All templates
Customer Experience

Ecommerce Checkout Customer Effort Score (CES) Survey

Measures perceived effort across each stage of the online checkout journey using the standard CES framework. Designed for ecommerce teams seeking to identify specific friction points, prioritize UX improvements, and track effort reduction over time.

Sample questions

A preview of what’s in the template. Every question is editable before you launch.

22 questions · ~10 min
Q01
Message

Welcome, and thank you for participating in this survey about your most recent order with us. This survey takes approximately 10 minutes. Your responses are confidential and will be reported only in aggregate to help us improve the ordering experience. There are no right or wrong answers — we simply want your honest opinions. Participation is voluntary, and you may stop at any time. Please answer all questions based on your most recent order.

Q02
Multiple Choice

When was your most recent purchase with us?

  • Within the last 7 days
  • 8–30 days ago
  • 31–90 days ago
  • More than 90 days ago
  • Not sure
Q03
Opinion Scale

To what extent do you agree with the following statement: It was easy to place my order.

Scale: 17
Min:Strongly disagreeMax:Strongly agree
Q04
Opinion Scale

How easy or difficult was it to search for and find the item you wanted?

Scale: 17
Min:Very difficultMax:Very easy
Q05
Multiple Choice

Which of the following, if any, caused friction during your order? Select all that apply.

  • Slow pages or app lag
  • Navigation was hard to use
  • Filters were hard to use
  • Item went out of stock after selection
  • Promo code did not apply
  • Shipping costs were unclear
  • Unexpected fees at checkout
  • Preferred payment method not available
  • Sign-in or password problems
  • Form errors or had to re-enter information
  • Delivery dates were unclear
  • None of the above
Q06
Opinion Scale

How likely are you to order from us again in the next 3 months?

Scale: 17
Min:Very unlikelyMax:Very likely
Q07
Long Text

Based on your responses in this survey, is there anything else you'd like to share about your ordering experience?

Q08
Dropdown

What is your age?

  • 18–24
  • 25–34
  • 35–44
  • 45–54
  • 55–64
  • 65+
  • Prefer not to say
Q09
Message

Thank you for your time — your feedback directly helps us improve the ordering experience!

Q10
Multiple Choice

How did you place that order?

  • Desktop/laptop website
  • Mobile website (phone browser)
  • Our mobile app
  • Tablet (browser)
  • Other (please specify)
Q11
Multiple Choice

Approximately how long did it take from finding the item to completing your order?

  • Less than 2 minutes
  • 2–5 minutes
  • 6–10 minutes
  • 11–20 minutes
  • More than 20 minutes
  • I don't remember
Q12
Opinion Scale

How easy or difficult was it to understand the product details (description, images, specs)?

Scale: 17
Min:Very difficultMax:Very easy
Q13
Ranking

Based on your experience, rank these areas from most to least in need of improvement.

  1. Search & discovery
  2. Product details clarity
  3. Pricing & promo transparency
  4. Checkout forms
  5. Payment process
  6. Delivery & shipping options
Drag to rank
Q14
Opinion Scale

How would you rate your overall satisfaction with the ordering process?

Scale: 17
Min:Very dissatisfiedMax:Very satisfied
Q15
AI Interview

We'd like to understand your checkout experience a bit more. An AI moderator will ask a couple of follow-up questions based on your earlier answers.

Q16
Multiple Choice

How do you describe your gender?

  • Woman
  • Man
  • Non-binary
  • Prefer not to say
Q17
Multiple Choice

What category best describes your most recent purchase? Select up to 3.

  • Apparel & Accessories
  • Electronics
  • Home & Kitchen
  • Beauty & Personal Care
  • Sports & Outdoors
  • Grocery & Household
  • Toys & Games
  • Other
Q18
Opinion Scale

How easy or difficult was it to add items to your cart and review your order?

Scale: 17
Min:Very difficultMax:Very easy
Q19
Long Text

What one change would have made placing your order easier?

Q20
Dropdown

Which country or region do you live in?

  • United States
  • United Kingdom
  • Canada
  • Australia
  • Germany
  • France
  • India
  • Brazil
  • Japan
  • Other (please specify)
  • Prefer not to say
Q21
Opinion Scale

How easy or difficult was it to enter your shipping and payment information?

