The Ecommerce simulation allows you to test your products in realistic online environments,  such as Amazon, Walmart, Target, Nike, Costco, or a generic web store by adding products, pricing, descriptions and images to your survey to simulate a directed shopping environment for respondents.

1. Adding Ecommerce to a survey

To add an Ecommerce Simulation to your survey: Drag and drop the Ecommerce icon into the survey editor, or click the icon to insert it directly. Type or paste a list of products into the Product name text fields. Click the camera icon next to each product name field to upload images from your computer. Use the Web drop-down menu to select a store type: Amazon Web, Walmart Web, Target Web, Nike Web, or Standard Web. Enter a relevant product category into the Search API field to search for more products. Use the SKU drop-down menu to choose the approximate number of products to import. Click Import to retrieve product details—images, titles, and descriptions—and populate the product cards. If you import more products than the simulation's limit, click the X to the left of any product to next to any product to remove it. Note: While you can edit the default instruction text shown to participants, clear and specific instructions help reduce confusion and improve the quality of responses.

2. Customizing Products

After importing products, each element on a product card is fully editable.

Click on a product card to:

• Add or rearrange product images
• Edit the product name
• Set the pricing details
• Apply familiar flags based on the selected web store
• Add customer star rating and recommendation tags
• Write a custom product description

Learn more in Ecommerce Customizations!

3. Adjusting Layout and Cart Settings

Further modify the layout and cart settings to help simulate a realistic shopping experience and ensure a more controlled testing environment. 

1. Click the Desktop layout and Mobile layout drop-down menus to select how many products appear per row on each screen type.
2. Open the Cart settings drop-down to implement purchase limits.

• • Max #/product: Check this box and enter a maximum number of each product to determine how many can be added to a respondents cart.
  • Max #/cart: Check this box and enter a maximum number of total products each respondent may add to their cart.
  • Max spend: Check this box and enter a maximum amount of money each respondent may spend on their cart.

Note: Mobile Layout settings are currently available for the Amazon Web storefront, allowing you to optimize the mobile shopping experience for that platform.

4. Previewing an Ecommerce Simulation

Before launching an Ecommerce Simulation, aytm encourages previewing the experience to ensure everything is functioning as intended and aligned with your research goals.

1. Click the Preview button located above the research test.

This will launch a full simulation of the selected storefront, allowing you to experience the interface exactly as your respondents will. This preview includes all interactive elements, such as product cards, cart functionality, and layout settings.

• Scroll to browse products
• Select images to view individual product pages
• Zoom in on images
• Read descriptions, pricing, and customization details
• Add items to the cart and adjust quantities as needed
• Select Cart and click the Check Out button to finalize selections and proceed to the next survey question
• Click Exit Simulation if they choose to leave the experience without completing it

Note: Actions unrelated to the task, such as filtering or searching, are intentionally disabled to maintain focus and consistency.