Offline surveys have been a popular tool for a long time in the field of market research. It collects critical in-the-moment data from people across various industries. Offline surveys are used in retail establishments, medical industries, across health and beauty kiosks and for other field surveys. However, it is limited to certain segments of research and comes with its own limitations. In this blog, we will discuss the disadvantages and solutions for CX professionals. 

9 Disadvantages of Offline Surveys

Here are the 8 noteworthy downsides of administering offline surveys.

1. Causes significant survey fatigue

Longer questionnaires can discourage people from filling up longer forms. This causes major survey fatigue among respondents. There are greater dropout rates and there is a higher probability of getting skewed responses. 

2. Limited reach and accessibility

Due to the face-to-face approach, offline surveys cannot be accessed on a wide geographical range of respondent pools.  They require in-person interaction or distribution of physical forms, making it difficult to gather data from remote or widely spread-out audiences.

For example, offline retail chains can conduct paper based questionnaires at physical stores. They will miss feedback from customers who only shop online or may make a significant part of their shopper base.

3. Great cost of survey campaigns

Offline survey campaigns involve printing, distribution, and logistics expenses. This makes them costlier compared to online alternatives. Additionally, in-person surveys may require hiring personnel or training existing staff to conduct interviews. This is applicable for market research or data collection on certain demographics. Researchers need to allocate funds to compensate staff for their expertise and efforts.

4. Data collection is time consuming

Gathering offline responses means manually distributing, collecting, and entering data. This time-intensive process is prone to delays, especially when dealing with large sample sizes. The data needs to be digitally entered before analysis.

For example, a university collecting course feedback through paper forms must manually enter responses into a database. This could take days or weeks, delaying analysis and improvements.

5. Bigger chances of human error

Offline surveys are vulnerable to human errors during data entry and interpretation. In manual data entry, even small mistakes can skew results and affect the survey’s reliability. The data can also be prone to biased reporting  despite training. This scenario can occur when topics of religion, political affiliations or other sensitive topics are concerned. 

6. Compromised security and privacy risks

Paper surveys or offline devices storing responses have inherent risks of data loss, theft, or damage. Without secure storage and backup, responses can easily be misplaced or compromised. Industries of banking and finance deal with numerous confidential details of their clients. They could face security risk and potential compliance issues with offline data that does not come with safety metrics in place.

7. Offline surveys follow a time frame

Researchers can get offline responses when people are available to respond at the exact time and place. Responses are often constrained by the availability of both the researcher and respondent. For example, at an event, a company conducting face-to-face feedback surveys can only collect responses during the event. If attendees leave early, the company may miss out on valuable feedback. A retail store conducting in-store surveys only captures feedback from customers who visit within store hours.

8. Difficulty in tracking dynamic results

The market is a dynamic place that is prone to changes based on trends and patterns. Offline surveys collect one-off data based on the specific event. It fails to capture dynamic patterns of the same respondent. This delays insight generation and can affect timely decision-making. This can happen if marketers want to map journey experiences and trends in industries of retail, beauty and cosmetic or healthcare. 

9. Less engaging and prone to bias

Offline surveys that are taken on a public platform are prone to social desirability bias. This means people will answer to appear favourable to a crowd. This does not reveal their true thoughts. Additionally, offline surveys do not have the capacity to offer multimedia interactivity and engagement. Researchers can miss out on data from tech savvy generations like the gen Z or millennials.

Solutions for Offline Survey Disadvantages

There are many ways to combat the drawbacks from offline surveys. Here are the solutions that you can apply

Keep questions short and targeted

Test your surveys on a sample population before launching it at the final campaign. This can help you notice and clear errors. Shorter and quick surveys get people to actively participate. Make sure you use a survey language that can be understood by people. 

Opt for online surveys  

Online surveys are dynamic and can be customised for the specific target audience. Tools like Merren offer dynamic online surveys that do not need any technical know-how. You can curate personalized campaigns, test it across mobile devices and view data on the unified dashboard.

Explore messenger based surveys

Offline surveys can collect data for a one-time research. In case a marketer needs more information, they can curate a custom made WhatsApp survey for their respondents. They can fill data gaps and collect customer feedback without manual hassle. Merren offers Whatsapp survey templates that are also compatible with Facebook messenger. You can gather in-moment online data at any point without manual intervention.

Explore omnichannel platforms

Most people are browsing their preferred brands on multiple platforms at a time. This gives marketers a chance to capture the online audience. This is particularly useful for retailers and ecommerce brands to gather critical data via multichannel surveys. With the help of Merren, you can automate feedback questionnaires at various touchpoints without any manual intervention.

Get dynamic data on the dashboard

Digitally collected data can be accumulated and segregated over the CX dashboard. This makes it easy for CX professionals to map trends, dynamic responses and segregate data based on demographic factors. This will save hours of manual data filtration and analysis process. 

Offer offline-to-online transition surveys

For a seamless transition from offline to online, consider inviting offline survey participants to complete follow-up surveys online. This approach allows you to capture additional insights without requiring repeated in-person visits. People can respond at their convenience.

Create Dynamic Online Surveys with Merren

• Get an instant survey maker with our AI Survey Builder. You can use this questionnaire to administer offline surveys and online surveys too. 
• Merren offers pre-designed and pre-tested survey templates for all your offline and online market research. You can customize it as per your target audience and research goals. 
• Opt for omnichannel platforms of chatbots, dynamic emails, WhatsApp forms and Facebook messenger surveys. These platforms offer a much interactive and engaging way to collect customer feedback. 
• Get multimedia responses via audio, video, and photo feedback. There is much more to data than plain text. 
• Let our artificial intelligence do the work for you. Get instant speech to text translation, sentiment analysis and word cloud segregation minus the hassle. 
• Integrate Merren with your preferred CRM platform. Automate research at touchpoints and timelines without worrying about it.

Conclusion

Offline surveys are helpful for industries that rely on physically available data. However, it comes with drawbacks of human errors, lack of security and interactivity. It can be prone to bias and false assessments. Online surveys can augment offline surveys rather than completely replacing it. While the two survey methods can go hand in hand, we recommend CX professionals to keep Merren in their arsenal. You can collect 10x the response rate from your audience on a global scale. Sign up for a 14 day free trial and discover the possibilities.