Scale: 17
Min:Very difficultMax:Very easy
Q22
Opinion Scale

How easy or difficult was it to complete payment and receive your order confirmation?

Scale: 17
Min:Very difficultMax:Very easy

What’s included

  • AI follow-ups

    Adaptive probes on open-ended answers that pull out detail a static form would miss.

  • Attention checks

    Built-in safeguards against rushed answers and low-quality respondents.

  • AI-drafted copy

    Wording, ordering, and branching written by the AI — tuned to your research goal.

  • Auto report

    Themes, quotes, and a plain-English summary write themselves once responses come in.

How it compares

We reviewed the closest templates from other survey tools. Here’s what they do well — and where this template goes further.

Why this template

  • Breaks the checkout journey into distinct stages (search, product details, cart/review, shipping & payment entry, order confirmation) with separate effort ratings for each, not just one overall CES score
  • Includes a dedicated AI follow-up interview to probe deeper into the checkout experience beyond what fixed-choice questions can capture
  • Combines quantitative CES scoring with friction-cause multiple choice, a ranking of improvement priorities, and open-text questions for specific fixes
  • Captures purchase context (recency, channel, category, order duration) alongside effort scores, enabling segmentation of friction points by order type

SurveySparrow

Customer Effort Score Survey Template | CES Questionnaire

A ready-to-field CES questionnaire template covering the standard single-statement effort question format. It's a general-purpose CES template rather than one built specifically around the multi-stage ecommerce checkout journey.

What it does well

  • Fielding-ready CES template usable across various customer touchpoints
  • Backed by a broader survey platform with standard distribution and reporting tools

Where it falls short

  • No adaptive AI follow-up interview to probe why effort was high at a specific stage
  • No indication of stage-by-stage breakdown specific to ecommerce checkout (search, cart, payment, confirmation)

Typeform

(CES) Customer Effort Score Survey Template

A conversational-style CES template that mirrors Typeform's typical one-question-per-screen format. It's a generic CES survey rather than one purpose-built for the ecommerce checkout funnel with stage-specific effort questions.

What it does well

  • Clean, conversational form format known for high completion rates
  • Simple, quick-to-deploy CES capture

Where it falls short

  • Static question flow with no adaptive AI-driven follow-up probing
  • No automated per-response quality scoring or transparent prompt methodology published

Ready to launch?

Open this template in the editor. Every part is yours to change before the first respondent sees it.

Related templates

More studies from the same category.

See all
Customer Experience

Customer Advisory Board Experience & Value Survey

Collects structured feedback from Customer Advisory Board members on strategic alignment, meeting cadence, format preferences, and perceived value to drive board engagement and planning decisions.

View template
Customer Experience

Account Churn Risk & Retention Drivers Survey

Diagnoses cancellation intent, surfaces the primary drivers of churn, and identifies which retention offers resonate most with at-risk financial product users. Designed for product, CX, and retention teams seeking actionable save-desk insights.

View template
Customer Experience

Customer Churn Risk & Retention Drivers Survey

Identifies at-risk B2B customers through usage patterns, perceived value, and churn intent, then surfaces the retention levers most likely to prevent cancellation. Designed for product, CS, and growth teams managing subscription-based accounts.

View template
Customer Experience

Checkout Friction & Cart Abandonment Diagnostic

Diagnoses specific checkout drop-off points across payment processing, address entry, and form validation to identify the highest-impact fixes for reducing cart abandonment.

View template
Customer Experience

Chatbot-to-Agent Handoff CSAT & Experience Survey

Evaluates customer satisfaction and friction points during chatbot-to-human-agent transfers, measuring ease of transition, context retention, agent effectiveness, and reuse intent to guide support escalation optimization.

View template
Customer Experience

Customer Support Agent Interaction Feedback

Captures how a specific customer support interaction went — channel used, resolution, effort, and how the agent performed on key behaviors — with an AI follow-up that digs into the real reason behind the satisfaction score, not just the number. Built for support ops and CX teams tracking agent quality over time.

View template