Poll Vaulting Need a tool that will help you get a jump on market research and customer feedback? Look no further than online polls.

Who doesn't like to be polled? Whether the issue is entertainment or current events, people like to make their voices heard--especially if it takes just a minute to participate. Small wonder more e-tailers are using polls.

"Polls are fast and easy," says Louise Garnett, vice president and lead analyst at Outsell Inc., a firm that specializes in the information services industry. "There is a level of enjoyment for people who take polls and a degree of stickiness for a website." Polls aren't intrusive like pop-up ads or invasive like spam. And inexpensive, easy-to-use tools such as PollDaddy.com and PollMonkey.com let e-tailers create free polls for blogs and websites.

Alyssa Rapp, co-founder and CEO of Bottlenotes Inc., a Palo Alto, California-based customized wine club that features high-quality wines, has used polls on her website since its launch two years ago. Polls appear every week in Bottlenotes' Bottle News e-newsletter and are part of its wine encyclopedia and blog. Rapp uses a polling tool from Vizu.