The Significance of Search in Ecommerce

The ecommerce search box is a trusted starting point for many shoppers as they research and purchase products online. That makes having a robust, intuitive search function mandatory for retailers, particularly if you want to compete with behemoths like Amazon, Wayfair, and Target.

As many as 70% of ecommerce customers start their shopping journey with a product search. Many visitors rely on the search box as the primary method for finding items and navigating retail websites, apps, and marketplaces. This tendency to start with a search comes with some high expectations from consumers. It also elevates search to more than a convenient utility, making it a (potentially) powerful asset for retailers capable of boosting conversions and improving customer experience (CX). Search also act as a window into customer intent, providing insights about what drives customers to buy from you.

What is Search in Ecommerce?

Ecommerce search is a specialized tool that helps online shoppers find products quickly and easily. Many modern ecommerce search tools use advanced machine learning (ML) algorithms to understand customer intent and help customers discover products. Subsets of AI like ML and natural language processing (NLP) enable ecommerce search to exceed the limitations of simple keyword matching. 

Understanding shopper intent produces personalized search result that are more relevant for individual shoppers. Personalized ecommerce search engines incorporate data like past behavior, current trends, and product data to inform a more intuitive shopping experience.

Importance of Search in Ecommerce

We’ve touched on the main reason that search is so much more than a tool for finding products on an ecommerce website or app – it’s baked into the online shopping experience. The significance of search in ecommerce clearly extends beyond mere convenience for your customers while providing some key benefits to retailers as well. Here are the top reasons that ecommerce site search matters:

1. It Defines Your Customer Experience (CX)

Site search, when done well, significantly enhances the customer shopping experience. This CX is tied directly to how people perceive your brand. When someone finds what they need quickly, they’re more likely to buy, make larger purchases, and stick around longer.

On the flip slide, when a search fails to produce the right items or (perish the thought) produces a “no results” search page, it’s frustrating. It decreases confidence that you’re the store a customer needs, and makes it more likely that they’ll bounce to a competitor’s website. 

Customers expect instant results when they perform a search, but “fast” isn’t the only expectation. Relevancy is also a top priority. Getting fast, personalized product results make the shopping journey more enjoyable and this creates happy, repeat customers.

2. It Turns Browsers Into Buyers

Site search can be a conversion powerhouse by connecting people to exactly what they want or showing them items they’re likely to love. Shoppers who use search are high-intent buyers, closer to making a purchase versus people who are casually browsing. Serving up accurate, relevant results, guides these motivated shoppers straight to the checkout page. 

Personalized search results give retailers an opportunity to make product search even more relevant by factoring in a customer’s individual preferences and past behaviors. This lets you list the most relevant items for a given search even if you don’t have an exact match in your catalog. It’s a tailored approach to search that boosts ecommerce ROI and can dramatically increase the odds of turning a search query into a sale. Plus, effective search often leads to larger cart sizes because it’s easier for customers to find complementary items or discover products they didn’t know about.

3. It’s a Goldmine of Customer Insight

Your site’s search box provides a glimpse into what your customers are thinking – motivations, interests, concerns, etc. Every search query communicates an aspect of customer intent. This is valuable data that can reveal new trends, uncover gaps in your inventory, and help you discover merchandising and product opportunities. 

Analyzing search data removes some of the guesswork from your merchandising and marketing strategies. It allows you to make smarter decisions about inventory, marketing, and site design. It’s like having a constant, real-time focus group telling you exactly what they want to buy.

4. Use Search to Shape CX in Real Time

Since every shopper’s query reveals something about their in-the-moment preferences and needs, you can use search to shape their shopping experience in real-time. This extends far beyond just the search results page to include product discovery throughout the shopping journey by presenting customized product recommendations, personalized on-site content, and product bundling (e.g,. “Shop the Look”). 

Take a page from Monetate client Nespresso as an example. They used Monetate’s Product Finder to create an interactive Coffee Quiz that recommends coffees based on individual preferences like intensity and flavor notes. This personalized approach to recommending relevant products led to an 18% increase in conversion rates for the recommended coffees.