Zig-Zag Corner Survey Results!

Take a look at our Zig-Zag Corner Quilts Survey Results!

It was fascinating and informative to review the survey results that our daughter Victoria compiled for her AP Psychology class! We're so proud of her as she wraps up her senior year of high school!  

A survey was sent out through weekly newsletters and social media for several weeks and 73 customers responded. This provided helpful feedback on the customer service of Zig-Zag Corner Quilts & Baskets!

Question Results:

The first question on the survey was “How did you hear about us?”. The majority of responses (34.2%) selected "online" and the fewest responses were "newspaper ads" at 5.5%. Of the 11% who chose "other", it's expected that some of those surveyed may have simply noticed the large business sign while driving along State Road 234.

Question two asked individuals to rate the store’s general location. 

As a rural store, Zig-Zag Corner is more of a destination shop - less likely for people to notice driving by. (There's no foot traffic in a busy urban shopping area that other shops may have).

Survey participants had the choice from 1 to 10. 

Options - ranking "1 - Too far away" and "10 - perfect distance away." 

Over 50% rated the store’s location above an eight while only 7% rated the location a four or below.

The third question was to see how far was too far away to drive. By roughly averaging the distance from the store to the customer’s house, it clarifies why the store’s location was ranked the way it was. Almost 40% of the participants live within 10 miles. While 32% live within 20 miles. There were 8% who chose "other" - they live out of state and over 100 miles away. (We do have visitors from "Shop Hop" groups - even tour buses on occasion!)

Visit satisfaction was question four. This was another rating question, with option one being "not satisfied" and ten being "very satisfied." The overwhelming majority (77%) said they were very satisfied, with the next highest being 17% with a nine.

The fifth question was a follow-up question to number four. It was open-ended for customers to explain why they chose the number they did. Many of the responses talked about how friendly the staff is, the variety of products, and the product availability in the store.

Question six was a check-box question. (Meaning the participants can select multiple answers.) This question was written to find the social media platform most used by customers. Facebook came in as the leader with almost 80%, followed by Zig-Zag Corner’s website at 44%. The least used social media was Instagram with 7%.

Question seven asked if customers have taken any classes with Zig-Zag. A simple yes or no, with yes pulling ahead with 55%

Question eight was a follow-up asking which classes an individual took. Some of the favorites were the beginning quilting classes, machine mastery classes, and the Kimberbell (embroidery) events.

The ninth question asked what types of classes would customers like offered in the future. Top responses included; applique and machine embroidery, but there were also more unique responses, like rope bowls and basket making.

Question number ten asked what types of fabric lines customers would like Zig-Zag Corner Quilts to carry. Responses varied from Kaffe, to Japanese fabrics, to Tilda and Figo. However, almost 20% of respondents were satisfied with the store’s current selection.

Eleven asked about promotional videos and sales. Surprisingly not a single person answered No. Yes had an obvious lead of 91% and the miscellaneous other took up the other 8%. Many of the other responses simply explained that that individual does not see the promotional videos, due to not accessing social media.

Another Yes/No question, number twelve, asks about quilting challenges and block of the month (BOM) events (and whether customers like having these events offered.) Once again, the majority answered "yes", and the minority responded "no". Around 15% of the responses indicated that the individual has never participated in one of these challenges.

The thirteenth question is a follow-up for twelve. It asked if customers be interested in joining a challenge or BOM (Block-of-the-Month) program if they haven’t in the past. Over 50% said yes, they would be interested in joining, while 27% said they would rather not, and 19% were undecided, or do not have enough time to participate.

Question fourteen asks if customers are satisfied with the store's current hours of operation, or if they have any suggestions for new hours. The majority of respondents said they were happy with the store's current hours, and those that suggested improvement suggested staying open later one night per week would be beneficial for them.

Question fifteen asks why customers return to Zig-Zag Corner. It was surprising how similar all the responses were to each other. Most responses talked about the store’s friendly and welcoming staff, how the customers are known by name, and the great variety of the materials in the store.

Question sixteen asked for a rating on customer service. The overwhelming majority ranked Zig-Zag’s customer service as ten. Only 1% responded below an eight.

Another follow-up, question seventeen, asks for an explanation of the rating. The majority of responses were positive, and discussed how friendly and understanding the staff is. The qualities that were most reported were that the staff are; friendly, knowledgeable, helpful, and patient.

The final two questions, eighteen and nineteen, asked for additional feedback, and suggestions for improvement. Many responses were very supportive and encouraged the business to continue everything they are already doing. The improvement section suggested more home renovation-type items, such as new tables and chairs, a larger parking lot, and a larger classroom.

Survey analysis

The survey and research were conducted to better understand the wants and needs of the customer in a retail setting, and to see if certain factors influenced opinions. By asking customers a variety of questions, a trend could be seen regarding the customer’s experience in the store relative to the store’s size, location, and product inventory. 

Each question on the survey tells a little bit more about what the customer expects and suggests improvements to better accommodate the customer and their needs.

Customer outreach is vital to sales because, without customers, a business cannot survive. 

