The Fast Lane
Discover the world of AI-driven shopping optimization and fast-track your way to increased conversion rates, AOV, and customer loyalty. Explore expert insights on e-commerce personalization, merchandising, site search, and more.
Search & discoveryE-commerce Product Search Engine: 5 Key Features and BenefitsAn e-commerce product search engine is a "local" search engine built for your e-commerce store. When a customer types in a query, the engine indexes all of your products and uses sophisticated AI algorithms to help match customers with exactly what they're looking for—fast.
In an age where customers expect a smooth user experience and immediate results, an e-commerce product search engine is a must-have for every store owner. And fortunately, this tool is highly accessible: it can be integrated with most major e-commerce platforms, including Shopify, BigCommerce, Magento, WooCommerce, Wix, and more.
Let's look at 5 key features and benefits that you can start reaping today.
1. Fast Loading Time
How quickly your site loads is closely connected to your customers' satisfaction, your site's bounce rate, and its ranking. Your customers may feel that your loading time is a reflection of your service and quality. So, the faster your site loads, the less likely your customers are to leave your site. This keeps your bounce rate down (an average of 9%) and helps to boost your search engine ranking.
Ideally, you should aim for a 2-second loading time for your e-commerce store and its product search functionality to make sure your customers quickly find what they're looking for.
2. Autocomplete Text
Autocomplete text is an AI feature that aims to finish your customer's query as they're typing it. This gives them a quicker path to your product, requiring less keystrokes to get to their end goal. It also helps to prevent spelling errors, which can alter their search results and provide a less-than-ideal user experience.
Take Ruggable for example. When a user types "ze" into the search bar, the product search engine automatically pulls results for zebra-related items. This helps to cut the time the user spends searching, sending them straight to their results.
» Learn how AI can optimize your customers' e-commerce experience
3. Full-Text Search
Sometimes, your customer may know exactly which product they want. But often, this isn't the case. Search queries fall into 4 types:
Exact product search: Your customers know exactly what they need, down to the product's nameProduct type search: Your customers search for a general product, not a brand or modelProblem-based search: Your customers need a solution to an issue, but they're not sure which form it comes inNon-product search: Your customers are looking for information, not a product
Full-text search is a helpful feature when your customer hasn't entered an exact product search. It compares every word in your customer's query against your database(s), helping to fill in the gaps where the query lacks specificity or precision.
In this example, a user might type the problem-based search "organize kitchen". Wayfair's e-commerce product search engine returns multiple types of organizers, dividers, and racks to solve the problem.
4. Product Images In-Search
Images are non-negotiable to convince your customers to convert. They need to see the item to visualize if it's what they're really looking for. When your website contains images within search engine results, it speeds up the shopping process, opening the possibility of finding what they're looking for in seconds instead of minutes.
On Hoover's website, a user can type in "pets" and see multiple product suggestions as well as photos and price—all right from the search bar dropdown. This completes a mini product preview, providing in a glance all the key decision-making information they need.
» Find out how AI visual discovery can inspire your shoppers to buy
5. Synonyms
It's rare that your customer will be able to search for a product verbatim as it's listed on your website. If your product search engine doesn't include synonyms, they may be served "no results" pages when that's not truly the case. Synonyms help to give your customers as many options as possible by showing results based on similar terms.
For example, you can fine-tune your product search engine to display jumpsuits when your customer types "jumper", or denim if they misspell it as "demin". You can make searches more specific or general, like showing rings and bracelets when your customer types "jewelry".
Take the Fast Way
To capture today's online shopper, your e-commerce product search engine needs to match your competitors in terms of speed, flexibility, and problem-solving. The features we've discussed here can supercharge your user experience, earning loyal customers and predictable revenue.
» Explore how a personalized search and recommendation engine can drive you forward
Search & discoverySearch Within Shopify Collections: Improve Product Discoverability and UXShopify collections are a great way to organize and present your products on your online store. However, they're only useful when shoppers can quickly sort through the results and choose the products they're interested in. To get the most out of your collection pages and boost product discoverability and UX, consider integrating search within Shopify collections.
What Is Search Within Collections?
Search within collections is a function that allows shoppers to easily find specific items in a particular collection.
It typically works like this: shoppers visit a collection page (for example, a shoe collection) and enter phrases or keywords related to the product they need (for example, red heels size X) in the search bar. The smart collection page then returns a list of shoes that match the search criteria.
With the right Shopify search functionality for collections, you can boost the customer experience on various fronts.
Customers Find Exactly What They're Looking For
A Shopify search results page within collections can be highly valuable for shoppers. With robust search parameters, they can find the item they're searching for in the exact color, size, style, brand, etc. Collection search saves them from the virtual legwork of looking through all product variants to find the item they want.
For example, 401 Games allows their customers to not only search within their categories (like 'board games'), but customers can also refine their search results with filters (in stock, price, vendor, etc.).
» Want to optimize your filters? Try these methods
More Relevant Search Results
The default Shopify search results can be hit or miss with your customers. They may search for a specific product and instead get a sea of product pages that are only vaguely associated with the searched item. A Shopify search bar within collections can improve their experience by offering more relevant results. It accounts for things like alternative phrasings and natural language characteristics to ensure results are tailored to your customers' searches.
For example, Fragrance Buy makes it even easier for their customers. If a customer searches within the 'Womens' fragrance collection, a list pops up with all the relevant brands. If the customer types in 'giv' to search for 'Givenchy', the search functionality immediately recognizes the customer's intent and gives 'Givenchy' as the result. This removes the risk of spelling mistakes or typos.
» Discover why understanding shoppers' intent is important
Personalizes Product Discovery
Shopify search collections can also personalize product discovery for your customers by using data about their behaviors and preferences. This may involve tracking products your customer has viewed in the past and using that information to suggest similar products in future searches. Additionally, collection search may use data from personas and product rating systems to inform their Shopify search and discovery experience.
For example, a customer may search for 'red dresses' on Princess Polly and initially get general search results. But after shopping for a while for long-sleeve red dresses specifically, their search results become personalized.
» Learn more about a personalized search and recommendation engine
Why Shopify Stores Invest in Search Within a Collection
Smart Shopify owners know that an effective search feature within their collections makes all the difference for success. The right solution can help you:
Improve user experience
If your Shopify store has a lot of collection pages, the navigation can get complex and shoppers may end up struggling to find the right page for product purchase. Search within collections can help them escape the complexity of navigation and get straight to the page and buy products quickly.Tailor your marketing
An effective Shopify collection search tool can gather valuable information about customer searches and interactions with your pages. You can use this data to generate analytics reports that give you insight into the popularity of products, allowing you to tailor your marketing strategy accordingly. Increase your sales
Collection search also shortens people's path to purchase by not requiring them to perform extensive site exploration. This makes shoppers not only more likely to buy, but also spend more. A study found that such shoppers spend 2.6 times more on average than those who were not facilitated by a search function. Strengthen your brand
Robust search solutions for Shopify collections do more than just satisfy the search intent—they use data from search to dynamically present customers with the most relevant items, filters, and categories. Additionally, they help deliver a consistent user experience and look across all your store pages and results, which in turn strengthens your brand image and maximizes trustworthiness.
» Here's how to tackle e-commerce hiccups that bust brand loyalty
Make It Fast
Search within Shopify collections can be a game-changer for your e-commerce business. With the right search solution, you can enhance your customers' experience and improve your product discoverability, thereby improving retention and sales too.
Even though your customers aren't interacting with you face-to-face, they still want to feel that personal touch. This means giving them a personalized shopping experience and making sure they can find the products they're looking for without a fuss.