A Shopify product finder guides customers to the right product with just a few questions. It’s especially worthwhile when products look similar but differ in specific features. At Ritter Decken, it uses existing metafields, displays up to four results side by side for comparison, and can be maintained by the team itself. Plan for around two months when working with an experienced Shopify agency.
In this article, we’ll walk you through our approach step by step.
This blog post draws on the expertise of our Shopify specialist, Vera. As an account manager at tante-e, she advises e-commerce brands on optimizing their stores. She supported Ritter Decken’s product finder from the analysis and concept through to launch.
- What is a product finder on Shopify?
- When is a product finder worthwhile?
- What does Ritter Decken’s product finder look like?
- How do you plan a product finder?
- How does the technology work?
- How much work goes into a product finder?
- Where should you place the product finder in your store?
- How can you measure and improve the product finder?
- What should you keep in mind when creating a product finder?
- Frequently asked questions about Shopify product finders
1. What is a product finder on Shopify?
A product finder is a guided quiz in an online store that helps customers find products suited to their needs by asking just a few questions. Instead of browsing categories and product pages on their own, customers answer questions step by step and receive a curated selection at the end. This approach is also known as guided selling.
2. When is a product finder worthwhile?
A product finder is worthwhile when customers need guidance choosing a product. Two signs point to this:
- Distinctive browsing behavior: Visitors jump between product pages and compare items without making a decision.
- Products that look similar: The range looks uniform at first glance but differs in features that matter to the purchase decision.
Both applied to Ritter Decken, as our CRO analysis clearly showed. A product finder is also particularly helpful for new customers who are not yet familiar with the brand and its product range.
3. What does Ritter Decken’s product finder look like?
Ritter Decken’s product finder asks up to six questions about category, purpose, warmth, material, size, and color to find the right blanket. It runs on a dedicated page and is structured as follows:
- Simple navigation: A progress bar shows how many questions are left. Customers can go back or start over at any time, and single-choice answers take them straight to the next question.
- Help with technical terms: A tooltip explains the warmth ratings. We already use this pop-up on the product pages.
- Smart branching: Questions that don’t make sense along a particular path are skipped. For example, customers who choose duvets aren’t asked about the intended purpose. For smaller product ranges, such as pillows or scarves, the quiz goes straight to the results.
- Results in a comparison table: Up to four matching blankets are displayed side by side, so there’s no need to switch between product pages.
- Fallback that avoids a dead end: If there are no matches, the product finder shows four bestsellers, explains that no suitable results were found, and offers a way back to the quiz.
We show how to compare complex products at a glance using metaobjects with the example of IVARIO.
4. How do you plan a product finder?
Planning determines whether the product finder will deliver useful results. At Ritter Decken, we started with our CRO analysis, which showed that visitors often jump between products because they lack the understanding and guidance they need to make a choice. Based on this, we took three steps:
- Define decision factors: Together with the client, we determined which criteria really matter when choosing a product and should be asked about.
- Review existing product data: Thanks to the store’s SEO work, many details were already stored in metafields. We only needed to add one metafield for purpose.
- Map questions as a user flow: A table of questions and answers quickly became difficult to follow. Creating a user flow in Figma made it clear which question followed each answer.
The user flow made planning much easier. It was only once we had it that we and the client could see which questions were unnecessary for certain answers. It also proved to be a useful basis for implementation during development.
We explain what Shopify metafields are and how to create and use them in our guide.
5. How does the technology work?
The product finder matches customers’ answers against product metafields, filtering down to suitable products step by step. Since it uses existing data, it creates very little additional maintenance work for the team.
In the theme editor, each question and answer is its own block. This lets the team manage the following without developers:
- Content: Questions, answers, images, colors, and single- or multiple-choice options
- Mappings: Which metafield an answer searches and which terms it searches for
- Branches: Which questions to skip, when to go straight to the results, and which answers appear only on specific paths
This makes it possible to keep improving the product finder over time.
6. How much work goes into a product finder?
For a product finder like Ritter Decken’s, we recommend allowing around two months for implementation. Our project ran in two phases:
| Phase | Scope | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Concept | Decision factors, user flow, design | Month 1 |
| Implementation | Development and refinement | Month 2 |
Because the product finder builds on existing metafields, the client has little data maintenance to do. Coordination takes more time: At Ritter Decken, the product finder was developed alongside the comparison table, which led to several rounds of feedback.
7. Where should you place the product finder in your store?
A product finder only works if customers can find it. That’s why it should be available in several places throughout the store, wherever customers might feel uncertain:
| Placement | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Search | An entry point for customers actively looking for guidance |
| Mobile menu | A prominent entry point, perhaps highlighted with a background color and icon |
| Homepage | A dedicated section for new customers who don’t yet know the brand |
| Product pages | Help for customers who can’t decide despite having all the information |
| Collection pages | Guidance while browsing the product range |
| Landing pages | An entry point for visitors arriving from ads who don’t yet know the product range |
From previous projects, we know that a guide can convert very well and still get little use if it’s too hard to find. It’s also helpful to show the most important decision criteria, such as warmth or thickness, directly on product and collection pages.
8. How can you measure and improve the product finder?
The product finder provides data on what customers are actually looking for. At Ritter Decken, tracking is set up through Google Tag Manager and can be switched on or off in the theme editor. The data can reveal, for example:
- which product groups and features customers select most often
- whether demand is greater than previously assumed
That’s why we deliberately included pillows and scarves in the product finder, even though the range is small. If demand proves high over time, that’s a sign that the range should be expanded.
9. What should you keep in mind when creating a product finder?
Based on our experience with Ritter Decken, these four points are especially important when creating a product finder:
- Allow time for planning: Questions, answers, and branches evolve during coordination. Make sure the project includes time for this.
- Visualize the flow: A user flow shows which questions are unnecessary and where special cases arise. This helps resolve those questions early.
- Check data quality: Results are only as good as the underlying product data. Check existing metafields for completeness before launch.
- Go live early: A product finder can always be refined further. Real usage data is the best way to see where adjustments would help.
10. Frequently asked questions about Shopify product finders
What data does a product finder need?
A product finder needs product data for the criteria it asks about, for example in the form of metafields. If these are already maintained, they can be used right away. At Ritter Decken, we only needed to add one metafield.
Can the team customize the product finder themselves?
Yes. Questions, answers, images, and branches can be changed in the theme editor without developers.
What happens if no product is a good fit?
The product finder then displays four bestsellers, explains that no suitable result was found, and takes customers back to the quiz.
Does the comparison table work without a product finder?
Yes. The comparison table can also be used independently of the quiz.