The first question gave us insight into reaching customers. The replies "online" or "digital outreach" were the most common replies. It shows us that Zig-Zag Corner Quilts reaches the majority of customers through weekly emails and online posts/advertising.

However, if you combine the 26% of customers who personally know the business owner Jennifer, with the 23% who heard about the store through a friend or relative, then word of mouth accounts for almost half of the outreach.

A business’ location is also a fairly large factor in determining customer satisfaction. This is why we dedicated the second and third questions to Zig-Zag Corner's relative location to the customer's house. It can be assumed that the individuals that ranked the store’s general location high, live a shorter distance from the store. Whereas, the select individuals that ranked the location lower, most likely live out of state or at a greater distance. This however can also be relative, because if a business is of increasing quality, one might drive a farther distance for those factors.

Many of the survey questions were set in pairs, the initial question and a follow up question. After asking the customers how Satisfied they were after visiting Zig-Zag, they were asked why they rated that number. The majority of respondents voted a ten, as being very satisfied after their visit, with their main reasoning being “Friendly, helpful service”. There was only one response that marked their satisfaction as a four, and their reasoning was “The location is out of the way for me. The hours are also inconvenient.” While negative feedback is never ‘good’, it is beneficial to understand why the score ranked low at a four. With this feedback, Zig-Zag Corner Quilts can take this into account. One way to help is by promoting the online sales shop with free shipping over $75. With the convenience of online shopping, the shop can accommodate those who cannot drive long distances (saving time and gas money for customers.) 

To increase public outreach, Zig-Zag Corner Quilts has moved into social media in a more meaningful way since the summer of 2021. Facebook is the most used social platform for ZZC customers. Almost 80% of responses listed Facebook as the most used social media platform.

Many of Zig-Zag’s customers are over the age of 50 and Facebook continues to be a commonly used platform in this category. 

Questions seven, eight, and nine are a question set. Seven asks if customers have ever taken classes with Zig-Zag Corner. This is a yes or no, just to see how many customers have taken advantage of the classes offered by the business and to set a base for the next questions. 

Question eight asks “If you answered Yes, what did you like about the class? Do you have a favorite class you’ve taken? If you answered No, would you be interested in taking a class from us?” 

The responses here give insight into how the customers view the classes offered, and give a subtle evaluation of the instructors. The top responses mentioned the small class sizes, the friendly atmosphere, and learning new techniques. 

Question nine asks the customers what classes they would like offered in the future. Most responses mentioned Embroidery and appliqué classes. This is informative information because the customers will only take the classes they want to, so if a business knows what the customer is looking for, they can change to accommodate the customer.

Question ten asks the customers about the lines of fabric the store carries, or if they would like a variety of different brands. Over half of the responses said Zig-Zag Corner's fabric collection was satisfactory, while others mentioned lines like Kaffe, Cory Yoder, and Poppie Cotton. This shows that most customers agree with the fabric lines ordered by the business, and shows which other lines are popular among the customers that the business should order.

As determined in an earlier question, social media is a key player in business advertising. Zig-Zag Corner has recently been having Facebook live promotional videos, however, they have noticed only a few people watch them. In the survey, question eleven asked if customers like the promotional videos. One to see what they think, and two to bring awareness to the promotional videos so more people will watch them. 92% of the participants said “Yes” they enjoy watching the promotional videos.

Questions twelve and thirteen asked about the quilting challenges and Block of the month programs the business holds. The first question asked if customers like the challenges, almost 80% of participants said they like the quilting challenges, and the rest said they have never been able to participate. This is a good statistic because even though 20% didn’t answer yes, they also didn’t answer no. They just simply have never participated. This leads to question thirteen, this question asks “If you haven’t participated in the quilting challenges or BOMs yet, would you be interested in joining?” This is to see if those unable to participate would want to if possible. Shockingly the statistics changed, only 53% said yes, and almost 28% of participants said No. Since time is such a precious commodity, we understand that some customers simply don't have time or an interest in that format of sewing or quilting (challenges/block programs.)

Question fourteen asked about current hours of operation, a few customers have mentioned in the store that they are unsatisfied with Zig-Zag’s store hours, such as not being open on Sundays. This was added to the survey to see what percentage of customers would prefer different hours. Less than 3% of participants said they would prefer a change in hours.

Question fifteen asked the customers why they return to Zig-Zag Corner. Once again the overwhelming answer is how friendly and kind the staff is. This again reinforces that how a customer is treated can influence their opinions of a business.

Questions sixteen and seventeen are a question pair to determine how customers feel about customer service. Looking at the responses to the other questions, it comes as no surprise that 88% of customers rated Zig-Zag’s customer service as a 10. (Again, the reasoning behind this is the friendly and helpful staff.) 

The last two questions ask for feedback and suggestions from the surveyors. This was to cover anything that the survey did not ask and to give the customers a chance to give additional feedback. Most comments were supportive and said the customers were excited about the store addition.

Thank you to all who participated in our daughter Victoria's survey! We learned a lot! We will always work hard to bring our customers an outstanding selection of fabrics, patterns, notions, classes, and sewing machines! 

Many thanks,

Jennifer and the Zig-Zag Corner Quilts team