from using the product finder.

• Use a simple title that explains what the product finder is about. This shows that you understand your shopper's problems. For example, “Which {product} is right for you?”
• Show what the shopper can expect. For example, “Find the perfect {product} in {number of} questions.”
• Make sure the start button has active text. For example, “Start product finder” or “Get started”.

6. Does the final advice page encourage the shopper to click through?

A shopper must see and understand what suits them at a glance, because that leads to a higher click-through rate (CTR).

• Use a simple, catchy title. For example, “These {products} are right for you.”
• Does your product finder lead to a final advice page with only 1 product? Then write a title that is suitable for both 1-product and multi-product advice. For example: “With these hiking boots, you can comfortably take on long hikes.”
• Optionally, give some extra context, but don't use too much text. The suggested products should be central to the advice page. The more text at the top, the more it distracts from the actual advice. On mobile, users need to scroll down a lot more to actually see the advice:

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• The CTA button should be worded as follows: “Check out this {product}”. This is the most activating and leads to the highest click-through.
• Check whether the answer texts displayed for each product make sense. Give short answers a 'custom answer label':

7. Are you staying consistent?

Consistency builds trust. And trust helps shoppers choose.

• Make sure that the style in which you talk to your shoppers in the product finder (e.g. formal or light-hearted) suits your company and target audience.
• Together with your colleagues, apply this consistently across all product finders.

Finally, check for any language or writing errors in your product finder. Have a colleague with an eye for detail review it—fresh perspectives often bring valuable insights for improvement.

With the checklist covered, you’re well on your way to creating a product finder that delivers results. But to take it to the next level, here are six additional tips to fine-tune and optimize your product finder for even greater impact.

3 additional tips to optimize your product finder

Taking the above checklist into account will already help you create the best product finder out there. But sometimes we see product finders that are set-up, but can use a few extra optimizations. 

Tip 1 - Remove products

It’s natural to feel proud of your product range, but too many similar recommendations can overwhelm customers and cause decision paralysis. The best advice highlights a clear winner that perfectly matches their needs, with 1–2 strong alternatives. To achieve this, trim similar products, like different SKUs or color variants, to keep the advice page clear and focused.

Tip 2 - Be pragmatic

Your product finder doesn’t need to replicate a perfect in-store sales conversation. If 6 questions get you 90% of the way there, adding 10 more for perfection might not be worth it. Longer questionnaires can lead to higher drop-off rates, helping fewer customers overall.

Unsure of the right balance? Build both versions and A/B test them to see which delivers the best results. Sometimes, a slightly less perfect assistant serves more customers better.

Tip 3 - Set live and optimize along the way

Accept that your first version of a product finder won’t be perfect—but it will already be a big improvement. You’re moving from “not helping customers choose” to “helping some customers choose,” whether it’s for one product, category, or target group.

Launch your first product finder quickly to:

• Learn what it takes to go from idea to live tool.
• Start helping customers immediately.
• Generate results that build internal excitement.

From there, you can focus on optimizing. As Barack Obama said, “Better is good.”

“Launched within 2 months with 17 product finders on 4 websites. All done by 1 team member on our side. Aiden has truly made it easy to scale and grow our impact.” - Joey van Wettum, Managing Director, Leylines

How product finders help your online store scale

Product finders do more than improve your e-commerce experience—they empower your online store to scale efficiently. By addressing key operational challenges, they help your business grow while staying lean and focused.

Over the past few years, we have worked directly with 150+ online stores (large and small) and seen how product finders help them grow in a scalable way. These are our three main learnings:

• Higher conversion rates: Product finders significantly boost conversion by guiding customers to the right products, ensuring more visitors become buyers.
• Reduced customer service load: With self-service options, customers can find their ideal products independently, lowering the burden on your support team and freeing up resources for strategic tasks.
• Safeguarded product knowledge: Product finders centralize and share expert product insights, making them easily accessible to all team members, reducing dependency on a few key individuals.

Implementing a product finder is yet another task and another investment for you as an online store. Yet the effort is limited and at Aiden we assist you through our advice and actions.

More importantly: you immediately notice the impact on your most important e-commerce KPIs and you free up important team members for other tasks. This makes investing in guided selling a win-win-win for your online store.

Want to know about it? Book a free demo and we’ll show you how to take your e-commerce strategy to a next level. 🚀